Gerhard Struber departed the Red Bulls on Monday. (USA TODAY Sports)

Will Smith is a long-time soccer fan from the area who follows the Red Bulls. He has written about that MLS team and the beautiful game over the years.

By Will Smith
Special to FrontRowSoccer.com

He came from Austria
An energy drink man through & through
A big investment by the team
We cried, “NY is red, not blue!”

He took forever to arrive
Then crashed out of the post season
He brought in new players
Without rhyme or reason

Losing is hard enough
There’s no reason to be rude
And act like Americans don’t know the game

He was not “sexy,” smart or tough
He fiddled while Rome burned & NY turned blue
Good riddance, Gerhard; that’s the last I will ever utter your name

 

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.