The agent for Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas contacted MLS about going out on loan during the offseason. But contrary to reports coming out of his native Venezuela, nothing is done. And according to team sources, nothing is likely to, with no deal imminent.
Yes, Rojas has gone back to his native country; but it is vacation, after all. And even though El Universal had reported that Mineros de Guayana were finalizing a deal to bring Rojas in through March _ claiming the deal is all but done and only needing some insurance paperwork _ sources say it just ain’t so. Sounds more like he’s just kicking around to stay in shape.
With Rojas such a lightning rod for so many of you Red Bull fans, I was actually looking forward to seeing the reaction if he did play some some other team on loan, like David Beckham at AC Milan or Landon Donovan at Bayern Munich. But it does bring me to two points. One, since his agent did ask, would it actually be a good idea? And two, is Rojas getting far too much heat and far too little love from Red Bull nation? To the first point, Rojas had been not only struggling to adjust to the physicality of MLS but was hurt last year. Would any conditioning benefits _ and conditioning was clearly an issue when he arrived midseason _ outweigh the grind of playing year-round on his aging legs? As of now, we won’t find out…but as far as the future, one never knows, do one?
Now, on to my second pet peeve. Rojas is catching a little too much grief. Just my opinion. I’m not saying he’s Cristiano Ronaldo, or Kaka, but the only thing he has in common with Gabriel Cichero _ whose play flat-out stunk like my daughter’s dirty diapers for most of the time he was here _ is they’re both Venezuelan. Don’t throw them in the same boat just because they’re on the same National Team.
Cichero single-handedly cost the Red Bulls games; but Rojas was second on the team with five assists, playing just 11 games, nine of them starts. The only three MLS players that had an assist rate like that? MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto (19 in 27), Real Salt Lake stud Javier Morales (15 in 29), and Colorado’s underrated Terry Cooke (a dozen in 24). That’s it. In the whole league.
Remember many Latin Americans seem to take a year to adjust to being brutalized every time they touch the ball. Rojas admitted as much, that the physical play was tough getting used to. But watch how Schelotto and even ex-Red Bull Amado Guevara blossomed in their second seasons in MLS.
And I know I’m a broken record with this, but Rojas showed he was much better playing centrally then out on the left flank. He wasn’t that fast when he was younger, but he’s lost a step AND moved to a FAR, FAR more athletic league.
The Red Bulls got outscored 42-48 this season, but were outscored 27-37 when Rojas WASN’T in the center of the pitch, and outscored their foes 15-11 when he WAS. And considering they were outscored 4-1 with him in the middle of the field in that finale at Chicago _ and let’s face it, the wheels just fell off that day _ they outscored their foes 14-7 minus that aberration. You can say numbers lie, but my eyes tell me when he was given the keys to the offense, he drove it pretty well.
What do you guys think? Glad he isn’t going on loan? Want him shipped back to Venezuela for good? Want to beg them to take him off Red Bulls’ hands? The whole central-vs.-left-wing debate? Check in with your thoughts….
