E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - So what exactly happened to the Red Bulls that led to a 5-1 trouncing by the rival Chicago Fire at Giants Stadium Sunday?
New York didn't hold onto possession, giving the ball away too easily, they gave up goals in the opening 10 minutes of each half, they backed off Cuauhtémoc Blanco like he had a bad case of B.O. and they were caught flat-footed at the back post on a couple of goals.
In a nutshell, everything.
"I am renowned for not having a go with individual players, but they know exactly how I feel," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "If there is any doubts, they will know tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock."
It was a historic defeat for the Red Bulls, which hadn't suffered this lopsided a loss at home since June 5, 1999, when they fell 5-2 to Dallas. The last time New York gave up more than five goals in a defeat was July 3, 2004 at D.C. United.
"It's disappointing," Jeff Parke said. "It feels like (crap). You don't like to see something like that happen, a team come into our place and beat us 5-1."
The Red Bulls looked like a team that had never seen Blanco before. The plan was never to man-mark the former Mexican international, but the Red Bulls collectively led Blanco do whatever he wanted. He set up a pair of Chad Barrett goals and Chris Rolfe's second goal of the year and then scored from the penalty spot to cap a dominating performance. He was also involved in the fifth goal, when a header from his corner kick bounced off the crossbar before the rebound was knocked in.
"Without blaming anyone, every time I turned around I couldn't believe how much time he had," Claudio Reyna said. "Juan (Pablo Angel) and I sat at halftime and said we never have time like that. He just seemed to be running into spaces and didn't really know why he was so open at times. ... Pace isn't his thing and he was getting wide open on the ball."
And it wasn't just Blanco who seemed to have a free pass Sunday afternoon.
"We were a very easy team to play against," Osorio said. "I didn't recall any physical contact in the first half with Cuauhtémoc, Chad, Justin (Mapp) and Chris Rolfe. We were not ready and it seemed to me from the start we were not interested."
The Red Bulls played the same 4-2-3-1 formation as the Fire, but the hosts rarely kept possession and when they did, the service to Angel was lacking.
"We never got into the game," Angel said. "Every time they got into an attacking position, they scored a goal. You have to give them credit."
There was plenty of blame to go around and plenty of players who accepted responsibility in the Red Bulls locker room afterward.
The Red Bulls gave up the opening goal before the game was 10 minutes old, an uncontested Blanco long ball out of midfield deflecting off Hunter Freeman's knee and right to Barrett, who beat Jon Conway inside the far post.
"It was pretty clear it was just a bad day," Hunter Freeman said. "The first goal was my fault. They played a ball back, I was inside of (Barrett), the ball kind of chucked up, ricocheted off of me and went right into (Barrett's) path."
Remarkably, the Red Bulls trailed just 1-0 at the half. But just three minutes after returning to the field, the Fire doubled their advantage, Blanco crossing the ball in front to Rolfe, who scored on an open header.
"It was strange really," Reyna said. "The early goal in each half really killed us. Some heads went down and then we didn't really snap out of it. It was just everyone. Too many people fell asleep really defending."
From there the rout was on as Chicago poured it on, scoring three more goals in the next eight minutes to take a commanding 5-0 lead.
For the Fire, it was a measure of revenge, beating their former coach, Osorio, who watched the game from a Giants Stadium suite because of a one-game suspension for being sent off in last week's game against Kansas City.
For the Red Bulls, it was a nightmare they would like not to relive any time soon.
"It's always disappointing to lose," Freeman said. "To lose 5-1 is embarrassing and then obviously you always want to support your coach and I think we're all behind coach here. For me, personally, it makes it even worse of a loss."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
