A trip to the Frozen North confirms suspicion that the season is lost.

I understand the plight of the battered woman. How many times have you seen it? A woman who “loves” a man so much that she will allow him to treat her like dirt and slap her around but takes no action against it. Instead she claims that he loves her and that it is her fault that she keeps getting beaten, not his. For so long I have looked at situations like this with only pity. The last four months have filled me with understanding for the plight of the abused. Halfway through the season the Red Bulls sit with just 9 points and double digit losses and still have quite a few road games to go. I continually return to watch the games week after week with a heavy heart, and I am rewarded with an atrocious performance again and again. But you don’t understand, they love me, I just haven’t been as enthusiastic recently. It’s my fault, no need to press charges.

This recent game against Toronto was the kind of loss I prefer. Destroy my confidence early so that you can’t let me down. In all seriousness, there is nothing worse than tuning into a game and then watching your beloved give up a penalty in the first five minutes of a game, for the second time this year. The handball was debatable but that rule is all kinds of grey. Reading a players intent is something that is really only clear in very few cases. All a ref needs to see is the ball hit an arm and a penalty is going to be awarded. While I hate that it happened to us, it was not an unfairly awarded call. It took any wind that might be in Metro’s sails out and that was the game.

The recent failing has been particularly hard to deal with when the club vows allegiance to the man at the helm. Juan Carlos Osorio is not the answer to any of our problems. Unless said problem is how to throw away the season losing more games than anyone in the history of the league. I complain about Osorio a lot, but he has done several things that have killed team moral. In the past he has talked about players and their inabilities and hurting player moral on a much smaller level, but now he is calling out the whole team. Seriously, how do you play for a coach who constantly talks about how the whole team just isn’t getting it done? When a system isn’t working and the players are not performing in the system, you must change the system. If you can’t find a system that fits your team, then you are a lousy coach, end of story. What is even worse is, most of these players are players that he brought to the team, so if they aren’t getting it done, it is only a condemnation of his ability to recognize and hone talent.

The most blatant example I can think of is Mac Kandji. The guy is full of raw talent, but he is not being coached. Instead of becoming a better finisher, his skill has seemed to take a giant leap backwards. He isn’t passing the ball and he continues to shoot off target while he is barely being pressured. A good coach would recognize this and try to fix it, but that isn’t happening. Alfredo Pacheco was taken out of the game again this past weekend, and when he left, the team had less possession and couldn’t get a dangerous attack going. Adding John Wolyniec to a game may introduce someone who can be dangerous, but he is not going to help the team hold the ball and he certainly isn’t going to create any opportunities for his team mates. So where is the logic in the move? I liken it to removing the gas tank from a race car so that it weighs less and can travel faster.

In the end, this is just another chapter in the misery of the Bull’s season and this game was no worse than some of the others I have watched over the last couple, but the increasing trend that once the Bulls go down a goal, they can’t come back. They are spineless and I think that starts and ends with having a poor leader in JCO. If I were a betting man, I would have lost a great deal of money on JCO keeping his job after 6 straight games without a win and a 5 game losing streak. Logic dictates that Osorio is out the door any day now, but I have a nagging feeling that he will be sticking around for a long time. The schedule isn’t going to get any easier and with 7 points between New York and the next closest team in the standings New England (Who spanked the Bulls last weekend 4-0) the end is nigh. For now I will watch the Confederations Cup and hope against hope that the US is more successful than the odds would suggest. Until next time…..

GO RED BULLS!