DAVENPORT, Fla. – Just as the winter weather was hitting its stride back home, the New York Red Bulls have once again retreated to the warmth of sunny Florida with their eyes firmly set on March 6. After a weekend off, the team jetted down to Orlando on Monday in preparation for their final push towards first kick at Red Bull Arena.
- TICKETS: Red Bulls Home Opener vs. Toronto FC, Sunday March 6
On Tuesday, the team returned to the fields at the Omni Resort for a double session ahead of the team’s first friendly of this second stint down south.
Squad Update
With less than three weeks remaining until the start of the 2016 season, the Red Bulls final roster is beginning to take shape. In the team’s first trip to Orlando, the Red Bulls had a bevy trialists and guest players within the squad. This time around, that number has decreased significantly.
The trim is hardly a surprise as head coach Jesse Marsch and his staff are looking to get a closer look at the key contributors for the upcoming season, meaning some names from the previous camp are longer with the team. There is also a necessity to shorten their squad as a result of the roster compliance date, which is quickly approaching.
As previously reported, A.J. Cochrane and Manolo Sanchez will not be re-joining the club. Other players who featured in the first Orlando camp but are no longer with team include trialist Kenny Cooper, academy players Mason Deeds and Noah Powder, and New York Red Bulls II defender Tim Schmoll.
Additionally, defender Damien Perrinelle has not returned to Florida as he continues to rehab from his ACL reconstruction surgery.
Meanwhile, NYRBII forward Stefano Bonomo and goalkeepers Rafael Diaz and Kendall McIntosh have made the second trip to Orlando. Joining them are trialists Cheikh Mbaye, Vincent Bezecourt and Aaron Long, as well as SuperDraft selections Justin Bilyeu and Zach Carroll. The team is also buoyed by the returning national team duo of Luis Robles (USA) and Karl Ouimette (Canada).
“It’s important to use these last couple of weeks to really iron out how to round out our roster,” Marsch said. “I’m in a really good position here—and we are as a team—because we have a very deep group; there are a lot of good established players, a lot of good young players. I think the future of this club overall is pretty bright.”
First camp roster – players under contract
GK: Ryan Meara, Kyle Reynish, Luis Robles
DEF: Gideon Baah, Chris Duvall, Connor Lade, Kemar Lawrence, Karl Ouimette, Scott Thomsen, Sal Zizzo, Ronald Zubar
MID: Tyler Adams, Mael Corboz, Sean Davis, Derrick Etienne, Felipe, Mike Grella, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty, Alex Muyl, Lloyd Sam, Chris Thorsheim, Shaun Wright-Phillips
FWD: Anatole Abang, Brandon Allen, Gonzalo Verón, Bradley Wright-Phillips
Orlando Preview
Training for the first time on Tuesday, the team won’t have too much time to get re-acclimated to their surroundings before being thrown back into the fire by way of yet another friendly.
The Red Bulls will face off with local MLS side Orlando City SC on Wednesday morning in the first of a series of scrimmages that New York have on their schedule over the next two weeks. Despite dispatching the Montreal Impact rather handily during their first trip to Orlando, the Red Bulls are still looking to push themselves in each matchup, and a meeting with Kaka and co. should prove to be a valuable test for Marsch and his side.
“We handled our game moments in the first leg of preseason really well,” he said after Tuesday morning’s training session. “I think that we handled the fitness portion back in New Jersey really well. Now it’s important that—in this last push—we continue to iron out details specifically for the first group.”
The goal for the coaching staff is to get a better look at the perspective starting XI for the regular season while giving them extended minutes. The match, however, will be played over three, 45-minute periods, which will give Marsch “a good chance to rotate guys a little bit.”
“We’ll put a good team out on the field from the start; we’ll get some guys a few more minutes to get them close to 60,” he added. “We’ll keep working on our tactical flexibility. We’ll look at different formations and hopefully continue to build on the sophistication of how we do things.”
Staff Game
After a productive training session on Tuesday morning, the staff still had some work to do. The likes of Marsch, sporting director Ali Curtis, and assistant coaches Denis Hamlett and Chris Armas took to the field in a friendly, yet competitive, small-sided scrimmage. It was an interesting mix of former MLS players and coaches as well as staffers with considerably less soccer experience that made for a highly enjoyable match to watch from the sidelines (although Kemar Lawrence was less than impressed with the either team’s ability to employ rest defense).
One of the highlights of the match came when former Red Bull Stream Team freestyler Victor Bertini outmuscled Marsch to a ball near the corner flag before sending in an inch-perfect cross that Mike Grella would be proud of. The chance was poked home, sending the crowd into frenzy.
“My main goal is just to not get injured,” Marsch said with a chuckle, “everything else takes a backseat to that.
“We have great players on this team, but we also have a great staff. From our equipment guys to our medical guys to the guys behind the camera, I really feel like this is a neat place to be because of the people.”
