With a gleaming new $200 million home, the New York Red Bulls are anxious to put a disastrous 2009 season behind them.
They would like to christen their stadium with a rousing victory against an opponent that has dominated them over the last two years.
Red Bull Arena will host its first MLS match Saturday night when New York meets the Chicago Fire, who have already created major waves under new coach Carlos de los Cobos.
New York closed its long tenure at Giants Stadium with the worst season in franchise history, going 5-19-6 to finish with 21 points while extending its league-record winless streak on the road to 27 matches (0-20-7). The club is excited about moving forward in its new home, a 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium alongside the Passaic River.
"Last season was like the perfect storm - everything went bad," forward John Wolyniec said. "We lacked guidance. We also lacked confidence, and we had a fitting record. There's a lot more consistency now with our leadership."
New sporting director-general manager Erik Soler and Swedish coach Hans Backe are in charge of making New York competitive. They're counting on Colombian superstar Juan Pablo Angel, who scored 12 of the club's 27 goals last season and is the franchise's all-time leading scorer.
Angel missed last weekend's 3-1 exhibition win over Santos because of a knee injury, and it's not clear whether he will be available Saturday.
Veteran Bouna Condoul is expected to start in goal while Wolyniec, Macoumba Kandji and Dane Richards all figure to be in contention for starting slots up front.
"In pro sports, when a team goes bad, they make a ton of changes," Wolyniec said. "But the roster hasn't been totally flipped over. That's new, especially for a New York franchise gone wrong."
While Soler and Backe have not made drastic changes, they have to be hoping for vastly different results against Chicago. The Red Bulls have dropped all four meetings over the past two seasons, losses that led to the departure of former Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
Chicago has a new coach in De los Cobos after falling one game short of reaching the MLS Cup each of the last two seasons under Denis Hamlett, losing to eventual champion Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks last year after an 11-7-12 regular season. The Fire are eager to take the next step under De los Cobos, a Mexican who most recently coached the El Salvador national team.
"We truly believe he has the passion and enthusiasm to inspire both our fans and our players, and that he will help us bring an MLS Cup back to Chicago," technical director Frank Klopas said.
De los Cobos and the Fire made a stunning move Monday, announcing the release of popular goalkeeper Jon Busch. The veteran played in every minute of every match for Chicago the last two years, earning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors in 2008.
Second-year goalie Andrew Dykstra will start Saturday.
The Fire lost superstar Cuauhtemoc Blanco, who returned to his native Mexico. Chicago hopes to make up for Blanco's loss with the addition of veteran Collins John, who previously played with Fulham in the English Premier League.
