October 30, 2009 BY THE NUMBERS They helped define Bulls' tough season
Playing most of the season at a position at which he was not accustomed -- right fullback -- Red Bulls rookie Jeremy Hall had an interesting odyssey as he wound up No. 3 in minutes played on the club at 2001. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
Players like to say that results don't lie. Numbers don't either, many times.
The Red Bulls struggled through one of the worst seasons in MLS' 14-year history. In many ways, numbers did define their woeful finish.
Here are just a few of them. Some are good. Some are bad. And some are just downright ugly.
Minus 24 -- The Red Bulls' goal differential on the road. They scored three goals and surrendered 27. Real Salt Lake was next with minus 18 (nine goals for, 24 against en route to a 2-11-2 away record).
0 -- No Red Bull registered consecutive games with assists.
1 -- As in the only winning streak beyond one the Red Bulls had. They won two games twice.
0-17-1 -- The Red Bulls record when they trailed at the half.
.067 -- The Red Bulls' road winning percentage after a 0-13-2 season.
.267 -- The Red Bulls' overall percentage after a 5-19-6 season.
2 -- As in two players, Juan Pablo Angel and Dane Richards, the only two Red Bulls who managed to scored goals in two consecutive games.
3 -- The times right fullback Carlos Johnson was red carded this season, tying him for the league lead with Real Salt Lake's Jamison Olave.
4-0-1 -- The Red Bulls' record when they led at halftime.
5-0-2 -- The Red Bulls' record when they scored the first goal.
6 -- Goals the Red Bulls scored in the final 15 minutes of the opening half (see No. 11).
8 -- Danny Cepero's loses in the net. Jon Conway, he was released in June, had seven defeats.
8 -- The number of red cards the Red Bulls were awarded.
9 -- The number of points the Red Bulls finished behind the San Jose Earthquakes, the next team above them.
11 -- Goals the Red Bulls allowed in the final 15 minutes of the first half, which tied them for first with D.C. United. Not surprisingly, both teams failed to reach the playoffs.
19 -- The times the Red Bulls went down to defeat after allowing the first goal. Their record was 0-19-3.
12 -- The number of goals Juan Pablo Angel scored, which tied him for third in the league.
27 -- The number of goals the Red Bulls scored this season, the fewest in the league and six behind the Kansas City Wizards.
30 -- The games left-sided midfielder Dave van den Bergh started for FC Dallas.
34 -- The times Angel was called offside. Toronto's Dwyane DeRosario and New England's Patrick Nyarko were tied for the league-lead with 43 apiece.
37 -- The number of shots on goal Angel attempted. He finished second to FC Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham (38).
43 -- The number of fouls caused by forward Macoumba Kandji. He tied for RSL's Ryan Johnson for eighth in the league.
47 -- The number of goals the Red Bulls allowed. They were tied with FC Dallas for 13th in the league. The most surrendered was by San Jose (50).
47 -- The fouls suffered by Kandji, who was eighth in the league.
61 -- The number of shots Angel took this season. He finished third in the league behind Fredy Montero (86) and Omar Cummings (82).
82 -- The number of minutes backup goalkeeper Alec Dufty came on to play after Cepero was injured in a scoreless tie at Houston in April. Despite his fine performance, Dufty was released by the club the next day.
299 -- The Red Bulls were fouled 299 times, sixth in the league.
358 -- The Red Bulls fouled the opposition 358 times, fourth in the league.
375 -- The number of shots the Red Bulls allowed, tying San Jose for 14th.
2,238 -- The minutes Seth Stammler played as he led the team in that category. Only two teammates cracked the 2,000 barrier -- Angel (2,133) and rookie defender-midfielder Jeremy Hall (2,001).
187,359 -- The number of fans the Red Bulls attracted for their 15 league games at Giants Stadium. That gave them an average of 12,491 per game, 12th in the 15-team league.
