Harrison, nj – The New York Red Bulls race at the MLS Cup final in December, surprising that it is, was a form of validation of the accent put by the club on the football approach to the energy drinking company . The team that lost against the Los Angeles galaxy two months ago boasted of seven players who started their career on local contracts, Win the praise of the Director General of the Galaxy, Will Kuntz, even if he celebrated the triumph of his team. Coupled with the very important addition of the former Leipzig Emil Forsberg midfielder in early 2024, the Red Bulls seemed determined to keep it in the family.
He has repercussions on the distance from the club’s first MLS cup, however, has changed things.
Before their second season with head coach Sandro Schwarz, the Red Bulls spent the winter accelerating a roadmap to lift trophies, betting big on the experience. On their eight signatures this offseason, four will be 30 years or more by the end of the season, the most notable among them the former striker of Bayern Munich Eric-Maxim Choupo-motor on an designated player contract. This signals an attempt to win now, even if young players are still playing a key role.
“We just had younger players who are going through their first MLS season or their first great moments in the matches,” said midfielder Daniel Edelman in the team day of the team, a few days before kick -off From their season on Saturday at FC Cincinnati. Older players offer “stability, morale, remaining positive at times and also intelligent street on the game. They are just smarter, pulling mistakes and all that.”
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The Red Bulls have the advantage of the continuity they did not have in the first season of Schwarz, using the pre-season to focus on smaller details as they start to perfect the vision of the ‘head coach.
“Even if the pre-season was short, I somehow think that everyone knew what he wanted to do as soon as we came here,” said Forsberg. “I think that on the basis of last year, we have stuff with the ball to do better and also the way we have to win the ball, which we can do there to relax or to go ‘Before. will be) important for us.
The simple transition of the pre-season allowed several different Red Bulls players to focus on the development of their leadership qualities, mixing this with the personal objectives they have for themselves. This includes Choupo-Moting, which has left Bayern for the United States for new out-of-range adventures as much as new experiences on the ground.
He hunted a decision that “motivated me 100% and I wanted something special,” he said. “It is a new country, a new culture, a new league, which, I think, progresses a lot in recent years. … It is also one of my goals, to help (young players) To improve, to give them a little of my experience and my quality in the field and to try to improve them.
He can also help call a player who has victory trophies in a Red Bulls jersey. Four years after being exchanged at Houston Dynamo, Tim Parker, winner of the 2018 supporters shield, joined the club as a free agent in the hope of helping the younger talents of the Red Bulls to manage the more moments important that they hope to wait for them.
“It’s always great energy, but there is a lot with young players that you always have to manage and obviously keep them under the wraps because there are a lot of emotions that can enter many different things with the young people, “said Parker. “At least for us – older guys, older veterans of this team – I think it is important for us to guide them along the way and show that emotion can play a role in good Things, but you also want to be able to refine and use them at the right time. “
Edelman, who said he was starting to feel like a veteran at 21 when he enters his fourth season as a professional, hopes that the twinning of new additions and the memories of the MLS Cup will feed new energy For an ambitious team that hopes to raise silverware in 2025.
“It’s really a great feeling of arriving in the final because many people have counted us and I think we are supposed to wear this with us this year,” he said. “I think it will just give us more confidence and of course, it will make us more hungry because we want to win everything now. We never want to have this feeling again. It was one of the first feelings of my life, Probably, lose the final, but we have to walk with a little more fanfaronade, I think this year because people have counted us and we were outsiders but look at what we did.
Klopp New York recording
Even in a winter busy for New York Red Bulls, the largest news in the world of football Red Bull was the arrival of the former manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, who began his mandate as chief of the World football company in January. He spent the first weeks in work by visiting the various Red Bull football teams, with visits to Paris FC, in the Brazilian Red Bull Bragantino and Japan RB Omiya Ardija along the way. He mixed a visit to New York earlier this month, presenting himself to the players during his stay.
“He came to the training center one of the days,” said Edelman. “We had our scrum against Hartford (athletic), a USL side, so he was there to watch this match. He spoke to everyone before going out for the fray, just in a way around the field and the Tips.
The details around the role of Klopp, which he described as “Doctor Football”, who “helps wherever I can, where I can give everything”, are not clear, although Forsberg is convinced that he will be excellent Added to the Red Bull global soccer project in New York and elsewhere.
“I think he’s going to be a fantastic addition to the Red Bull family with his experience and everything he has won, to put his contributions in stuff, it will be fantastic for us,” said Forsberg.
Although it is an introductory meeting, it left a lasting first impression.
“He spoke very well, I think he was really wise in what he said,” said Edelman. “How could he not be with the teams he trained and the career he had? Supervise Red Bull.”
