Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the winter transfer period in full swing, we are starting to see plenty of movement involving MLS players as well as Americans making moves to and around Europe.

Here are a few updates on MLS and Americans Abroad player moves:

Chicago Fire defender Gonzalo Segares has long been counted as a player on the move from MLS, now a destination has been identified.

Rafa Marquez will miss a big MLS match against RSL this weekend. (Getty Images)

Once again it seems like international dates on the FIFA calendar are going to hurt several MLS clubs in the coming week. All but two clubs will have at least one player called into their respective national team camps for friendlies (or in a couple cases African Nations Cup qualifiers).

With Rafa Marquez, Dane Richards, Bouna Coundoul and Roy Miller all out on international duty, the Red Bulls put in a dominating performance against a strong Toronto FC team, taking three points at home, and ending their five game winless streak with a 1-0 victory last night at Red Bull Arena.

You just knew it was too good to be true, didn't you? After the Red Bulls put longtime nemesis DC United to the sword on Saturday afternoon with a pair of second-half goals, there was just bound to be some nugget of bad news at training this week, wasn't there? And so it proved when the meat wagon showed up at Montclair State University today - well figuratively at least, though that is a picture of the official Montclair State University ambulance that we managed to dig up.

The reserve team that has been carrying the Red Bulls through the US Open Cup managed to put in a world class performance against the Italian Giants of Torino. Juventus, sporting names like Del Piero, Trezeguet and Diego in their starting lineup, could not figure out a way to beat the Baby Bulls, walking away from Red Bull Arena with a humiliating 3-1 loss.

Roy Miller of the New York Red Bulls and Pat Noonan of the Seattle Sounders . . . Getting to know each other. CAPTION AWAY!

The MLS league office announced this afternoon that it has fined coach Hans Backe $2,500 for comments made to the Boston Globe following Saturday's 3-2 loss in New England. The remarks in question can be found in this article by Revs beat reporter Frank Dell'Apa. Asked about the controversial red card issued to Roy Miller, Backe responded:

I would say it's an absolute disgrace.

A few notes as the Red Bulls gear up for Wednesday evening's big game against divisional rival Toronto FC:

• According to reports from training today, RBNY management is still working on several deals to improve the team, including the addition of a central attacking midfield player. The Post's Brian Lewis spoke with Hans Backe today about the mystery midfielder, but the Swede would only reveal that he was a player familiar to him from his time coaching in Denmark and that he was currently under contract to another club.

STARTERS
So is Freddy Adu really headed to Aris Thessaloniki in Greece, the same team as Eddie Johnson? How weird is that? See Americans In Europe section for more details.
dN
Landon Donovan talks to the Everton website about his arrival in England.

This has been one wild week for fans of the New York Red Bulls.
It started with the uninspired 2-0 loss to Chivas USA. While our defense still performed well, Roy Miller and Tim Ream in particular, our lack of a healthy, true right back has now been exploited in two consecutive matches. Jeremy Hall is admirably giving his all while being asked to play out of his true position as a winger.

What a fantastic match this was down at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas. The action was hot and heavy along with the terrible weather this time of the season and of course the first league match for Thierry Henry with the New York Red Bulls facing the Dynamo.

The action got started in the first ten minutes of the match when Carlos Mendes made a quick pass to Henry and attacked down the near side.

In one of the more bizarre and more entertaining games we've seen in MLS this season, the Red Bulls salvaged a 2-2 draw against ten-man FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. It was a game that featured a red card, a freak incident that could (should?) have resulted in Thierry Henry getting his walking papers, a few nicely taken goals, lots of errors and rough play all around.

Even as Red Bulls fans continue to lick their wounds, the wheels have begun turning on the 2011 season. With RBNY out of the playoffs there's still a lot for Erik Solér and Hans Backe to think about, and a lot of work to do as they seek to build an even more competitive squad for next year.
Let's start with the expansion draft, which will take place on November 24, just a few days after the MLS Cup Final in Toronto.

