NY Red Bull - King Henry!

Went to the game Saturday and couldn't believe the large section of confused Arsenal fans who had shown up to worship the new signing. They all wore Arsenal replicas and T's, and sang/chanted for much of the match. The ridiculous part was that the songs & chants were all Aresenal-related! They could have been in the Shed End @ Highbury, FFS! T. Henry chants are one thing, but going on about how much they hated Tottenham was just laughable. The saddest part was when they'd spot someone in anotherEPL jersey and come down on them like a ton of bricks....

Were these Brit expats/holidaymakers? I would expect this kind of thing from those types, but honestly coming from Americans I find it kind of pretentious. We just don't have the soccer culture to justify that kind of behavior. Being all for your MLS team? Great! But carrying it to the point of singing Arsenal songs for Henry and the Tottenham hate? Thats a bit wack.


I guess what I really am trying to say is I generally wouldn't expect Americans to make fools of themselves over soccer, regardless of how much they love it.

I remember a few years ago when the MLS All Star was in Toronto, West Ham showed up. I heard there were fights in the US friendlies leading up to the all star game (obviously Canadians are too genteel) - but that seemed to be consistent of Hammers supporters so maybe this is as well

It would have been nice if they filled up the stadium with that when they played the Spurs in the July friendly.

Originally Posted by Quatsch

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Were these Brit expats/holidaymakers? I would expect this kind of thing from those types, but honestly coming from Americans I find it kind of pretentious. We just don't have the soccer culture to justify that kind of behavior. Being all for your MLS team? Great! But carrying it to the point of singing Arsenal songs for Henry and the Tottenham hate? Thats a bit wack.


I guess what I really am trying to say is I generally wouldn't expect Americans to make fools of themselves over soccer, regardless of how much they love it.

A fairly diverse group. I'm sure there were some ex-pats. I recognized a buncn of guys from Nevada's - there were the banners you see there (NYC Arsenal Supporters, NY Gooners, etc.). Lots of Asians who, at least in the Nevadas crowd are a mix of ex-pats (brits & others) and asian americans.

Originally Posted by romafan

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They could have been in the Shed End @ Highbury, FFS!

Just to be pendantic, Highbury had the Clock End and North Stand.

Shed End was/is at Stamford Bridge. Old Bridge had an end stand covered in corrugated metal (i.e., like a shed), whereas now it's just called the "Shed End."

I found them strangely quiet, actually, and I like Arsenal. NY fans were much louder where I was sitting. But then I notice that fans in the upper deck sound a lot louder in the upper deck, but are hard to hear lower down.

Btw, for NYC-based soccer fans, Henry coming to the RB has made the team MUCH more fun to watch. Nice attacking play, good passing, etc. I think it's more Henry than Marquez, who doesn't seem to have picked up his speed enough for MLS yet. Henry has enlivened other NY players too (Richards, Angel, etc.) It's a good time.

Originally Posted by mr. magoo

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Just to be pendantic, Highbury had the Clock End and North Stand.

Shed End was/is at Stamford Bridge. Old Bridge had an end stand covered in corrugated metal (i.e., like a shed), whereas now it's just called the "Shed End."

I found them strangely quiet, actually, and I like Arsenal. NY fans were much louder where I was sitting. But then I notice that fans in the upper deck sound a lot louder in the upper deck, but are hard to hear lower down.

Btw, for NYC-based soccer fans, Henry coming to the RB has made the team MUCH more fun to watch. Nice attacking play, good passing, etc. I think it's more Henry than Marquez, who doesn't seem to have picked up his speed enough for MLS yet. Henry has enlivened other NY players too (Richards, Angel, etc.) It's a good time.

Really? I haven't watched RBNY for a couple years now but quality used to be inconsistent and generally boring. This is good news.

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

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Really? I haven't watched RBNY for a couple years now but quality used to be inconsistent and generally boring. This is good news.

The coach (Bakke) has gotten the team to be fairly attack-oriented and move off the ball a lot more, which has helped things. The defenders, especially Ream (American rookie that may be on US soon) and Miller (Costa Rican national team) are very good at starting attacks.

Henry himself is, of course, a top notch athlete and player. But he also likes to play on the ground and try fun flicks, etc. The first game I saw with him (vs. San Jose) had had 2 great chances that involved some fun razzle dazzle -- one flying heel and the other one touch overhead. The second game (vs. Colorado w/Arsenal fans), he scored off two heel balls in a row.

In their losses with Henry (LA at home, Salt Lake on the road), RBNY has still attacked quite a lot. I don't mind losing, but I want to be entertained in the process. That's not to say they may not be inconsistent, but at times they're an absolute delight, if you like soccer, of course.

I CAN say they're a hell of a lot more entertaining than that damned Jets game I watched last night (yech).

Cool - maybe I'll give them a shot again. I remember three consecutive times I took friends to a Metrostars/RBNY game, the games ended in 0-0 draws. Way to win some fans over. Glad that things have changed.

I just watched the highlights from the 3-1 win last weekend and they do indeed look pretty damn smooth on offense. Also kind of jarring to see both Marquez and Henry playing in NY.

Originally Posted by Quatsch

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I guess what I really am trying to say is I generally wouldn't expect Americans to make fools of themselves over soccer, regardless of how much they love it.

They don't even do that for football.... Eagles fans nonwithstanding.

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

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Cool - maybe I'll give them a shot again. I remember three consecutive times I took friends to a Metrostars/RBNY game, the games ended in 0-0 draws. Way to win some fans over. Glad that things have changed.

The stadium's also pretty decent and easy to get to from the City. Take A,C or E to Chambers, and hop the PATH to Harrison. Ride to Harrison takes about 20 minutes and accepts Metro(styles)Cards. From there, it's a 10 minute walk. Easy peasy.

Originally Posted by mr. magoo

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Just to be pendantic, Highbury had the Clock End and North Stand.

Shed End was/is at Stamford Bridge. Old Bridge had an end stand covered in corrugated metal (i.e., like a shed), whereas now it's just called the "Shed End."

I found them strangely quiet, actually, and I like Arsenal. NY fans were much louder where I was sitting. But then I notice that fans in the upper deck sound a lot louder in the upper deck, but are hard to hear lower down.

Btw, for NYC-based soccer fans, Henry coming to the RB has made the team MUCH more fun to watch. Nice attacking play, good passing, etc. I think it's more Henry than Marquez, who doesn't seem to have picked up his speed enough for MLS yet. Henry has enlivened other NY players too (Richards, Angel, etc.) It's a good time.

My bad. I only went to a couple of games @ Highbury (long ago). The memorable match (West Ham) had opposing fans congregating on the open terrace (to the south?) where the clock was, while the opposite end (which i recall it being at least partially covered with that corrugated tin stuff ?) was all Arsenal. I think that and the Arsenal tube station being covered in "shed" referenced graffiti might be responsible for my confusion? Also, a couple of guys I grew up with had gone to ASL and would regale us w/ Chelsea stories, so maybe that' it?

Anyway, I was in the upper section next to these guys on Saturday. To me, they were much louder than the guys behind the goal, so where you're sitting probably has a lot to do w/ your perception. Yes, compared to European crowds they were fairly quiet, but the Wild ROver-themed song was done a few times, same w/ Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal (tune of Here We Go). It just seemed very misplaced to me. And the anti-Spurs stuff was just What pissed me off was the hostility toward individuals simply wearing an EPL jersey.

Agreed that RB was much more fun to watch.