Red Bull News Network

By Daniel Feuerstein Today is a sad day for all New York Red Bulls fans. From Michael Batista who covers New York City Soccer, has informed us that the club will not be sending their first division side to the US Open Cup as their Next Pro Third Division Side will take their place. This decision by the Red Bulls is sad and disheartening, as they won't put out their top players on the pitch to start the third round of the 2024 US Open Cup. When this club started as the MetroStars, they were involved in every single season from 1997 competing against the clubs from the lower levels to MLS to attempt to win the National Championship of American Soccer. They have made runs and sadly have been beaten by the minnows in this single elimination cup competition. Many of us have informed friends who aren't soccer fans that this mirrors the NCAA Final Four tournament every year. There were seasons when this club had to go through Open Cup qualifying to reach the round to enter, but ended...

by Anthony J. Merced New York Red Bulls have announced that their MLS Next Pro affiliate team will take their place in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup for the 2024 campaign. This announcement comes after negotiations between Major League Soccer and the US Soccer Federation on the format and how first division teams will compete in the tournament. The overall negotiations will see eight MLS clubs in the country's oldest soccer competition. From there 11 Next Pro affiliate clubs, including the New York Red Bulls II, will enter the competition as well. The inclusion of these clubs was based on the 2023 MLS Next Pro standings which saw the Red Bulls II finish in fourth place in their Group. The team eventually was eliminated in the playoffs. This is a drastic change from what has been done in the past. MLS clubs participated in the later rounds of the tournament with affiliate clubs being barred from the competition dating back to 2016. The last time they did compete, the team was eliminate...

photo by Matt Kremkau by Daniel Feuerstein On Thursday of last week, on a ZOOM call with Senior Vice President of Competition & Operations Ali Curtis, along with the Executive Vice President of Sporting Product & Competition at MLS Nelson Rodriguez, the media discussed the new initiatives to better the game for Major League Soccer. Topics such as the flow of the game and fans experience inside the stadium were broached. After a solid thirty minutes of discussing what they are and answering the media's questions, here is what the league has come up with and was approved by the IFAB: TIMED SUBSTITUTION RULE Reducing time wasting during match delays and the abundance of gamesmanship that has plagued the sport is a major point of interest for the league. It has been a major complaint from different leagues, FA's and confederation managers. We have seen delays such as when a player is substituted and taking too much time to remove themselves from the pitch. The objective is ...

photo from New York Red Bulls II by Anthony J. Merced New York Red Bulls II will look to improve on their successful initial campaign in MLS Next Pro following the announcement of the team's schedule for 2024. The highlights consist of trips to Chattanooga FC, the league's newest team in October and playoff rematches with Chicago Fire II and New England II. Last season Red Bulls II finished in fourth place, a rebound after several unsuccessful campaigns in USL Championship that saw them miss the playoffs each year following 2019. The team mostly filled with prospects and developing players found it difficult to compete against more veteran competition but were able to adjust and grow in MLS Next Pro, a league designated third division in US Soccer. The team won their first playoff game against Chicago Fire II but fell to New England at Foxboro, leaving them feeling as if there was still more to play for. Head coach Ibrahim Sekgaya will remain as the team's coach while also ...

photo from New York Red Bulls by Anthony J. Merced Former New York Red Bulls II forward Roald Mitchell returns to the club, after finishing his time at Wake Forest, and is being rewarded with an MLS contract through 2026. The 21 year-old will also have an opportunity to stay with the team in 2027 and 2028 as his contract has two options that can be exercised. Mitchell, a New Jersey native, last played professionally in 2021 where he made 10 appearances and scored two goals for the Red Bulls II when they were in the second division USL Championship. His career has revolved around Red Bull, coming through their youth academy before being promoted through the ranks and making his first professional appearance on April 30th of 2021. He scored is first goal just one month later against the Charleston Battery. With Wake Forest he appeared in over 50 matches, scoring 19 goals and notching nine assists. He also has the distinction of being one of only six players in his college club's hist...

by Anthony J. Merced MLS has been notified by US Soccer that their attempts to replace first teams with MLS Next Pro clubs in the US Open Cup for the 2024 season has been denied. The plan would see reserve teams take the place of MLS first teams, allowing for less fixture congestion throughout the season according to the league. However, that appears to not be the case as the league and federation are continuing negotiations. "MLS is committed to finding a viable solution for the 2024 tournament and is working to find a pathway that addresses its goals and concerns," said a statement from the league issued on Wednesday. "Moving forward MLS will remain focused on increasing opportunities for up-and-coming players, a key component of the league's player development strategy that ultimately benefits the US national team program." MLS has masked their decision to pull back from the tournament as a way of benefiting MLS Next Pro reserve clubs, giving them more opport...

