Red Bulls get second crack at Chivas
With new motivation, New York hoping to avenge Aug. 15 defeat
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Richie Williams took over on an interim basis and while the club hasn't had a complete turnaround, the Red Bulls have improved and are 2-1-1 since the coaching change.
"The mentality of the team is different," midfielder Albert Celades said. "We feel better, maybe we believe more in ourselves and this is important."
Celades has played better under Williams, enjoying his more advanced role in the midfield. He set up two goals in a 3-2 win against FC Dallas and also started the play that led to John Wolyniec's equalizer against the New England Revolution last Friday.
"We need somebody with the vision that he has," Juan Pablo Angel said of Celades. "You don't find that many players that grow up with the Barcelona mentality, who basically see things that are very difficult to see on the field, who see the big picture. Normally you have players who see the first pass or the second one.
The Red Bulls head to The Home Depot Center for Saturday night's clash with Chivas USA looking to play the spoiler role, but they'll do so a bit shorthanded up front. Wolyniec is out for the next 2-3 weeks with a left ankle sprain.
Angel, who missed two consecutive games with his own ankle injury, has trained this week and appears ready to return to the lineup.
"That's what I'm hoping," Angel said. "That's why I've been training just to get a full week under my belt and see how it goes. Right now obviously we have John out too, which makes it a little bit more complicated in terms of players available in that position. But the thing is I don't want another setback. I'm feeling better, but it hurts."
While he can't add depth to the team up front this year, former Houston Dynamo forward Joseph Ngwenya has been training with the Red Bulls. The 28-year-old Zimbabwean, who also played for the Columbus Crew and Los Angeles Galaxy, is currently out of contract, but MLS rosters are frozen and the Red Bulls are unable to sign Ngwenya, if they are so inclined.
"I've seen enough of him in MLS that I know he's a good player, a talented player," Williams said. "We're helping each other out. He's helping us out with the numbers and we're helping him out by getting some training in the process. You're always looking at good players. But there's nothing we're talking to Houston at this time, nothing can happen until the offseason."
Following the 2007 MLS season, Ngwenya signed with Austrian Bundesliga club SK Austria Kärnten, but after just one appearance dissolved his contract, and joined Antalyaspor, where he scored one goal in 11 games.
Now out of contract, Ngwenya is considering a return to Major League Soccer.
"I wouldn't mind it. I think it would be nice for me. I like this city, my girlfriend lives here," Ngwenya said. "It'd be nice. There's just a couple of games left in the season, but if the options comes up, great."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
