The New York Red Bulls are preparing their back line for the upcoming World Cup window.
Panamanians Michael Amir Murillo and Fidel Escobar will head to their pre-World Cup camp with their country on May 21. Both are expected to miss, at minimum, five matches -- starting with Philadelphia Union at Red Bull Arena on May 26 -- while Panama takes part in their first World Cup.
Head Coach Jesse Marsch is confident that the club will have a few different avenues ready to replace the missing players when the time comes.
Connor Lade will return by then, according to Marsch, and be ready to fill in. Lade has been dealing with an ankle sprain.
Marsch said the team is looking at a few different options -- both internally and externally.
"We know Tyler can play out there. We’ve been looking at Alex a little bit," Marsch said. "We can play Aaron Long out there, if necessary. We can play three in the back, if necessary."
The club has also looked at New York Red Bulls II options, such as Ethan Kutler and Niko De Vera, as well as outside options. The league's main primary transfer window closes on May 1. The secondary window runs from July 10 through August 8.
"We're seeing what's out there," Marsch said.
New York lost Kyle Duncan for the season to a torn ACL earlier this year.
Marsch also hinted that Adams and/or Kemar Lawrence could see international minutes in June, too.
"We probably will need to come up with a long-term solution, and we’ll decide if that solution is internal or if we need to look outside," Marsch said.
