Santa’s sleigh may be visiting all of the good boys and girls this Thursday, but surely the Red Bulls FO still warrants a visit from the jolly old fat man too. This season was nearly sublime for the Henry era Red Bulls, but once again New York fell short in the playoffs. It signaled the end of an era and the rebuilding, or more aptly, re-tooling process must start again. The departures have nearly gutted the spine of the New York starting XI. So in the spirit of season, here is what should be on the Red Bulls Christmas list.
- New, younger CBs
With Olave and Sekagya leaving, the Red Bulls lost both of their starting centerbacks from the end of last season. With the additional loss of Damien Perinelle, the Red Bulls have just two CBs on the roster, Armando, and Matt Miazga. Miazga showed well in a stretch last season before falling down the depth chart following a first half red card in a home game against the Revs in August. Armando fell out of favor much earlier in the season, but managed to find minutes in CCL and the occasional sub appearance to lock down a tight game. With neither player ready for the starting job, the Red Bulls will have to test the waters. Picking up a savory veteran might be a good short term solution, but a younger starting option should be a priority to add stability to a backline with maybe the highest turnover in MLS over the last 5 years.
- Wings
Red Bulls catchphrase has been sorely lacking around their New York franchise for some time. Lloyd Sam has done a good job on the right, but there is little depth behind him, and no clear starter on the wing despite some of the showings by Ambroise Oyongo last season. The addition of Sal Zizzo should help, but more wingers will be needed. Red Bulls might be wise to look at loan options for young players in foreign leagues who need minutes to develop. A player who could cross the ball effectively would be a dream for Bradley Wright-Phillips who excelled at attacking the ball in the box. If Cahill remains with the team, he would give the Red Bulls a double threat in the box and force defenses into making tough choices.
- Fullbacks
This is another area where depth will be sorely needed. Two key departures this season were Richard Eckersley and Koske Kimura. Like the CBs, there are only two players on the current roster who naturally play those positions, Chris Duvall and Roy Miller. Ambroise Oyongo has done a quality job in the back, but his lack of strength can be an issue as shown in the playoffs when he was forced to mark Teal Bunbury. Connor Lade is another player who could fill in on either fullback position, but Mike Petke made it clear last year that he sees Lade’s future in the midfield. Traditionally, this has been one of the hardest positions to fill in MLS, and I’m not sure that they have trade bait to acquire one from within the league.
- The next Henry
It will be impossible to replace Henry, but losing the creative force on the team could cripple this offense. Luyindula also leaving means the market will be scoured for someone who can dictate the game. Dax McCarty, Eric Alexander, Sean Davis, Ian Christianson, and Connor Lade are all fine central players, but none of them can be asked to carry the team. Rumors for players like Xavi and Gerrard have floated around the interwebs, but they don’t carry much weight. This is another area that could be improved by looking for young players American, or otherwise, looking to make a name for themselves. Mix Diskerud might be a great candidate, but it seems unlikely that he would end up in New York. If the Red Bulls are truly going to emulate the RSL model, look for a young South American player to fill the void and carry the team into the league’s elite.
Santa, if you are reading, I would really appreciate the good tidings of filling this list. If not, the Red Bulls are in for a long and arduous journey over the next couple of years. The loss of Henry will only truly be felt in the coming months when the Red Bulls will be forced to play without him. This offseason will be the antithesis of last year. Changes will be sweeping. Just about every level of the field will need to be fixed and retooled. The four needs I mentioned might be the most pressing, but they are but a few examples of what is needed for this team to hit the ground running. Expect a big learning curve and the first real tests of Mike Petke’s reign.
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