The New York Red Bulls' roster continues to churn ahead of the upcoming MLS season, despite not having a head coach in place with little more than a week to go until the 2010 MLS SuperDraft. The latest player to depart from the underachieving club is Venezuelan midfielder Jorge Rojas, who has signed a one-year contract with Deportiva Tachira in his home country.

How do you rebuild and repair the worst team in Major League Soccer? The New York Red Bulls appear to be putting together a decent blueprint for how to recover from a disastrous season like 2009 was for the Red Bulls.

The club's Disney Soccer Classic Championship doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the performances of the team's new players show signs of a team ready to recover from season to forget.

The New York Red Bulls have a lot of pressure heading into the 2010 season.

They have the pressure of playing well enough to fill their beautiful new stadium, as well as the pressure of erasing the bad memories of an awful 2009 season. A new coach and a new crop of players has enjoyed a good pre-season, giving the club some reason for optimism.

New York has gone from league laughing stock to the envy of some without playing a competitive match. The grand opening on Saturday of Red Bull Arena gave New York a chance to show off their crown jewel, and the home team didn't disappoint in a 3-1 win against Brazilian club Santos.

If the Red Bulls are half as good as the new stadium looks in 2010, they'll certainly contend for a postseason appearance.

Did you have the Red Bulls as undefeated after two matches? Me neither. After a fantastic defensive performance at Seattle, New York makes its second West Coast trip in as many weeks to take on a deflated Chivas team (4p ET, MSG) that's come out of the gate flat as a pancake. The Goats followed up a 0-1 opening day home loss to Colorado with an 0-2 "road" loss at the HDC to the Galaxy.

No need to pretend. You don't have to read the rest of the mess at this week's MLS Five Things to Know at SI.com. Here's what you really want. So go ahead. Take shortcuts in life. See where it gets you. You damn cheater.

Team of the Week: Goalkeeper: Bouna Coundoul (Red Bull New York); Defenders: Steve Beitashour (San Jose), Wilman Conde (Chicago), Omar Gonzalez (L.

MLS

Saturday's slate of seven matches featured plenty of goals and some surprising results.

The Los Angeles Galaxy showed why they are the best team in the league this season by beating the Crew in Columbus 2-0 without Buddle and Donovan. The Crew controlled the game and outshot LA 21-3, but Bruce Arena has put together a very disciplined side that just doesn't make mistakes and capitalizes on the opposition's errors.

Last week the League issued a $2,500 fine to New York coach Hans Backe after his public criticism of Roy Miller's ejection during the Red Bulls' loss to New England surfaced in the Boston Globe. This is obviously not the first time the league has handed down punishments, yet many know little about the Law and Order arm of Major League Soccer: the Disciplinary Committee.

With the transfer window about to open, it's time to take a look at our current roster and think about what changes will have to be made as the Red Bulls are about to sign one, and possibly two, new Designated Players in the coming days.
Roster regulations
A team must have between 18-20 players on the Senior Roster.

We've heard the reports already that Red Bulls' goalkeeper, Bouna Coundoul, was called up to the Senegalese national team on the next FIFA International date, August 11. It has also been confirmed that are newest signing, Rafa Márquez, will be playing for the Mexican side against Spain that day.

We've heard the reports already that Red Bulls' goalkeeper, Bouna Coundoul, was called up to the Senegalese national team on the next FIFA International date, August 11. It has also been confirmed that are newest signing, Rafa Márquez, will be playing for the Mexican side against Spain that day.

Sold out crowd, big cities, ESPN, and five designated players make this one of the most highly anticipated MLS regular season matches in recent memory. The game should mark the debut of Nery Castillo and Rafa Marquez as MLS players while former Arsenal teammates Freddie Ljugnberg and Thierry Henry make their first appearance with their respective new clubs at Toyota Park.

