The Red Bulls shipped Dane Richards and allocation money to Vancouver for striker Sébastien Le Toux, an MLS Best XI pick in 2010.
“Sebastien is one of the premier attacking players in the league and someone who we have admired for a long time,’’ Red Bulls GM Erik Soler said in a statement. “He will be able to play a number of different positions and will be an important piece for us as we challenge for the MLS Cup this year.
“We also want to wish Dane the best of luck in Vancouver. He has been a great player for our club and it was a difficult decision to trade someone of his quality.”
Le Toux will practice with the Red Bulls tomorrow, and be available for selection for Sunday’s nationally televised tilt vs. Seattle (4 p.m., ESPN, ESPN Deportes). The 28-year-old has four goals and one assist in 19 appearances this year, after arriving in January from Philadelphia. He had 25 goals and 20 assists in 62 regular season starts for the Union.
Richards was a second-round draft pick out of Clemson in 2007. His 147 regular season appearances were second all-time in team history. He was also second in starts and minutes, and third in assists with 26.
It was largely a swap of players having off seasons. But the shocking emergence of converted right back Brandon Barklage – whom Thierry Henry called one of the two biggest reasons for the Red Bulls’ success – and Jan Gunnar Solli moving well back into the midfield gave them an opportunity to cash in on an asset not that far removed from his career year.
The Jamaican winger’s speed altered the game for the Red Bulls, and he had among the most dominating performances in team history when he tore apart top-seeded Houston’s leafgue-leading defense in the Red Bulls’ shocking run to the 2008 MLS Cup final. He was always one of the more underrated players on the squad, and finished 13th in MLS in the Castrol ratings last year. But this year, he had dipped to 157 while LeToux came in 51st.
Richards is one of the fastest players in the league, and that speed always threatened defenses and opened up space for his teammates. But he’s had an off season, and will also miss time with the Jamaican National Team for World Cup qualifying.
Call-ups are not a concern regarding Le Toux, who is not part of the French National Team. (It should be noted that Le Toux, like Richards, holds a green card and will not take up an international slot). He has also shown his versatility over the years, playing up front and also showing his ability this year to play a winger in a 4-3-3. Would coach Hans Backe use he and Thierry Henry flanking Kenny Cooper that way? Or at the top of a diamond, tucked in behind those two strikers?