This game, not to mention the New York Red Bulls squad, got a lot more interesting on Friday night after the Red Bulls shipped Dane Richards and some cash out west to the Vancouver Whitecaps for Sebastien Le Toux. Somewhat lost in the buildup for the match are the Seattle Sounders, who, despite their recent run of form, remain just seven points off the top spot in the Major League Soccer standings. Two of the top teams in all of MLS will face off in an afternoon match that will air live on national TV. I think we all know what that means.
It will probably be a 1-0 snoozefest.
3 thoughts heading into NY Red Bulls vs. Seattle: A lot of questions
Le Toux trained with the Red Bulls on Saturday, and he, by all accounts, should be ready to go and even in the team's starting eleven on Sunday. It was admittedly a lot of fun on Friday night to think about a lineup that featured Le Toux, Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper out on the pitch at the same time. Fans hoping for an immediate goal onslaught this weekend may want to bring their expectations down just a bit. I understand that Le Toux is playing with his childhood hero in Henry, and that the previously referenced trio would light up the scoreboard if inserted into your FIFA 12 RBNY squad. No new attacking unit gets it right the first time, and you can be sure that there will be at least a few chemistry issues during Sunday's match.
3 thoughts heading into NY Red Bulls vs. Seattle: A first?
Backup goalkeeper Bill Gaudette, acquired by New York in a trade that occurred on Friday afternoon, was spotted training with the first team on Saturday. Nowhere to be seen was rookie Ryan Meara, who has started every single game for the Red Bulls this season. All wild rumors and speculation aside, it would appear that Meara will miss a MLS match for the first time during his young career. It would make sense to sit Meara this weekend considering that the Red Bulls are set to play four league games and a friendly against Tottenham Hotspur between July 15 and the end of the month, and also because he took a rather nasty shot to the head during last weekend's match against New England.
It's also possible, of course, that Meara has been sold to Reading.
3 thoughts heading into NY Red Bulls vs. Seattle: Why I'm nervous (and why I'm not)
I can't help but wonder if Seattle are awakened sleeping giants heading into Sunday. They won their first league match in ten last weekend against Colorado, and followed that up by smacking around Chivas USA in US Open Cup play on Wednesday. Seattle have hardly looked like world beaters in the past two months, but they have, if nothing else, proven to be difficult road opponents. They are thus far 2-2-5 this season when away from home.
With that said, New York are one of the better home sides in all of MLS at the midway point of the season. They're currently 5-0-2 in matches played at Red Bull Arena in 2012, and one of those draws featured the best team in the league (San Jose Earthquakes) as opponents. The Red Bulls are also expecting to get a boost from a (hopefully) newly motivated Rafa Marquez, who, whether fans want to admit it or not, played extremely well in the team's 3-2 win over DC United back on June 24. I think Le Toux, Marquez, Henry and Cooper all have themselves a fine afternoon, and I see a late goal clinching the 3-1 victory for New York.
