Photo from Miramax
“The ability to make the play when it counts, for me, really makes the difference. And the Red Bulls, they’re the worst. The D.C. United game, the Colorado game last year, time and time again. I don’t know what it is.”
(He added that they had six or seven players they needed to swap for a “bag of soccer balls.” Then he started naming names).
“So a second-division Argentine player who was kicking around in Greece, (Juan) Pietravallo _ he’s on a guaranteed contract, he’s making $200,000 _ useless to the team.”
“Dane Richards played a couple of good games last year against Houston. For me, this is a player who doesn’t see beyond his own feet. He has speed, he can beat a player running at him at a ball at his feet; but for me, I look at high soccer IQ, and I don’t think Dane Richards has it.”
“Oduro, who was a mistake; well, they got rid of him.”
“Khano Smith, to me, is one of the worst players I’ve seen in Major League Soccer, and he’s making $150,000 a year.”
OK, the Titanic one was damn funny. Cliched, but funny. And considering they have seven losses already _ and their 11 defeats was the most of any playoff team last year _ maybe true. And you guys know I feel Smith really needs to step up his game, or run the risk of being gone when contracts become guaranteed July 1. Heck, he could step it up a notch or three and STILL be gone.
Anyway, some of you may wonder if Messing is going to catch hell from the Red Bull higher-ups, and if so, how much. I’m betting frankly he doesn’t give a damn. Messing is a straight-shooter, and if you didn’t know it before this interview, you know it now.
He also added that the players are behind Juan Carlos Osorio, and that Juan Pablo Angel _ whom he labels one of the best strikers to ever play in MLS _ “loves” the coach. But he expressed doubts that Red Bull Arena will be a 25,000-seat panacea for all that ails them. He says “You have to win at some point, or as you said, otherwise, you are irrelevant.”
What do you think of Shep’s musings? Spot-on? Off the mark? Check in with us….
