By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Feb 27, 2023) US Soccer Players – Strikers get much of the love in soccer and MLS is no different. The reality is that soccer is a team sport and all players, despite their position, matter to the success of that team. As the New York Red Bulls start off the 2023 season, there's been a lot of attention placed on new Designated Player signing Dante Vanzeir. But MLS . . .
Six of the most intriguing occasions on the 2023 MLS schedule
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 22, 2022) US Soccer Players - Major League Soccer's 2023 regular season schedule is now set, and supporters of all 29 teams can firm up their plans for the matchdays ahead. It's not hard to predict that perennially entertaining matchups like Seattle vs Portland, Toronto vs Montreal, and New York Red Bulls vs New York City FC will continue to be destination . . .
Orlando beats the Red Bulls, Sacramento knocks out Sporting Kansas City in the Open Cup
Thursday's soccer news starts with Orlando and Sacramento advancing to play in the US Open Cup final on September 7 at Exploria Stadium. Orlando came back to knock out the Red Bulls 5-1 at home, with New York taking the lead from a Lewis Morgan goal a minute into first-half stoppage time. Orlando's Cesar Araujo equalized three minutes later in first-half stoppage time and Mauricio Pereyra put City . . .
Red Bulls and Sporting KC advance in the US Open Cup
Thursday's soccer news starts in the US Open Cup quarterfinals. The New York Red Bulls shutout NYCFC 3-0 at Red Bull Arena. Lewis Morgan put the Red Bulls up in the 52nd. NYCFC went a man down in the 62nd with a red card to Thiago. The Red Bulls doubled the lead through Luquinhas in the 70th and Omir Fernandez finished off the scoring in the first minute of stoppage time. Both teams saw red six . . .
MLS tactics early in 2022
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Apr 11, 2022) US Soccer Players – MLS coaches have gotten more tactically savvy in recent years. With better players come better tactics, and MLS teams have experimented with a wide variety of formations. Whether it's playing with three in the back or relying increasingly on intricate passing, MLS coaches aren't afraid to push the tactical envelope this . . .
The Red Bulls vs NYCFC in 2022
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Jan 3, 2022) US Soccer Players – A new year begins, and with it, increased pressure on teams across Major League Soccer. February 26 is the earliest start ever in MLS. That means moving up all the timetables for how clubs build and prepare their squads for the season. For the New York Red Bulls, it's a new problem they need to solve as the regular season looms. . . .
Guaranteeing victory in the MLS playoffs
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 19, 2021) US Soccer Players - The wait for the playoffs ends on Saturday with two first-round games, one in the Eastern Conference and one in the Western Conference. Each will pit a top-three seed against a team that needed a run of good results at the tail end of the regular season just to sneak into the playoff field. There's ambition and expectation on one . . .
Caden Clark is the latest example of how the Red Bulls system works
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 25, 2021) US Soccer Players - If there's such a thing as a "soccer hack," in the same vein as the "life hacks" that permeate on the internet in the 21st century, then the Red Bull global soccer empire seems to have figured it out. Just three years after snagging up-and-coming American phenom Tyler Adams from the New York outpost of the energy drink's world . . .
Title droughts can define a soccer club… until they don’t
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 2, 2021) US Soccer Players - Something momentous happened on Sunday in Mexico. Something momentous in soccer and, for a long-siffering fan base, something momentous in their lives. Cruz Azul won a championship. If you don't know much about the history of the Mexico City club, you might not know that until Sunday, Cruz Azul was cursed. Okay, "cursed" might . . .
Red Bulls’ Kaku saga and the murky matter of contract option years
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 25, 2021) US Soccer Players - It was the winter of 2017-18, and New York Red Bulls fans were abuzz. After slipping from 1st-place in the MLS Eastern Conference to 6th the previous season, their team seemed to need a jolt. A drumbeat of rumors and reports suggested that RBNY had found one in Argentina, setting the stage for a long-running transfer saga around . . .