At least Edson Buddle still has a sense of humor, or else the Red Bulls struggling striker might be seeking professional help.
"I haven't tried that yet," Buddle joked, when asked if he gone the route of Cerrano in the movie "Major League" and sacrificed a chicken yet to get out of his schneid. "Maybe today, I'll go to Stop and Shop."
After averaging 10 goals a year through his first four seasons in MLS, the New Rochelle, N.Y., native is currently mired in a slump of epic proportions. Buddle, who scored off a Troy Perkins gaffe in an opening day 2-2 draw at D.C. United, has three goals in 21 games. Heading into Saturday's game against red-hot Real Salt Lake, Buddle is riding a nine-game goalless streak, the longest of his career.
"What I'm going to have to do is take a lot more risks," Buddle said. "Instead of trying to be safe, take a lot more risks."
And now the heat is on Buddle, after Red Bulls boss Bruce Arena acquired John Wolyniec from Los Angeles last week. Both Buddle and Wolyniec play the same role: they're big, center forwards who are good in the air and hold the ball up. It's unlikely both players would start up front together, so it appears the competition is on.
With Youri Djorkaeff's natural tendency to drift back into midfield, the Red Bulls formation often resembles a 4-5-1, one that Buddle admits he doesn't like.
"I'm really not too fond of it, playing one striker by myself, but it is what it is," Buddle said. "It probably gets me fitter in the long run but definitely it's boring out there at times, it's lonely up top."
"When it's working, it looks good," he added. "But when it's not working, it's horrible. It's either hot or cold most of the time."
Wolyniec, though, thinks he compliments Djorkaeff quite well, citing their time together early last season before the Staten Island, N.Y., native was shipped to Columbus in a trade for Ante Razov.
"It kind of fits my style of play, being able to hold the ball up, stay high, be a nuisance to the centerbacks and be active up there to kind of keep that space underneath for Youri," said Wolyniec, who had his first full training session with the Red Bulls Friday at Giants Stadium. He'll wear No. 9 in his third stint with the club. "It looks like it should be a good partnership."
Like Buddle, Wolyniec's production this year is down, having scored one goal in 12 games, including eight starts. He has just one year -- 2004 with the MetroStars -- when he scored 10 goals in a season. But he is a tough, hard-working center forward who has a knack around the goal and if he's looking for playing time, the odds are he will have to go through Buddle to get it.
"For the most part, I guess so, yeah, that's what it seems like," Wolyniec said when asked if there's a competition between himself and Buddle to start alongside Djorkaeff. "Obviously with Youri being the quality player that he is, he's used to that withdrawn area that seems to be what the partnership is."
The Red Bulls are winless in their last three games, including a 3-1 U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal defeat at D.C. United Wednesday and have scored one goal in that span. Of the league's 12 teams, the Red Bulls are 10th in goals scored with 23 in 22 games.
One problem Arena faces is depth, or in his case, lack of it. He says the Red Bulls weren't a deep team to begin with, but add injuries to Mike Magee, Elie Ikangu, Mark Lisi, Shawn Kuykendall, Peter Canero and the U.S. Under-20 call-ups of Josmer Altidore and David Arvizu, Arena's depth chart is waif-thin.
"It's not been like we've had a lot of other choices to make either," Arena said, when asked about benching Buddle. "If we're not scoring goals out of that position, you've got to look to make changes. Psychologically what does it matter if the guy's not scoring? What's he going to get down about? It might take a little pressure off of him."
While finding a way to put the ball in the net has been a problem for the Red Bulls, it hasn't been for Real striker Jeff Cunningham, who has a league-leading 14 goals and nine assists and is two goals shy of tying his career high.
"He's an excellent player, individual qualities," Arena said. "Jeff's a good guy, I'm happy it's going well for him. I had a little talk with him last year about his role on his club team. He's certainly made a good impression this year."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
