The Red Bulls can bring in summer transfers, or switch formations and lineups, but no amount of tweaking or juggling can hide the elephant in the room. Until Juan Pablo Angel breaks his malaise, neither will they; and his precipitous decline has not only been ominous, but downright ruinous.
The forward has the best strike rate in MLS history, and for the previous two years he carried the Red Bulls on his back. But playing and practicing on turf is making that back give out, a big reason they head into tonight’s tilt with Seattle last in the league in points (nine) and goals (13).
“There is a situation in here that I cannot get away from, and it is the fact we play on turf. The reality is every time we play or train on turf, I’m getting beat up and I’m getting hurt,” Angel said. “And it’s not just me; it’s the other players. But the reality is I can’t do anything about it.”
Last year Angel was diagnosed with spondylosis, a degenerative arthritis of his spinal vertebra. It hindered him so much through the first ten games that he missed the next month, returning as a second-half sub in the season’s 15th game. But the rest worked: After mustering just two goals in the first half of the year, he poured in a dozen in a red-hot second half.
“Circumstances are different this year. I don’t want to miss any games right now. I’d rather be on the field trying to do my bit rather than away,” Angel said. “If circumstances were better, the manager would have an opportunity to change things around. But our numbers aren’t good right now, and the fact is we’re not doing well. I hope the second half I can pick things up.”
The Red Bulls desperately hope so. Despite being second in MLS in shots, they’ve converted a league-low 13 goals; and most troubling, Angel still works hard but has become a shell of his former potent self as a finisher with just four goals this year.
He’d converted one in every 5.4 shots in his 14-goal season last year, and 5.1 in his dazzling 19-goal debut. But this year he’s needed 11.5 shots for every goal, nowhere in the league’s Top 15 in scoring despite being second in both shots and shots on goal. That’s by far their single biggest problem.
Simply put, the Red Bulls aren’t built to win with an average Angel. For perspective, reigning MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto of Columbus has racked up an MLS-leading ten goals on just 31 shots, while runnerup Conor Casey of Colorado has converted one in every 4.75 shots.
With Angel the third-highest paid player in the MLS this year at $1.5 million, and the 33-year-old getting an extension for next season _ when the Red Bulls open their $180 million, 25,000-seat stadium and desperately need to sell tickets _ they hope his spondylosis hasn’t hamstrung their franchise.
“I think he’ll be able to bounce back. He takes good care of himself. Unfortunately, this year it’s been really difficult to get on grass with the weather. But I think once we start training on grass, he will be ok,” said coach Juan Carlos Osorio, expecting _ hoping? _ Angel’s back will improve from training on grass later this year and playing on grass next season.
“Yes, I am. I am confident once we start training on grass, he will feel a lot better. We all know a lot goes into how you feel mentally; and mentally when we train on grass that’s when he feels his best. So I will say he will benefit greatly when we train on grass.”
Osorio had better hope so, for his own sake.
Do you think Angel can rebound as they train more on grass later in the season? Do you think he’ll play better next year when they go into natural grass Red Bull Arena? And if not, can they function with an average Angel? Hollar at us…
