July 4, 2009 VANDY ON THE TRADE ‘You kind of get what you aim for’
Dave van den Bergh: "There were opportunities for them to re-sign me. They didn't jump on it. After a while you kind of get what you aim for." Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
During their sorry 2-12-4 season, the Red Bulls have discovered a lot of holes in their lineup.
But the biggest gap might have been at left midfielder. After trading midfielder Dave van den Bergh to FC Dallas for forward Dominic Oduro (and the Texans' second round pick in the MLS SuperDraft), Khano Smith was brought in to play the position. He has been a flop. Jorge Rojas and Danleigh Borman have been used there as well, with no one being able to take over the spot.
Van Bergh played a key role in the Red Bulls run to MLS Cup last year.
"It's flattering for me," van den Bergh said in an abbreviated interview on Friday. "I'm sorry for the coach and the players that stayed behind. I wish for them to be doing just as good if not better than last year. But on the other hand, I think I had talked to them four months previously before I got traded. There were opportunities for them to re-sign me. They didn't jump on it. After a while you kind of get what you aim for."
Oduro was a bust at forward and the Red Bulls dealt him to the Houston Dynamo on May 27 for theMLS club's highest 2010 first round MLS SuperDraft choice and highest 2011 second round MLS SuperDraft pick.
Dallas hosts the struggling Red Bulls at Pizza Hut Park at 9 p.m. Saturday (MSG).
This will be van den Bergh's first game against his former teammates.
"It's going to be special for sure," he said. "It's going to be weird. But on the other hand, you've got to treat it as just any other game because if you're going to think about it too much, it's going to paralyze you. It's kind of a weird situation, where your emotions want to take over, but you can't let them."
Van den Bergh hasn't scored any goals for Dallas (3-7-5, 14 points), which is in sixth place in the Western Conference, but he has four assists.
"We are not winning too much, unfortunately," he said. "Still a little more than New York. It says a lot about them as well, although of late we have been doing better. we have gotten eight points out of the last five games. We seem to be doing just a little bit better. Hopefully, we can keep that up."