photo by Matt Kremkau by Anthony J. Merced New York Red Bulls II of MLS Next Pro have announced their year-end roster moves. The team had a successful first year in the new third division, making the playoffs for the first time in several years. The team has exercised options five players, including Ssefubu, Dylan Sullivan, Ibrahim Kasule, Juan Gutierrez and Omar Valencia. Tanner Rosborough and Mohammed Sofo will return to the club with no extensions. Both players have contracts that expire at the end of 2024. Six players will not be returning the club, Oladayo Thomas, Amos Shapiro-Thomas, Henry Wise, Ovante Mullings, Diego Kauan and Will Meyer. While these players will not be returning under their current contracts, players have been signed to new deals with the reserve team or given MLS contracts given their performances. Davi Alexander and Aidan Stokes will be joining New York Red Bulls MLS squad as homegrown players in the 2024 season. 

photo by Matt Kremkau This week Anthony is joined by Dan Feuerstein to talk about the loss New York Red Bulls suffered against Chicago Fire FC this past weekend and Jenna Tonelli joins to discuss the surprising loss Gotham FC took against the Houston Dash. Also a recap of all the happenings around Europe with Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig. RBNN: The Podcast · RBNN Podcast: Dan Feuerstein and Jenna Tonelli Talk Red Bulls and Gotham

photo from New York Red Bulls by Anthony J. Merced Red Bulls II prepared for the playoffs all season and now that they are here, head coach Ibrahim Sekagya is overjoyed with his team's performance following a 4-1 win over Chicago Fire 2. The game which saw New York dominate for most of the fixture, showed just how the high pressure offense has split apart teams in MLS Next Pro. "Our mentality from the first half was fantastic," said head coach Sekagya. "We knew that we were home. We needed to press high. We got some goals but when we came back in the second half I think we dropped a little bit and they had some chances with the ball. They're young players, what was most important was a win for today." New York led the game by two goals before the 30th minute, showing their superiority with nearly 60 percent possession through the game. Individual efforts from Ibrahim Kasule also showed the creative nature of the players on the field as well. While most have ...

  Photo by Matt Kremkau by Daniel Feuerstein As we get ready for the big derby weekend against local rivals New York City FC, and the hope from the Red Bulls to secure the full three points can push them into a better position in the Eastern Conference table, it's time to take a brief timeout and look towards the future of the club, and seeing some bright young players about to make all of us smile. As we already know the growth of the club is not just what's going on with the senior side at Red Bull Arena, but to develop future stars to join those who have gone through the same pathway, or to join those international players who have transferred over to make a big attempt to play in front of their fans. More academy players are graduating to the professional side at a very strong rate, and now we are seeing the fruits of their labor show. One will be on the MLS roster, while the other will make the next move to the MLS Next Pro Roster with the two team as both Julian Hall ...

photo by Matt Kremkau by Anthony J. Merced New York Red Bulls goalkeeper A.J. Marcucci suffered a hamstring injury that has required surgery and will miss the remainder of the season according to the team. Marcucci has spent most of the campaign with New York Red Bulls II of MLS Next Pro and suffered the injury while playing against Columbus Crew 2 last weekend. Marcucci, a 2021 MLS Superdraft pick for the Red Bulls, signed an MLS contract that year but has yet to make more than substitute appearance for the first team. Instead, the 23 year-old has played 53 games for the second team in the USL Championship from 2021 thru 2022 and now in MLS Next Pro.  The loss will surely have an affect on New York Red Bulls II's ability to qualify for the 2023 playoffs and give the first team one less body in case of injury later in the MLS campaign.

photo by Matt Kremkau by Anthony J. Merced There was no bright side according to head coach Ibrahim Sekagya after the New York Red Bulls II 2-1 loss to Toronto FC II on Wednesday night. The game, which seemed poised for the Baby Bulls to win easily, quickly fell apart in the latter stages of the game.  "I don't think we did what our plan was," said Sekagya after the game. "We gave it away, which we looked at as a game that we needed to win. This is exactly a learning one. It's disappointing with all the players, not just seeing one you can name. It was not our day. You just have to learn from this and then we know we have another game coming." New York Red Bulls II have had a positive first season in MLS Next Pro but the young side has had lapses. Most recently a 1-1 draw against New England Revolution II and now a home loss that kept the team from climbing in the standings.  Both goals came late in the game as Toronto equalized in the 87th minute thanks to ...

photo by Matt Kremkau by Anthony J. Merced New York Red Bulls II start their new journey in MLS Next Pro with a disappointing shootout loss to Columbus Crew 2 at MSU Soccer Park on Sunday night. A late equalizer in stoppage forced a shootout which was one after several misses by both teams. New York used their typical press to push Columbus around early. The game's only goal came in the 7th minute when a turnover saw Carmona with the ball at the top of the box. He took his shot just outside the box and scoring past the Columbus keeper. From there New York continued to press but saw Columbus gain a foothold in the game. The second half was much more back-and-forth with both sides having chances at goal. New York hit the post and over-passed the ball in front of goal. Columbus ran into the physicality of the Red Bulls but were able to create mismatches at times that they couldn't capitalize on. It wasn't until stoppage time that Abdi Mohamed headed a ball past the Red Bulls k...