You wouldn’t recognize him, but New York Red Bulls’ new high profile striker, aka Juan Pablo Angel, could just be the ace needed by Bruce Arena and the Red Bulls Organization to put some zip back into an area that once claimed the likes of Pele, Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, and Giorgio Chinaglia.

Probably forced out by Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa, it seems the seasoned Colombian striker has finally called time on his career and has had to undergo a makeover to keep American defenders from recognizing the threat that Johnny Angel possess. Even though they have him trimmed and proper in truly American fashion, thankfully they have not been able to sterilize his prowess for goals.

It’s a deal that has already begun to pay dividends as Angel has 3 goals in 3 games and looks like the player that can finally push New York to the top of the Eastern Conference. At his best, the Colombian is not only a lethal goal scorer, but can also bring other players into the game with off the ball runs and one-twos that can upset the best of defences, let alone MLS back-lines.

He was definitely at it last night, scoring early along with the youngster Altidore and then added a 2nd late on to defeat the Chicago Fire. New York now shares the lead in the East with New England on 17 pts.

Look for Johnny Angel to continue to shine this summer in New York, even if the spotlight moves to LA when Beckham is finally unveiled.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 8:15 am and is filed under Soccer World, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.