Photo by ISIphotos.com

With a budding career in Europe and increasing role with the U.S. national team taking up his thoughts, you wouldn't blame Jozy Altidore if he didn't have time to think about the club where it all began.

Photos by ISIphotos.com

With a crisp and chilly breeze blowing at his back, Juan Carlos Osorio rubbed his hands together and revealed a big grin as he declared just how excited he is for tonight's match against Real Salt Lake.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Just plain ugly.

There's no other way to describe the performance by the Red Bulls on Saturday night. The offense finally woke up, scoring four goals and provided some glimpses of the quality that has long been expected of it, but on this same night the normally-reliable defense played the worst 45 minutes a defense has ever played in club history.

So it's the day after the Los Angeles Galaxy's awful 3-1 loss to Chicago on Thursday and you're probably wondering where the Galaxy will go from here. I can tell you where at least one of their players is.

None other than David Beckham is in New York City today along with wife Victoria to promote their fragrance lines.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Ever since Major League Soccer established the program that allowed MLS teams to sign players from their youth academy programs, Red Bulls fans have been wondering when some of their high-profile prospects would start working their way up the pipeline.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Johnny Exantus, the Haitian-born striker and former star of the Red Bulls Academy team, has left the Red Bulls Academy team and has been linked to Belgian club Royal Racing of Montegnee, but that doesn't mean he has given up on playing for the club that he has spent the past three years developing with.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

New York Red Bulls midfielder Jorge Rojas and defender Gabriel Cichero have been called up by the Venezuelan national team for its upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Brazil (Oct. 12) and Ecuador (Oct.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good afternoon folks. With another week in the rearview mirror, and another weekend upon us where we can relax and enjoy some soccer, here is a look back at some stories I missed during the week, some hot topics I wanted to touch on and some recommended reading:

The San Jose-Houston Dynamo match set for this weekend has been postponed as Houston recovers from Hurricane Ike.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

As you may have read elsewhere on Tuesday, there is a Belgian soccer team claiming to have signed New York Red Bulls youth prospect Johnny Exantus (left in photo).

Photo by ISIphotos.com

As you may have read elsewhere on Tuesday, there is a Belgian soccer team claiming to have signed New York Red Bulls youth prospect Johnny Exantus (left in photo).

Newly-acquired Senegalese striker Macoumba Kandji trained with the Red Bulls for the first time on Wednesday and is set to travel with the Red Bulls to Columbus for tomorrow's match against the Columbus Crew (7pm, ESPN2).

Kandji sat out Tuesday's training to receive treatment on his injured right ankle, but he trained on Wednesday and could be in uniform on Thursday night.

The New York Red Bulls match vs. the Columbus Crew on Thursday night will go on as scheduled, Red Bulls and league sources told SBI on Tuesday night.

There was some concern about whether the game would be played because of major blackouts and a state of emergency in Ohio after the state was battered by the remnants of Hurricane Ike.

It was a busy day at Red Bulls training facility, what with three new players to speak to and plenty of other news to get into. I had lengthy interviews with Macoumba Kandji (pictured), Matt Mbuta, Terry Boss and Juan Carlos Osorio that I will look to post later today. For now, here is a rundown of some of the highlights from training and from the post-training interviews:

There is a small chance the Red Bulls game against Columbus on Thursday could be postponed until Saturday.

Red Bulls midfielder Dave Van Den Bergh is set to undergo sports hernia surgery that will force him to miss two to three weeks.

Van Den Bergh will travel to Germany on Wednesday to undergo the procedure.

Van Den Bergh has enjoyed a strong season for the Red Bulls, registering six goals and three assists in 22 games.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The New York Red Bulls have completed the acquisition of Crystal Palace Baltimore midfielder/forward Matthew Mbuta, sources with knowledge of the deal confirmed late on Friday.

There is plenty to discuss regarding this weekend's match-up between the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls, from the intense battle that wound up being decided by one mistake to the return of Juan Carlos Osorio to Toyota Park (there is also my 48 hours in Chicago, which I will get into later).

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Juan Carlos Osorio will be making his first trip back to Toyota Park since leaving the Chicago Fire to take over as coach of the New York Red Bulls and the reception for him isn't likely to be a warm one.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Venezuelan playmaker Jorge Rojas has joined the New York Red Bulls in Washington D.C. today and will play against D.C. United in tomorrow night's Eastern Conference clash at RFK Stadium.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The forecast looked grim for the Red Bulls as they took the field against the Houston Dynamo. The Red Bulls were set to play without three key players, midfielder Jorge Rojas (visa issues), Jeff Parke (ankle injury) and Gabriel Cichero (red card suspension) and set to face a Dynamo team that hasn't lost an MLS match in more than two months.

