"I want to apologize to the fans, especially the fans that came here and had to suffer by coming here," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said following a 5-3 loss to D.C. United in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifier. "I do apologize because we lacked character, we lacked passion, we lacked heart. The second half, completely different."
In what Osorio called "the worst game I've ever coached here with the Red Bulls," New York fell behind 4-0 in the opening 26 minutes and, despite a more spirited response after halftime to pull three goals back, could never recover from a brutal first half. "It seemed like we were playing a scrimmage game, no tackles, not competing for 50-50 balls," he said. "That is unacceptable and I will not accept that from anybody."
Coming off a well-fought 1-1 draw with Houston on Saturday night, and with an important Eastern Conference clash with Chicago on the horizon, Osorio used the Open Cup qualifier as a chance to give some players who haven't been getting playing time in league games a look. "There was a big test for some of the guys and, if I am honest, some of them failed the test today," Osorio said, later adding, "It's not like they haven't played in a week or so. We play football every day, they play in their positions every day. Today was a very good chance for many of them to impress and they certainly didn't impress me."
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