3-4-1-2. Since the team used essentially a 4-4-2 recent years, the transition has been slow, but steady.
During the recent training camp in Salzburg, Austria, Osorio used, from left to right, Kevin Goldthwaite, Jeff Parke and Carlos Mendes on the backline, although Hunter Freeman, currently with the U.S. under-23 national team for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying is expected to start.
"It's getting there, obviously," Conway said. "It's something new to most of the guys, so it takes a little getting used to. We've kind of ironed out some of the questions that we've had. We're getting a little more comfortable. Each game we're going to get better. So we're going to be fine."
Even though there are three weeks remaining until the club's April 5 home opener against the Columbus Crew, Conway is, well, bullish on the team's chances this season.
"It's going up. It's in the right direction," he said. "I don't like really to predict on what's going to happen. But I feel we have a strong squad. Everybody's contributing the way they should. I think its going to be a real tough team."
While the team was in Salzburg for a week, Conway got to train at Red Bull Arena, home of the team's sister club, Red Bull Salzburg. So, they got a preview of Red Bull Park in Harrison, N.J., scheduled to open sometime in 2009. The Arena is slightly larger than the Park -- 30,000 to 25,000 in seating capacity -- but the look, feel and construction of the stadium is close to the new facility, team officials said.
"It's beautiful," Conway said. "If Red Bull Park is anything like this, it will be great. It will be great for the fans. It will be a great place to play."
Richards out 3 months:: Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards was hit with stunning news Monday as he discovered he will be sidelined three months with a torn MCL suffered last week.
That means Richards won't be expected to play until mid-June.
Richards, a finalist for rookie of the year last season, underwent an MRI in Salzburg on March 4 before being examined by Red Bulls physicians after the team returned home. However, the injury is not serious enough to require surgery.
The Jamaican international suffered the injury in his team's 1-0 defeat to the Red Bull Salzburg reserves March 3.
Richards was forced from the game in the 14th minute, three minutes after Harald Pichler took him down at midfield. Pichler was awarded a yellow card in the match, which turned into a chippy affair.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
