Match 11.04 Preview: At New York Red Bulls

Match #: 11.04

Opponent: New York Red Bulls

Records:
DC United, 2-0-1, 7 pts, 2nd in East Conference , 2nd (tie) in MLS
New York Red Bulls, 0-0-3, 3 pts, 4th in East Conference, 7th (tie) in MLS

TV: ESPN-2, starting at 3:57 on your TiVo in order to get the new hall of fame class announcement.

Previous Meeting: DC United 2 : 2 New York Red Bulls, April 2, 2006 (DCenters debrief for 11.01)

Suggested Pregame Activity: Draw seven boxes on a piece of paper. Connect them with various lines (Colored pencils or markers are OK!). In two boxes, write the name of someone you know or have seen on TV. In the other five boxes, fill in the names "Johnston", "Beckenbauer", "Pele", "de Grandpre", and "Guevara." If you want, add more boxes and lines with names of people you've heard of. Congratulations! You've made a front-office organization chart for Red Bull New York! And the best thing is, it probably makes as much sense as the real one.

Suggested Pregame Music: Genesis - Land Of Confusion

The Stakes: Well, let's start with arguably the most insignificant. The Atlantic Cup is essentially a best of three series now, with New York having home-field advantage. A win for United puts them back in control of the regional series.

For United, this is the first road test, and a strong showing on a pitch other than RFK will help strengthen belief in the team. I believe that their performance against Houston was excellent, and showcased some skill from Nowak as a game planner. If they can make that sort of performance the expectation for the season, things are looking good.

The Red Bulls have endured yet another traumatic week of personnel rumors and changes. This is the kind of thing that lesser teams fall apart during (as in, any Metros team prior to this year). If they pull together for this game, it could be the start of an us against the world/owners mentality that makes the team stronger. Think Major League, although I guess that makes Mo Johnston the James Gammon character. On the other hand, Shep Messing would be played by Bob Uecker, so that's okay then.

Expected Yield: 2.5 points. This is not entirely a slam dunk, and it will be a test. But it is a test I expect DC to pass.(Current Expectations to Reality Level: 78% - I have underestimated DCU performance)

D's Location: In front of TV.

Last Word: Continuity