By BRIAN LEWIS
With the Red Bullsâ season-opener vs. Columbus fast approaching Saturday and the transfer window closing on April 15th, theyâre still very much in a holding pattern on a host of players. MLS is still negotiating with the midfielder/defender Lider Marmol, and it’s unclear if a price is agreed upon whether Chicago will exercise its discovery claim and meet it.
The Post has confirmed that the Red Bulls are indeed interested in signing 31-year-old Scottish defender Chris Innes. He was Gretnaâs team captain, having helped the club to promotion in the SPL, but has been made âredundantââ by the cash-strapped club. In laymanâs terms, theyâre broke and canât pay him, along with a host of others.
But itâs premature to assume that either he or Red Bull Salzburg Junior Ernst Obster _ the 24-year-old left winger whom Juan Carlos Osorio is definitely interested in signing from the Austrian sister club _ will be here before this window closes.
Osorio remains confident that they’ll sign at least one, and maybe all, of their three targeted players _ a left-winger, defensive midfielder and left-footed central defender _ before the window closes. The one thing that seems certain is he’s confident Claudio Reyna can handle the attacking midfield duties.
*** It was a pretty bad week for Americans playing in the EPL.
In a derby game fifth-place Everton had to have against archrival Liverpool to climb into fourth place in the EPL _ and Champions League qualification _ North Brunswick (NJ) native Tim Howard allowed Fernando Torresâ 28th goal, and that was enough for a 1-0 Liverpool win.
Still, even Everton boss David Moyes couldnât rip the former MetroStar keeper, who made seven saves and got hung out to dry by Ayegbeni Yakubuâs egregious gaffe.
âI was disappointed by the way we gave them their goal, and I think Yakubu was upset and maybe affected himself by what happened,ââ Moyes was quoted as saying. âHe was caught in possession and should have cleared the ball. But we should not have rushed out like we did until we knew the ball had been cleared properly. We were in advance of the ball at that stage, and that was naive. That goal gave them the impetus to go forward.ââ
That left Everton five points back with 57 points.
And Fulhamâs army of Americans seem in trouble, with relegation a fait accompli after Sundayâs disappointing 2-2 draw with sad-sack Derby County.
Sure, Kasey Keller made ten saves and Brian McBride _ http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/03/post-7.htmlwhom Ives Galarcep reports is mulling an international return to play in the Olympics _ played the full 90; but strike partner Eddie Johnson got just nine minutes, while Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey never got off the bench.
In Holland, Jersey-born former MetroStar Michael Bradley went the full 90 for the third time in a week in fifth-place Heerenveenâs 4-2 loss to second-place Ajax. If they donât make the Eredivisieâs four-team Champions League playoffs _ and just a tiebreaker ahead of sixth-place Feyenoord, thatâs a very nagging possibility _ they need look no further than an 0-3 mark vs. Ajax.
