Red Bulls miss the boat

2009-10-22T15:25:19-04:00

2008-07-15T16:17:27-04:00

2008-09-10T06:40:25-04:00

2008-07-17T15:27:50-04:00

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nelsonorange71

No City 116259

They're so many players out there that can help RBNY. And they wouldn`t cost as much as the likes of Ronaldinho. e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd8_qma4Dx8 But, what i know? 2247190

2008-07-17T13:15:50-04:00

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Anthony Verna

New York 88292

I thought MLS ruled that the Red Bulls can't use the extra DP slot until this season is over, anyway. So they'll have to wait until the next summer transfer window, as big names generally don't go in the winter window. 2245131

2008-07-17T11:34:36-04:00

txlaird

Austin 455093

Jonah, I usually dig your articles, but this was rather pointless. investing in a DP that will get hurt on Giant Staduim turf makes zippo sense when the next year a new staduim and a chance to turn a profit becomes "reality" 2243550

2008-07-16T16:54:19-04:00

Hutz

Long Beach 171460

This is a pointless article. Ronaldinho coming to New York is not even a possibility and I am a fan of the Red Bulls. 2238126

2008-07-16T16:08:22-04:00

Sean O'Donnell

Princeton 120656

Give me a break. Jared Borghetti, maybe. As for the rest of the aforementioned players, as long as they have a shot at European glory (ie the Champions league) you won't see them over here. 2237476

2008-07-16T15:41:29-04:00

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juninho

Chicago 230539

Red Bulls! 2236948

2008-07-16T11:12:50-04:00

bmoresoccer

No City 273200

I think dinho had a lot of pride at stake with this transfer. He's still relatively young but he was benched the latter part of the season at barca so I think (in his mind) he was in a position where he wants to prove he is still one of the, if not, the best in the world and there are very few places you can do that. Clearly the MLS is not one of those places, Manchester City might not even be one of those places. Given the circumstances, no MLS team had a shot at him. I agree with the never say never attitude because it is 'possible' to get top players not too far off their prime to come to MLS because money can go a long way (albeit unlikely to happen in the current state of MLS) . But there are always other factors at play and I bet ronaldinho was dead set against going to a non-champions league team, plain and simple. To blame NYRB is just stupid. 2231869

2008-07-15T21:01:13-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/436/805/thumb/chargers218_51441.jpg 155 MS

Notorious O.T.T.

Hattiesburg 437245

but youre right freedman's article was very silly....there was definitely no boat to miss here. 2226971

2008-07-15T21:00:35-04:00

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Notorious O.T.T.

Hattiesburg 437245

vincenzo never is very strong word...While youre right about ronnie and other european stars right now you must remember 2 things....1) football is increasing in popularity with each year and the mls will continue to grow talent and size wise. 2) weak dollar or not the U.S. is still the richest country in the world and generates a total of one third of the world's total economy. So once the U.S. decides to get involved seriously in football nobody in the world will be able to compete money wise. Especially, when you couple that with the amazing wealth of athletic talent that this country has right now. So enjoy the fact that Italy can still beat the U.S. right now...but don't count on that happening forever. 2226969

2008-07-15T19:58:39-04:00

vincenzo

Olathe 110094

Ronaldinho and players of that calibur will never come to the MLS. They will waste their talent on far inferior competetion. Beckham is not in the same category talent wise as Ronaldinho, he is just a famous face. Why would a soccer star playing in the ultra-competetive European leagues want to wither away in a talent starving league? Silly. 2226696

<img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/truth_rumor/photo_upload/577/36/full/ronaldinhoLLUIS_GENE.jpg" vspace="4" height="210" hspace="4" align="right" alt="" width="210" />Yet again, the New York Red Bulls couldn't have timed it worse. Claudio Reyna <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/soccer/07/15/reyna.retire/index.html">is going to retire</a> -- not surprising and long expected, considering how injury-plagued the former U.S. national-team captain's 1½ seasons in MLS were. First, the good news: Reyna's retirement frees up the Red Bulls' Designated Player slot, which had been effectively wasting away as Captain America just couldn't stay healthy (Juan Pablo Ángel occupies the team's second slot, which it traded for last season). That gives New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio an enormous toy to use as he continues to rebuild the biggest underachievers in the history of MLS (13 seasons, zero titles). It's no secret that the Red Bulls need their own version of David Beckham and Cuauhtémoc Blanco in the U.S.' most important market, and they need one fast. MLS' New York franchise isn't only suffering on the field, it's far from the "superclub" MLS has dreamed of fielding since its inaugural season. About the only time the former MetroStars come anywhere close to filling Giants Stadium is when Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy, or FC Barcelona, are in town. The sparse crowds of 5,000 need to stop, as does the losing.The latter problem is Osorio's to bear. And I still believe he can do it. His midseason makeover of a team that was more or less built by Bruce Arena will eventually produce attractive, Latin-flavored soccer. But the other problem -- the awful Q rating -- well, that's Red Bull's problem.Jozy Altidore is officially gone -- the teen sensation left for Spanish club Villarreal last month. Now, with Reyna out of the way, it's time for Red Bull to puts its money where its mouth is and go hard at the biggest name it can get its hands on. Thierry Henry is a real possibility (though probably next summer). Andriy Shevchenko is another name that's been floated. Ronaldo's still out there, too, as is Mexican star Jared Borgetti. Dreamy possibilities, to be sure. Now the bad news: The Bulls missed the boat. Or more specifically, they missed the Titanic. Until Tuesday, an even bigger option was out there: Ronaldinho (above right). There is perhaps no bigger name in the world that was legitimately available to MLS. The two-time FIFA World Player of the Year finally ended his drawn-out transfer saga, agreeing to a $30 million transfer from Barcelona to AC Milan. No matter what you think of him -- overweight, over-partied or just plain over -- he may be the best player around to put rears in seats in this country. And, in fact, he's already done it: Giants Stadium was sold out when 'Dinho and his former club played the Red Bulls in a friendly two summers ago.Where were the Red Bulls during the Ronaldinho saga? Milan and Manchester City spent the past month driving up the Brazilian's price tag. If, as it has been reported, the Bulls knew Reyna's retirement was an eventual outcome, why didn't they throw everything they had at convincing Ronaldinho to make an earth-shattering move to the U.S., perhaps bigger than even Beckham's? Maybe they did and maybe they were rebuffed by another high-profile player who wasn't quite ready to take a leap of faith on Major League Soccer. The point here is, the Red Bulls need do something big, and they need to do it soon. They've got the money, they've got the marketing power and now, there are no more excuses. Dare to dream, as they say. (Actually, it was a former Red Bull <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/jonah_freedman/10/13/djorkaeff.qa/1.html">who told us that</a> once.)What's done is done. There are other options out there. Regardless, Reyna just gave the Red Bulls a huge gift. He rid his team of its biggest albatross: himself. Now it's up to the club to get a celebrity that will make the casual sports fan care. Because right now, no one's watching. 2609 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/459/8/thumb/freedman_jonah.jpg 14 CA

Jonah Freedman

San Francisco 4618