Evidently the venerable Paul Gardner can be credited with discovering that RotMasters is an anagram of MetroStars. I don’t know what anagrams can be derived from “New York Red Bulls,” but it seems a shame to give up on RotMasters when the word continues to apply so fittingly.

Things will get better (they can’t get worse). But I’m increasingly certain that the Red Bulls will continue to be a league embarrassment for the remainder of this year. I’m a DC United supporter, and I’ll admit we’ve got a decent side, but we’re not as good as we looked on Saturday. That 4-1 scoreline (which was unjust, the Red Bulls didn’t deserve the 1) wasn’t solely the result of DC United’s solid play; it was the result of an old-fashioned MetroStar Meltdown. The Red Bulls still haven’t shaken that tendency.

Teams have meltdowns. Los Angeles appears to be melting down. Lots of teams implode and fall apart. But most of the time they do OK. Not so with CFKA MetroStars. They seem to make this an annual practice; for them it’s the exceptional year when they’re not completely humiliated.

It’s strange. If you measure “trying” in terms of player and coach turnover then no other team in MLS history has tried harder to improve itself. And, it would seem, the Red Bulls are getting ready for another round of “improvement” because word was Mo Johnston’s temporary stay of execution would be overturned if he didn’t win this last game against DC United. Given the result, let’s face it, if you’re looking to fire a coach that’s the kind of game you use as your excuse. (Logan’s Revenge say’s Johnston got the reprieve because Red Bull couldn’t get they guy they wanted.)

But maybe that is the problem, perhaps that entire mindset is the problem. No other club has tried so hard to set itself apart from Major League Soccer. Even before Alexi Lalas coined the phrase, the team always wanted to be the first MLS SuperClub. Even today with Red Bull in charge the team still strives for that goal.

The problem is that the club has never once tried to be an ordinary, average MLS team. In other words, the club has never been serious about building a real foundation for the future. They’ve always wanted it all now, they’ve always been too impatient, too hasty. They’ve always tried to take shortcuts.

“Bring in this player. Bring in that player. A new coach. Another coach. More players. One day Tab Ramos will be healthy, then he’ll save us. Meantime, let’s make some trades. Lothar. Youri. Let’s bring in Ronaldo! And, hey, how about a new coach! I’ve got an idea, maybe we’ll make Tab Ramos general manager! This time it really will work. We swear. Really. We’re gonna be MLS’s first SuperClub!” It never works. It’s not how you build a team in Major League Soccer. But that’s the way of the RotMasters.

In Major League Soccer you have to build your teams from the bottom up. Los Angeles is now, perhaps, learning this lesson. Landon Donovan can’t save you every week if you don’t have a solid foundation. You simply can’t build an MLS team around “star” players, you have to build it around guys like Brian Carroll. The MetroStars never understood this. That’s why they were always losing. Until the Red Bulls finally learn this lesson they too will always lose.