'THE CHALLENGE IS IMMENSE' Osorio faces one tough task
Juan Carlos Osorio: "I realized how big this club is, and that in itself is a great challenge, and that made me decide that I couldn't let this go by."
Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
New York -- The team has employed more coaches than any other MLS team in the league's 12-year history. The impressive list includes Bob Bradley, Bruce Arena, Octavio Zambrano and Carlos Alberto Parreira, among others.
So, why does the newest man in charge of the Red Bulls, Juan Carlos Osorio, the 11th coach in the club's history, think he is the one who can change things for this underachieving franchise?
"The magnitude of the challenge here is immense," Osoirio said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference in Manhattan. "I think that's what life is about. It's about challenges, and I think this is probably the biggest challenge there is. And being from the New York area and spending a year well, a season and a couple months here as an assistant coach, I realized how big this club is, and that in itself is a great challenge, and that made me decide that I couldn't let this go by."
But Osorio said he was making no promises of turning things around.
"I can't promise that I will do that, but I will certainly put all my efforts and you will certainly see a very competitive team that leaves everything in any game and that will be capable to compete against anybody in this MLS league and can beat anybody that given day," he said. "And if that's the case, then we'll see how far we can be with a team like that."
Osoiro, who directed the Chicago Fire to a 6-3-6 regular-season record after succeeding Dave Sarachan as coach in July and to an opening-round upset of D.C. United in the MLS playoffs before being eliminated in the Eastern Conference final, succeeds former U.S. national coach Bruce Arena. Arena agreed to leave the team on Nov. 5.
The Red Bulls received permission to talk to the 46-year-old Osorio for their first round selection in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, a third-round pick in the 2011 MLS draft and cash considerations.
"After six long weeks of searching for our next coach and putting down on paper what we were looking for, I think we've found the guy who has the right mix of experience internationally, both in Europe, in the EPL and in South America and obviously in the MLS," Red Bulls managing director Marc de Grandpre said. "So he brings to us everything we were looking for.
"His commitment, his passion for the game are contagious. We understand that he is a true football man, as he says, and that's what we were looking for, someone who's passionate, committed, and who has something to prove, and he's coming here with a clear understanding of what the expectations are and he's going to live up to them. I'm extremely confident that this man will instill what he believes in into our players.
Although de Grandpre said on Nov. 5 that the only thing that could have saved Arena's job was to win the MLS title, he did not make that a criteria for Osorio.
"Juan will not be fired if we don't win the championship," he said. "As long as we can look our fans in the eyes and tell them that our team did everything they could every week and they were well prepared and left everything on the field as Juan said, that's what we're looking for."
Osorio's top priority will be to fortify the Red Bulls' defense. He is more than happy with the team's attack.
"In a nutshell, if I'm honest, without criticizing the previous coach, for whom I have a great admiration and respect, I would say if you look at the stats then you'll notice it's the third team in scoring goals, so definitely the team can score goals and they have very good strikers in Juan (Pablo Angel) and Jozy (Altidore) and (John) Wolyniec and even in (Dane) Richards.
"Defensively we have to improve. A lot of goals were allowed, and I think that's probably the department that we have to strengthen the team the most.
"But if you ask me as a coach, I think we can always improve in every single part of the team. We need more plays on the left side, and hopefully I have enough to get one or two players that will definitely strengthen the squad and not only that but the team."
