Please allow me to ramble for a bit.

I was against Mike Grella signing for the New York Red Bulls.

"Mike Grella? The guy who washed out of all those European clubs and couldn't hack it in NASL? What is he going to do other than take up space and be a cheap body?"

I was wrong. Dead wrong. You may have held similar thoughts. Or you'll claim that you believed he'd be a great addition (and we'll all know you're a liar).

But holy crap. This guy. This guuuuuuuuuuuuy. Grella scored two goals in a 4-1 flogging of the zombified dead horse that is the Philadelphia Union.

That's the fastest goal in MLS history. And he wasn't done.

"@MikeGrella10 is absolutely on fire today" #NYvPHI #RBNY pic.twitter.com/WgfRgdGZXf

— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) October 19, 2025

Grella has nine goals and seven assists this season. If you thought he'd be this good, again, you're lying. But he is.

A year removed from almost quitting the game and buying a cat poster for his cubicle, he's 28-years old and playing the best soccer of his life. Grella has flair, Grella has confidence, Grella has energy. More important than all of the goals and the assists (and they're pretty important) is his hard work on defense. He's constantly cutting off passing lanes and harassing fullbacks, perfect for gegenpressing. A German tactical revolution turned a cautionary tale of moving abroad too early into a redemption tale of a local kid coming home to play for the team in his backyard.

What's the lesson here?

Be less cynical is a good one. I was very cynical about this signing, and mentally didn't give Grella a chance. I wrote the first few goals off as flukes, but eventually I couldn't ignore the truth: dude is a baller. With every goal or assist, I get a ping on my phone from somebody reminding me how wrong I was. It's the good kind of wrong that blew up in my face in the best possible way.

Another good lesson is to accept that some players never find the right system that allows them to shine. Mike Grella is somehow a perfect winger in gegenpressing. Who would have thought that? (Again, if you did, you're a liar.) It took seven years and nine teams, but he's finally found his place. A home. A club, a coach, a formation, and a playing style that fits.

Austin "Guava Danish" Fido brought up a good point on Twitter.

I'd like to know if Grella was born perfect for this system or just adapted better than anyone else. #RBNY

— Austin Fido (@canetop) October 18, 2025

That's an excellent query. Chicken or egg? Nature or nurture? Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?

And do you know what the answer is?

He's here, he's living up to the potential he showed during his youth career and at Duke, and I couldn't be happier that I was wrong.