November 21, 2009
OFFSIDE REMARKS
Here are the Red Bulls I would protect for the expansion draft
So, who do you think the Red Bulls will protect -- goalkeeper Bouna Coundol or Danny Cepero.
Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
SEATTLE -- Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Decisions are being made by the Red Bulls management these days on who to protect and who to leave dangling for the Philadelphia Union in next week's expansion draft.
Unfortunately, decisions are being made by people who don't know if they will be with the team next year. Interim coach Richie Williams and sporting director Jeff Agoos, who has been given permission to seek employment elsewhere, will determine players to protect and which ones to leave open for the Philadelphia Union as new sporting director and coach have yet to be named.
Each team is allowed 11 players to be protected for Wednesday's draft. Lists have to be into the MLS office by Monday.
The team will lose only one player in the draft, although some supporters wouldn't mind several players leaving the team for good.
There are some obvious choices for the protected list.
Team captain and striker Juan Pablo Angel is a given. Giorgi Chirgadze, the Red Bull Academy player recently signed by the team, also is a must.
From the players' performances in an otherwise lackluster Red Bulls season, I would put defender Kevin Goldthwaite, midfielder Seth Stammler and Dane Richards on the list. While Richards struggled early, he still has speed to make life miserable for defenders and is too good to be left out there.
Forward Macoumba Kandji, with all his faults, also should be protected.
That gives us six players under the umbrella.
I would also put several young players on the list, including defender-midfielder Jeremy Hall and midfielder Nick Zimmerman, who just completed their rookie seasons.
You could make a case for either goalkeeper to be protected, but given Williams' decision to play Bouna Coundoul more, the gut feeling here is that he will go with the Senegal international keeper.
Danny Cepero could be an interesting choice for Philly because he starred at the University of Pennsylvania.
So, that makes nine protected and two spots open.
Candidates for those two positions include defenders Carlos Mendes and Mike Petke, defender-midfielder Danleigh Borman, midfielders Luke Sassano and Sinisa Ubiparipovic and veteran forward John Wolyniec.
Between Mendes and Petke, I think the team will pull the former back because he is younger. The problem with leaving Petke out there is that he was a starter for Philly coach Peter Nowak's MLS Cup championship side with D.C. United in 2004. So, Nowak knows what he would be getting. Whether he would start with the Union, Petke would give the club great cover in central defense.
The last spot would go to Borman. He acquitted himself well at two spots -- left fullback, a position, he hadn't played in years, and left midfield.
So, will be left unprotected?
Well, besides Woly (I don't think the Union would want a 34-year-old forward), Ubiparipovic, Sassano and Cepero, there is the foreign contingent. That includes defenders Andrew Boyens (New Zealand), Carlos Johnson (Costa Rica) and Walter Garcia (Argentina), midfielders Jorge Rojas (Venezuela), Ernst Oebster (Austria) and Matthew Mbuta (Cameroon).
I'm just wondering what you thought of my protected list. Do you agree, disagree? Who would you keep?
Michael Lewis would like to hear from you. If you have a comment, drop him a line at email.
