With a midweek Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup victory against the San Jose Earthquakes, the New York Red Bulls have put a devastating defeat to D.C. United behind them as they prepare to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
"To win away from home is always a good thing and I believe that it boosts the confidence throughout the squad," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "Hopefully we can bring that into [Saturday's] game, also."
By beating the Earthquakes, the Red Bulls will advance to take on D.C. United at RFK Stadium at a date to be determined in the next round of the Open Cup. It's a rematch that Osorio relishes.
"I want to play them again," Osorio said. "We put a good team on the field on Wednesday and we plan on doing the same thing when we play them for the cup. As I said before, it's a very subjective topic. I personally respect the cup and I personally think it would be very good for the club to do well in it. We're taking it very seriously."
But first, the Red Bulls are concentrating on the winless Galaxy, a team coming off back-to-back 1-1 draws.
"We have to respect what they do," Osorio said. "If they decide to go with a similar starting line as the one they used in the last game, it's quite a very good starting line and it will be a task and a very competitive game on a big field. The key to the game is who can keep possession and we need to concentrate on (Landon) Donovan. ... He's certainly one of the top players in this league."
The Red Bulls have spent the week training on natural grass on the West Coast, which hasn't been the case at their facilities at Montclair State University. The club has trained on an artificial surface while the grass field thawed out after an unusually long winter.
"We all love to train on grass," Osorio said. "I could just see the other day that the guys wanted to stay longer. They all appreciate it, even without telling me I could see their body language. ... It's a lot more comfortable and a lot easier on their bodies."
A week ago Osorio had targeted Saturday's match for Albert Celades' return to the field from a strained hamstring. On Friday, Osorio said the Spanish midfielder is "on schedule" and it's just a matter of figuring how long Celades would be able to play.
"He's improving substantially, he looks very comfortable playing, he looks very sharp on the ball," Osorio said. "He is doing very well at the moment."
Celades was originally on Osorio's gameday roster for Wednesday's Open Cup game, but those plans changed.
"We went into discussion that if the game would have gone into overtime, then he would have ended up playing not 30 (minutes), but maybe 60," Osorio said. "That's the reason why he wasn't on the bench."
Carlos Mendes' shoulder is mending, as is Seth Stammler's knee. Both players will be competing for a starting spot against the Galaxy.
"Carlos is improving. He practiced with the team yesterday and I think he's looking better," Osorio said. "Seth is also doing quite well. The medical department did something with him, it alleviated a lot of the problem he felt. He was feeling not so much pain, but uncomfortable. Now he feels a lot more at ease."
In his first game back from a concussion suffered against Houston, goalkeeper Danny Cepero played the entire 90 minutes against the Quakes. As for who starts in goal Saturday, Osorio said that decision would be made after Friday's training session.
"He did well. He looked comfortable," Osorio said of Cepero. "Whether it's one or the other, I think they're both ready to compete."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