With Rafa Marquez, Dane Richards, Bouna Coundoul and Roy Miller all out on international duty, the Red Bulls put in a dominating performance against a strong Toronto FC team, taking three points at home, and ending their five game winless streak with a 1-0 victory last night at Red Bull Arena. The Bulls lineup had a [.

We were expecting a lot of good hardnosed football down at Pizza Hut Park. To be fair we weren't disappointed as both sides were tough and gave plenty of action to the supporters in the Dallas area. From the start of the opening whistle both side were attacking and making fantastic plays.

Totally copied promo pic from LA Galaxy official website

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FUTBOL!?!?!

Sorry. Couldn't resist. The overwhelming hype generated by the promotional engines of MLS, Red Bull, and AEG for today's match-up between the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls swept me away.

This was supposed to be a big test for the up and coming New York Red Bulls as they were facing for the second time the defending MLS Cup champions Real Salt Lake. Unfortunately for the Red Bulls they were without Dane Richards (Jamaica) and Bouna Coundoul (Senegal) as they were called in for National Team duty.

Good Afternoon! Just a couple of days before the massive, massive away fixture @PPL Park, so let's examine some of the RBNY news from this past week (and even from the week before):
Two players Mr. Backe coveted this season, Luke Rodgers and Jan Gunnar Solli, are still on the RBNY radar.

This is a guest preview by TSG reader, fellow FC Black Sox teammate, and one-time Malawian National Team assistant coach, Jason Price.

Tonight's scene....of the crime?

Football being what it is, and this being MLS, anything is possible in tonight's Eastern Conference Semi-Final second leg, but if I were a betting man, I wouldn't put my money on the Earthquakes.

At this point in the season, I fully expected to be writing a preview of the Eastern Conference finals and talking about how New York dispatched of San Jose in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, I'm left to describe the feelings of emptiness and desolation that come along with this early playoff exit.

First off, The Viper's Nest crew would like to wish all of our loyal readers and followers a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! 2010 was a great leap forward for the Red Bulls as an organization and for us fans as well, and we're expecting even bigger and better things as we move into 2011.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the winter transfer period in full swing, we are starting to see plenty of movement involving MLS players as well as Americans making moves to and around Europe.

Here are a few updates on MLS and Americans Abroad player moves:

Chicago Fire defender Gonzalo Segares has long been counted as a player on the move from MLS, now a destination has been identified.

Well the Scandinavian connection of Erik Soler and Hans Bakke are already at work at Red Bull New York have signed Costa Rican defender Roy Miller from Norway's Rosenborg. You can read more about it by clicking here.

The top Red Bulls news story of the new year (in my opinion) might just be that Mac Kandji (pictured above, with his girlfriend - who looks alot like Downtown Julie Brown) is a Lingerie Connoisseur.
But seriously, no Head Coach in place yet, although according to this post on Goff's blog, the Red Bulls have already decided on a yet-to-be-announced Foreigner.

Good evening folks. We are here in Orlando for tonight's Disney Soccer Classic Final between the New York Red BUlls and Toronto FC.

I will be providing commentary throughout the night so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

How do you rebuild and repair the worst team in Major League Soccer? The New York Red Bulls appear to be putting together a decent blueprint for how to recover from a disastrous season like 2009 was for the Red Bulls.

The club's Disney Soccer Classic Championship doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the performances of the team's new players show signs of a team ready to recover from season to forget.

New York has gone from league laughing stock to the envy of some without playing a competitive match. The grand opening on Saturday of Red Bull Arena gave New York a chance to show off their crown jewel, and the home team didn't disappoint in a 3-1 win against Brazilian club Santos.

If the Red Bulls are half as good as the new stadium looks in 2010, they'll certainly contend for a postseason appearance.

It may seem odd for a second-half substitute who only played 21 minutes to win an MLS Player of the Week Award, but it is what Kenny Mansally did in this 21 minutes that made all the difference for him and the New England Revolution this week.

The Revs were being dominated by D.