Right off the bat, Gerhard Struber wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.
A realistic page, that is.
The Red Bulls manager, entering his second full season in charge, stressed that his team is not yet ready to emerge as a serious threat in the Eastern Conference, despite surging to a playoff appearance last season. Instead, he suggested more of a rebuilding year, around the team’s youth, was in order.
“I have a situation right now that I have to be fair in every direction and honest also with our fans,” Struber told reporters Tuesday. “I see always the glass half-full, and I am a big optimistic man and coach. But I’ve always been fair with my environment and with my players and I think I’m a realistic man. I am not a dreamer. I know right now, when everything goes in the right direction, we make the right progress the next two weeks, then I think we are an interesting team, but this needs time.
“Right now we’re very, very young, without many experienced players. This is the situation. I have to manage that. I have a big trust in my players that we progress in the next two weeks. But this needs time.”
A lethargic offseason has stripped the Red Bulls of many of the top performers that brought them to the first round of the 2021 playoffs.
Sean Davis, the heart of their midfield and captain, bolted for Nashville SC. The 28-year-old had spent his entire career with the Red Bulls after signing a homegrown contract ahead of the 2015 season. Loanees Fabio and Andrew Gutman are gone. Kyle Duncan’s contract expired, and he set sail to play in Europe.
To replace them, the Red Bulls will be forced to bestow greater responsibility on much of their youth, such as 21-year-old midfielder Franuel Amaya.
Entering the offseason looking to build off its promising playoff push and take that next step among the elite Eastern Conference teams, the winter painted a different picture for Struber. Instead, the Red Bulls enter the 2022 season likely staring down a season-long fight just to get back to the postseason.
During that fight, however, the Red Bulls will seem familiar.
They will still utilize their well-known, aggressive high-pressing, looking to force mistakes deep in their opponents’ half. They’ll still play their ultra-direct style of offense. True to their energy drink moniker, they will usually be the more sprightly side on the pitch.
The Red Bulls’ second designated player, Brazilian newcomer Luquinhas, helped Polish side Legia Warsaw win two Polish League titles, racking up 12 goals and 18 assists in 110 matches. A playmaker who can feature as a winger or centrally as an attacking midfielder, the 25-year-old brings a much-needed knack for creating goals.
For a short period in the offseason, the Red Bulls made Lewis Morgan the most expensive intra-league trade, sending Inter Miami CF $1.2 million for the talented Scottish winger. The 25-year-old has seven goals and 12 assists in 57 career appearances, and was named Miami’s MVP during its inaugural season. Like Luquinhas, he will look to break immediately into the starting 11.
Following his headline-grabbing transfer to sister club RB Leipzig, 18-year-old American standout Caden Clark returns after he was immediately loaned back to the Red Bulls. Also back is midfield general Aaron Long, returning from a torn Achilles.
Ahead of the new campaign, which will kick off Saturday at the San Jose Earthquakes, Long was named captain. He will look to the way the Red Bulls finished the last campaign, however, as a blueprint for the one he’s about to embark on.
“That period towards the end of the season, that stretch late, really showed what we can do, and what a lot of these guys are made of,” Long told reporters Tuesday. “I’m so excited to get back out there and be a part of that, and try to help the group any way I can. But, it was very telling to a lot of guys, and it was a good tell.”
