The Red Bulls spent much of the offseason and the summer combing the international market for a No. 10, a creator who could be the link from the midfield to star strikers Thierry Henry and Juan Pablo Angel. Turns out they found him right in MLS, getting Mehdi Ballouchy from Colorado for Mac Kandji.
“That is a dream. Soccer has taken me to a lot of different ways, and to be here with Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez and Juan Pablo Angel on the team, is a long way for me,” said Ballouchy, who stayed behind in New York after his former team had lost to the Red Bulls on Saturday.
“I have a cousin here that I was going to the U.S. Open with. This was planned way before. I just so happened to get the phone call the extra day I stayed here.”
And with that phone call yesterday afternoon _ as he was en route to Arthur Ashe Stadium _ Ballouchy became the trigger man for a $15 million arsenal of stars, the most expensive team in MLS history.
“I think and hope that he can be the link in-between our midfield up to strikers.
He’s very good on the ball, his movements, the way he wants the ball, is the type I like; so hopefully he will fill in as that link,” said coach Hans Backe, who has been an avowed Ballouchy fan since taking over the Red Bulls this year.
“We saw him three months ago for the first time in the Open Cup; he came in as a sub and almost changed the game. He can play both wide and central but I think he strengthens us in the middle. His movements, he’s very creative. I think he’s the missing link from our midfield to strikers. With six games to go and hopefully some playoff games when you get that type of player in it strengthens us.”
The 27-year-old Ballouchy has three goals and a Rapids-high five assists in 21 games this season. The Moroccan-born midfielder had been with the Rapids since coming over for Kyle Beckerman in July 2007, with two goals and a career-high seven assists last season.
“It’s a position we never had or the type of player we never had here: Someone who can be the link from the defensive midfielder and the strikers,” said Angel, who hasn’t played with a classic 10 since joining the team in 2007. “We hope that he gets adjusted to the team and the life here. He has the ability to create things, and we need someone who has that creativity.”
It remains to be seen how Backe shoehorns his newest toy into an already-stacked midfield. He insists he won’t slide Mexican National Team captain Rafa Marquez back from holding midfield to centerback, so that could leave Ballouchy to vie with rapidly-improving rookie Tony Tchani for minutes.
“I’m really excited to be here, excited to be a part of this team. Great players, great organization, and I can’t wait to be involved,” said Ballouchy. “You can’t complain with the forwards they have here. The way the Red Bulls play will fit me, because they play the ball on the ground and their movement off the ball is great. Those are things I enjoy.”
Kandji _ who’d been signed from the USL1 Atlanta Silverbacks on Sept. 15, 2008 _ had scored just once this year, and moved down the pecking order at striker. He was athletic and explosive in one-on-one matchups, but never excelled in the team game. Ballouchy _ making $88,000 this season _ is a slick and smart passer who better fits the free-flowing attacking soccer that Backe wants to play.
“We’ve been talking for weeks, perhaps a month with Gary (Smith, Rapids coach), but it was difficult when it comes to Kandji. He’s a talented player,” said Backe. “They turned down other options, but we have a lot of strikers.”
One of those is Juan Agudelo, the academy signee who at the ripe age of 17 has already become a standout on the United States Under-20 National Team. He’s taken a quantum leap forward in the last half-year, and his training sessions have been good enough to force the teen into Backe’s plans sooner rather than later.
“I said today in training he looked absolutely outstanding,” Backe said of Agudelo, who just played in Peru with the U.S. U-20s. “I’m not sure if it’s been training and playing at 8,000 feet and coming back and he’s flying. It could be.
“I must say he looked very good today. He’s so much more aware of being a team player, playing simple, holding the ball, don’t lose it, no unforced errors. So I was thinking today perhaps we have to try to get him in for the Thursday game.”
