{"id":109064,"date":"2026-01-22T21:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/109064\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T21:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:27:09","slug":"red-bull-new-york-evaluating-more-roster-additions-before-2026-mls-kick-off-amnewyork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/109064\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bull New York \u2018evaluating\u2019 more roster additions before 2026 MLS kick-off \u2013 amNewYork"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-01-05T211855Z_957399343_MT1USATODAY27937601_RTRMADP_3_MICHAEL-BRADLEY-SPEAKS-TO-THE-PRESS-AFTER.jpeg\" class=\"crop-center wp-post-image\" alt=\"Michael Bradley Red Bull New York\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   title=\"Red Bull New York 'evaluating' more roster additions before 2026 MLS kick-off 1\"\/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Michael Bradley speaks to the press after being introduced as Red Bull New York Head Coach, Monday, January 5, 2026, in Harrison.<\/p>\n<p>Red Bull New York\u2019s offseason, which started hot and heavy, has slowed significantly in recent weeks.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>Significant departures of previous contributors such as winger Lewis Morgan, defender Sean Nealis, midfielder Daniel Edelman, and goalkeeper Carlos Coronel have not entirely been addressed yet.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mlssoccer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">New York<\/a> has brought in the speedy American youngster Cade Cowell to replace Morgan, German center back Robert Volder to step in for Nealis, and Justin Che to compete for time at right-back.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More, though, is needed. A starting goalkeeper is a necessity, and the new head of sport, Julian de Guzman, already made it known that one will be coming in, with a resolution expected shortly.\n<\/p>\n<p>But additional experience both in the midfield and up top could help, as well.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>Captain and Swedish international Emil Forsberg has spent the early parts of the preseason working as a No. 8 (box-to-box central midfielder) under new head coach Michael Bradley\u2019s 4-3-3 vision. A fellow Swede, Gustav Berggren, who was signed during last summer\u2019s transfer window, is working as the No. 6 (holding midfielder) as Edelman\u2019s replacement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That No. 7 role is currently unknown. Adri Mehmet, a 16-year-old phenom who has worked with RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga, could have a chance to make an immediate impact.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery one of your young players will get an opportunity every single day,\u201d Bradley quipped on Thursday.\n<\/p>\n<p>But a full season\u2019s workload for such a young talent would be a significant ask when veteran talent could help lift Red Bull\u2019s prospects of playoff contention a bit more.\n<\/p>\n<p>The same uncertainty exists up front. Cowell will flank former Bayern Munich and PSG man Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, but a designated-player upgrade on the right wing over Cameron Harper boosts New York\u2019s attack significantly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re always evaluating every single day,\u201d Bradley said of his roster. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to look at the group that we have, trying to find really good ways to push the group here forward and make sure that we\u2019re establishing good ideas, establishing a way of playing how that connects with our mentality\u2026 But absolutely, we\u2019re in constant discussion to figure out the best ways to make our team better, to make our team more complete. That will always continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While it is only just over a week into the preseason, New York\u2019s exhibition slate got off to a concerning start on Wednesday when it fell 3-1 to third-tier USL League One side Sarasota 3-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot the result that we wanted,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cBut in a lot of ways, for eight days into preseason, a lot of positives [were there]. We\u2019ll always be a group that is honest and real with ourselves in terms of the result part of things, but we also understand where we are at this point, establishing ideas, continuing to build the base\u2026 all these things are still higher on the priority list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more on Red Bull New York, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/sports\/soccer\/new-york-red-bulls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">AMNY.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Bradley speaks to the press after being introduced as Red Bull New York Head Coach, Monday, January&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[36372,6583,9,11,10,4505,36179,400,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-109064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-michael-bradley","9":"tag-mls","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-new-york-red-bulls","14":"tag-red-bull-new-york","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}