Sebastian Rozental, Ezra Hendrickson, Joseph Ngwenya and Jason Garey - weren't 90 minutes fit. "How many minutes can those guys really give you? That's a factor," he said to the Dispatch. "It's frustrating. Substitutions are too valuable."
Then, just before halftime, Thomas went down with a calf injury. "You have to want to score goals. I can't run out onto the field and tell them. You have to want to go forward. I have talked to them about it until I am blue in the face," Schmid said. "Same thing, Jacob Thomas is having a good game and we lose him. Frustrating I guess is the best word."
On Friday, the Crew re-signed New Zealand international Duncan Oughton. The six-year MLS veteran was waived on May 12 when the Crew acquired Joseph Ngwenya from the Los Angeles Galaxy, and needed to clear an international slot. Oughton last played for the Crew when he injured his right knee in a playoff game against the New England Revolution on Oct. 31, 2004. He underwent cartilage transplant surgery on his right knee and missed the entire 2005 season. To make room for Oughton, the club waived Leo Bisaku.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls had a moderately successful outing in Bruce Arena's debut as head coach, playing to a scoreless draw with MLS overall leader D.C. United on Wednesday evening at Giants Stadium. The Red Bulls now find themselves in a three-way tie for third place, as they, the Chicago Fire and Kansas City Wizards all have 25 points, though the Fire and Red Bulls have played two fewer games. The trio trails the New England Revolution by three points, and is five points ahead of the sixth-place Columbus Crew.
LAST MATCH
It was a stunning story - Bruce Arena in his first league game in charge of the Red Bulls after eight years as manager of the U.S. national team, facing the club he led to back-to-back MLS Cups in the league's first two seasons. He inherited a Red Bulls team that hadn't lost in four games, while United came into the game after a loss to Real Salt Lake in their last game before the All-Star break that snapped a 14-game undefeated run.
Unfortunately, there were no goals as the very organized Red Bulls completely suffocated the United attack, allowing them just three shots at goal on the night.
The closest chances for either team all came in the final 10 minutes. A Chris Henderson shot was nearly deflected by Facundo Erpen past Troy Perkins, but the United 'keeper made a fine reaction stop in the 82nd minute, then just three minutes later Edson Buddle headed wide from a clear chance on a Henderson cross.
In the 90th minute, Jaime Moreno put Josh Gros in behind the Red Bulls back line and he pulled back a cross past Tony Meola's dive to Jamil Walker at the spot. But his shot was knocked away in the goalmouth by a retreating Carlos Mendes.
Arena made two changes to the team that Richie Williams ran out in his last game as interim head coach, a 1-1 draw with Houston Dynamo on July 29. Danny O'Rourke and Seth Stammler were both suspended, and Dema Kovalenko made his Red Bulls after being signed over the All-Star break, while Youri Djorkaeff made his return to the team after missing seven matches.
Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Tony Meola, Marvell Wynne, Jeff Parke, Carlos Mendes, Todd Dunivant - Mike Magee (Joe Vide 63), Amado Guevara, Dema Kovalenko, Chris Henderson - Youri Djorkaeff, Edson Buddle. [Substitutes Not Used: Blake Camp, Jordan Cila, Jon Conway, Taylor Graham, Steve Jolley, Jerrod Laventure]
"They competed. I thought that's important, and they brought a good attitude to the field. I thought they brought a good attitude to the field on Saturday, too, against Barcelona," Arena said. "We wanted to make it a good exhibition for the people in the stands, and we did that in all honesty. It was a good game and certainly I think there's a home-field advantage - obviously on the surface for us that helps slow down a team of that quality."
TEAM NEWS
As expected, the game was all about the debuts. First, there was a first league game in charge for Arena. "You can see the hand of the coach in this game. We looked like the better team from the beginning to the end of the game. He put into our head that we are strong and we are good players so I think the more information he gives us, the better we are going to get," said Amado Guevara. "The biggest change between the last coaches and Bruce is the tactical order we had during the game. We are more steady and organized on the field and we didn't give up too much to D.C. United. They had maybe two chances at our goal, and that's it."
For Arena, he too had a learning curve with his group in a real game situation for the first time. "This is the first game I've had to really analyze players," he said. "... You need to analyze your team against other teams in the league, because that's who we compete against, and it told me that the guys play together, you put them in the right spots, they have the concentration, understand tactically what they need to do, they can compete in the league. We're not one of the premier teams in the league, we know that, but we're going to get better with this group."
Then there was the debut of Dema Kovalenko, who with the suspension to Danny O'Rourke, moved into a holding midfield role just behind Amado Guevara. "We knew Dema from already from before, we know he's a great player not only going forward but when he gets the ball he knows what to do with the ball," Guevara said."We're very fortunate to have him on our team and he helped us today."
Kovalenko was a key component in shutting down the United attack and limiting them to just three goal attempts. Of course, he was last in the league with United, playing there from 2003 to 2005.
"I think we took Christian out of the game today and Jaime [Moreno], they couldn't really connect and do anything," Kovalenko said. "Unfortunately we didn't win. I thought we were the better team today. They're a very good team and we have to respect them but today we were the better team."
Still, it was a league-leading 10th draw of the season for the Red Bulls - one shy from the club record set a season ago. "I think it's a good one, because I think our guys played a pretty good game," said Arena. "[They had] good concentration, good movement as a team, created some chances, maybe a little unlucky not to get that one call for a handball but it was a pretty good effort on our part. I was pleased with the guys."
If there was a real down point on the night, it was the loss of Mike Magee after the hour mark with strained ligaments in his right knee after a collision with United 'keeper Troy Perkins. "I thought a bunch of guys played well. I think (Mike) Magee was playing well, all of the guys," Arena said. "It was a good performance on their part. No one questions that that's the best team in the league [D.C United], so it was a good effort."