Good afternoon everybody. Toronto FC is at Giants Stadium today to take on the New York Red Bulls in a key Eastern Conference clash. The winner today moves into playoff position while the loser falls into the trailing pack in the rugged East.

I will be providing running commentary for today's match so be sure to stay tuned to SBI for the latest on the action.

Blowouts are nothing new in the Red Bulls-D.C. United rivalry. In fact, they are practically a tradition. What isn't part of that tradition is the team from New Jersey being the one doing the smacking around.

The roles were reversed on Sunday, with the Red Bulls responding to a D.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

When Jaime Moreno scored what seemed like his 100th career goal against the Red Bulls on Sunday you got the distinct feeling that the season was ready to slip away for the New York squad.

There will be a few more New York Red Bulls fans in attendance for Wednesday night's match against FC Barcelona after the Red Bulls helped lift bans on six of 10 fans who were ejected and banned from Giants stadium during the team's match against the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 19th.

Nine fans were ejected during the altercation pictured above, an incident that escalated after Giants Stadium security guards entered Section 101, home of the Empire Supporter's Club, attempted to remove a fan who was crowd-surfing.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Chivas USA has turned to an MLS veteran to fill the void left by Brad Guzan's transfer to Aston Villa.

The Goats have acquired Zach Thornton from the New York Red Bulls for future considerations.

What does a match between two last place teams look like? It looks like what we saw on Sunday in San Jose. The Earthquakes dominated play but couldn't finish while the Red Bulls looked absolutely awful in a 4-5-1 that set attacking soccer back about 10 years.

The performance would have been consider promising for San Jose if not for the huge mountain still to climb in the West standings.

It was supposed to be the Beckham show on Saturday night at Giants Stadium but Dave Van Den Bergh, Jorge Rojas and Juan Pablo Angel gave the Red Bulls fans in attendance a reason to smile.

At least before Landon Donovan stole the show with a late equalizer, something he's done in the past, to help the Galaxy salvage a tie and force the home team to think about its missed opportunity to close ground in the tight Eastern Conference.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The New York Red Bulls quest to find a replacement for Jozy Altidore has led them to a player who just happens to be in town this weekend.

The Red Bulls are considering acquiring Guatamalan forward Carlos Ruiz from the Los Angeles Galaxy, sources within MLS have told SBI.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With the Claudio Reyna retirement press conference still a few hours away, there are still plenty of questions being asked about his retirement and its ramifications. I've decided to answer some of the questions I'm seeing being raised.

FIRST ON SBI

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Ultimately, the injuries were just too much to overcome.

After a 14-year professional career that saw him play in Germany, England and Scotland before returning to the United States, Claudio Reyna has decided it is time to stop playing.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Time does fly. With soccer a year-round endeavor it is easy to let the years slip by and not even realize how much time has passed since some memorable moments that don't really seem that far away.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Red Bulls' reported plans for a trial for Honduran Under-23 forward George Welcome may be an exercise in futility because they aren't the first MLS team to express interest in the Olympic Qualifying star.

When the New York Red Bulls arrived in California last week, they had to be thinking that a good week just might be in store for them. They were facing a Chivas USA team that beaten recently, they were going to face a USL-2 team in the U.S. Open Cup, and then they were going to play a struggling Colorado Rapids team on the 4th of July.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

A blown lead on an absolutely embarrassing mistake, A 2-0 loss to a USL-2 team AND a 4-0 blowout loss on the 4th of July. These three events took place in a seven-day span, leading me to wonder if there is any way this wasn't the worst week in the history of the club.

Good evening folks. After a day of sun, and the requisite nap that comes with sunning, I wanted to offer up some observations as well as news tidbits to keep the day going for those of you who have turned to SBI for your soccer fix.

Peru reduces suspensions, stars set to return

Reversing what was clearly a dumb decision a few months too late, the Peruvian Football Federation has reduced the suspensions of Jefferson Farfan, Claudio Pizarro and Santiago Acasiete.

The New York Red Bulls look set to receive a big boost to their faltering offense. All-Star forward Juan Pablo Angel is traveling with the team to Colorado for tomorrow's game against the Colorado Rapids and is expected to play.

Angel has been sidelined for almost a month and hasn't played since scoring the game-winning goal for the Red Bulls against Chivas USA on June 5.