After the New York Red Bulls' last match, a 3-3 draw with the Kansas City Wizards at Giants Stadium, Bruce Arena stood at the dais in the post-game press conference and expressed his displeasure with his team's defense, among a variety of concerns.
It was just a month ago when the Red Bulls had the stingiest back line in Major League Soccer, having conceded just one goal in their first five games at the Meadowlands. But the injury-plagued defense has leaked 11 goals in the past four games. Something had to change.
On Wednesday, the Red Bulls announced part one of what is likely a reconstruction of the back line when they traded defender Todd Dunivant to Toronto FC for fellow defender Kevin Goldthwaite.
Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston has always valued Dunivant and was the man who orchestrated the trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy exactly one year ago to bring the left back to New York.
But Dunivant has had injury problems since his arrival and missed the last five games with a right quadriceps strain. Now he'll join former Red Bulls teammate Marvell Wynne as the wide players in Toronto's back four.
In his second full year in MLS, Goldthwaite joined his fourth team when he trained with the Red Bulls on Wednesday. He was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the second round of the 2005 draft but was loaned to the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division. In April he was dealt from Houston with a 2008 first-round pick to Toronto for veteran midfielder Richard Mulrooney. He appeared and started in nine games for TFC and had a goal and an assist.
Arena also announced Wednesday that the Red Bulls have waived defenders Taylor Graham and Tim Regan, who were both used in reserve roles for New York. Graham appeared in five games this year, starting three. Regan started two of the three games he played in. The starts for both players came after injuries to Dunivant, Hunter Freeman and Jeff Parke.
Those moves should open the door to sign either veteran Tony Sanneh or versatile Chris Leitch, or both. Sanneh and Leitch have been training with the Red Bulls for the past three weeks.
Sanneh, who was one of the stars of the U.S. national team in the 2002 World Cup, was with the Chicago Fire last year. But when a contract couldn't get worked out, the two sides parted ways and the 36-year-old has been rehabbing from offseason hip surgery ever since.
"I would think I could help any team in the league," Sanneh said at a recent training session. "It's no secret I played a long time. If you look at Chicago last year and you look at them now, the only difference was me. I am another experienced player and that's a positive, not a negative."
After winning a pair of MLS Cups with D.C. United, Sanneh went to Germany to play for Hertha Berlin of the Bundesliga. He transferred to FC Nuremberg in 2001 but after three injury-plagued seasons, Sanneh returned to America to play for the Columbus Crew. He was traded to the Fire in 2005 and he didn't have his contract renewed following the 2006 season.
Sanneh, 36, has 43 caps and was one of the best U.S. players of the 2002 World Cup, serving the cross to Brian McBride for the first goal against Portugal in the U.S. World Cup opener.
"I wouldn't do this if I could just play and I don't want to be average," Sanneh said. "If I didn't think I could excel and be a special player and be above average and win championships, I wouldn't be playing."
Leitch was also close to making the Red Bulls in the preseason, but he picked up a knee injury in training camp and the Red Bulls were forced to look in a different direction, eventually trading for Freeman. Leitch, 28, played for the MetroStars from 2003-05, but his rights are still owned by Columbus, even though the Crew waived him late in the preseason.
"The hardest thing is just watching games, not being able to play," Leitch said. "You can practice all you want to, train all you want to, but you have to be rewarded with a game. That's why we're in this profession and that's why we play. It's hard to watch teams play every week."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
