After a tumultuous offseason that saw captain Thierry Henry retire and popular coach Mike Petkeš fired, the Red Bulls arenāt just kicking off a new season Sunday at Sporting KC (7 p.m., FS1), but a whole new era.
Designated Players Henry and Tim Cahill are gone, along with about $7 million in salary. But this cheaper, younger ā and presumably scrappier ā Moneyball version takes the field out to prove it can win wšithout star power. If they canāt their fan revolt and #RedBullOut movement may get even louder.
āThe Thierry Henry part, its normal. Iām not threatened by it. I donāt think anybody āis. He was a great asset to this club for four years, but now thereās a new phase, and the new phase is not about Thierry Henry,āā new coach Jesse Marsch said. āItās not disrespectful to him, but it not about him. Itās about the group committing to the new project and committing to each othešr.āā
If the Red Bulls are looking for an example of what they hope to become ā building from āwithin the academy and the draft, develop their way to contention rather than buy their way, pressure foes out of their comfort zones ā they need look no further than the other sideline.
Sporting KC may be shy of big-named European stars, but the return of Honduran international Roger Espinoza to go with strikerā Dom Dwyer (22 goals,), Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi make for a potent opening-day test.
The biggest things to watch are how the Red Bullsā questionable back line holds up against one of MLSā better attacks, and can they find service for Bradley Wright-Phillips. The English striker had a MLāS-record tying 27 goals last year, but newcomer Sacha Kljestan will have to facilitate in the Red Bullsā 4-2-3-1 with Henry gone.
āFor me personally, my goal is to lead this team to MLS Cup,āā Kljš¼estan said. āMy goal is to be one of the best midfieldeź©²rs in MLS.āā
The Red Bulls brought baą·“ck fan favorite Dź¦Æane Richards and waived Armando.