Christian Polanco of The Cooligans is joined by Matt Doyle to discuss New York’s strong start to the season under first-year manager Michael Bradley and why the team’s young stars have been shining. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.
View more
Advertisement
Video Transcript
Julian Hall seems to be the real deal.
the 17-year-old is the future of Red Bull, and also Michael Bradley might be a good coach.
I never thought I would ever say, say those words.
the kids have been the stars of the first two weeks of the MLS season, but Julian Hall might be the brightest of the bunch.
Doyle, you’ve been writing a lot about, in Tactis Free Zone, about Red Bull.
I hate seeing anything positive about that team.
But what, what they’re doing on the pitch, es- especially compared from last season, seems to be a, a huge improvement.
What, what are your initial thoughts on Julian Hall’s first two games?
Advertisement
Well, I, I think he’s here to stay, right?
he’s got three goals, two games.
He’s tied for the Golden Boot lead.
I don’t think he’s gonna win the Golden Boot, but- But Messi’s jealous.
He’s like, “Man, who’s that?
I can’t catch up to this kid.”
You gotta catch up, right?
what, what makes Julian Hall different for his age is, like, he finds tap-ins, right?
He knows how to be in the right place at the right time, and that’s the number one skill for any consistent goal scorer because those are the types of goals that don’t dry up, right?
That, and that speaks to an advanced soccer brain, and then he has, you know, the physical skills to go with it.
Advertisement
And you saw it in Next Pro.
He was, he was too good for Next Pro, right?
He, he played, like, 300 minutes, he scored five goals in 300 minutes.
He was too good for that level, and they took that, and they plugged it into the system that Michael Bradley is now running, which is just beautiful soccer.
and, and Hall is finishing off the plays that you would expect a veteran striker to finish off, and that’s very different than what Josh Sargent was 10 years ago or what Jozy Altidore was 20 years ago.
These were guys who didn’t have that sense of how to get into the box to finish off those one place, those, those one-touch, finishes with right place, right time.
Advertisement
So I think he’s here to stay.
Red Bull started, three teenagers, if I’m not mistaken- Yeah in the last game.
And- Three children, Chris.
Three c- Not just teenagers.
Three children.
These are under 18 years old.
Just kids.
Three minors.
They’re not gonna be here very lo- I mean, maybe the left back, Matty Dos Santos, who I didn’t know anything about before he started in week one, but he already- Yeah looks like one of the best left backs in the league, but Hall and then, man, we, we’re talking about Julian Hall in this, and he’s leading the goal, but he’s not even the best of them, is Adri Mamedi, the defensive midfielder- Yeah who I think is the best prospect of these three.
Advertisement
He’s just 16 years old.
and, like, I hate to, to even invoke the name, but, like, he plays like Busquets.
Mamedi creates tempo and rhythm in the game that makes everybody around him so much better, and the US has produced a lot of good soccer players over the years.
Like, there’s a reason we’re a top 15 team in the world pretty much constantly.
Lot of good soccer players.
We have never produced a midfielder like this.
Never- Yeah one.
Like, Tyler Adams, great player, plays on the front foot, not a 360-degree player.
This kid, Adri Mamedi, oh, my goodness, he is not gonna be with Red Bull for a long time.