By BRIAN LEWIS
OK, so this is the last thing Red Bulls fans wanted to hear. (Well, other than Claudio Reyna’s Designated Player status getting extended three more years). But Juan Carlos Osorio _ who admits his club needs help _ has scrapped his plans to add three foreign acquisitions by the April 15 window.
Now, don’t jump off the GW. He hasn’t given up hope completely _ on transfers or the season _ but he’s moving from Plan A to Plan B, which is essentially admitting he was priced out of his mid-range targets, so he’ll go all in for one big-ticket item.
“I’m having second thoughts about what is the best strategy to have,’’ Osorio said. “We were looking at three players to strengthen the team in three different positions whereas now my Plan B is just to concentrate on one player, one specific position and probably looking for a second-tier if you like rather than a third-tier or farther down. When you do that you take a risk and you gamble and that’s exactly what happened with us.’’
Sounds like he’s cursed with the same afflictions my wife and daughter are _ an eye for quality, expensive tastes and a limited bankroll.
So what’s a manager to do on third-and-long? Go deep, of course.
“Plan B would be to put all that we have available and look for one player, one critical position, players in better leagues and more in demand and hopefully we can bring one of them here, hopefully before,’’ Osorio said. “I’m looking at DVDs and videos now because I do agree with the fans and I do understand that we need to strengthen the team.’’
So, who’s the big-time target? According to Osorio, it won’t be Colombians Mario Yepes at PSG or Elkin Soto at Mainz, or even Caracas youngsters Ronald Vargas or Juan David Valencia, a 22-year-old left back whom he’d tried to sign while coaching at Millonarios.
So, who’s going to end up getting paid by Red Bull? Well, Osorio and Jeff Agoos are bringing in 31-year-old Scottish defender Chris Innes _ along with perhaps another player, who’s having visa drama as we speak _ Tuesday for a ten-day trial.
After playing for Dundee and Kilmarnock, Innes captained Gretna to promotion to the Scottish Premier League; but the cash-strapped, soon-to-be-relegated club just made he and a host of others redundant. Translation from Brit-to-English? We’re broke, bloke, and you need to get out.
“He’ll be in on a tryout. At this time I refuse to sign players without taking a good look at them,’’ Osorio said. “Chris is an experienced player but….I want to see him here with us and competing here. I just want to make sure that’s the player we need in the system we want to play.
“I have no doubts he’s a good player but I want to bring somebody who’s really going to improve the way we play football. Whether you play three or four in the back, when you’re a coach who likes to play from the back you need players very comfortable on the ball. That’s key, and defenders comfortable on the ball there are not too many.’’
I have no idea what he’d make, but F Kenny Deuchar just signed with Real Salt Lake for $135,000, but he’s 27 and broke all kinds of scoring records, including posting a 41-goal season and having six hat-tricks in one year. I can’t imagine that Innes would cost as much.
Now, I guess I have to mention that Portuguese website Jornal o Record claimed that Portuguese striker Joao Vieira Pinto has already flown here to New York and is negotiating with the club. And in his day, he was nasty, scoring 23 goals in 81 caps, also playing for Boavista, Benfica, Atletico Madrid and Sporting. But that rumors makes no sense.
Osorio said he’s make a call of academy star Matt Kassel next week, and talked about building for the future with youth. Meanwhle Pinto is a 36-year-old hothead playing the only position Red Bull is stacked in, and was already on trial at Toronto _ the worst club in MLS last year. Worse, he had just two goals for SC Braga last year, where he made $500,000.
Of course, his wife is fine. http://www.marisacruz.net/Fotos-Marisa-Cruz.htmlAnd she is a model, so maybe New York works for her. But still…