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As you may have heard, RB Leipzig - presently the jewel in Red Bull's global soccer crown - is causing quite a stir in its debut season in Bundesliga. A stir that became impossible to ignore this weekend when Leipzig went to BayArena, beat Bayer Leverkusen on its own turf, and took sole possession of first place in Germany's top flight (thanks in no small part to Borussia Dortmund beating Bayern Munich).
Papa Red Bull's RalfBall revolution has become impossible to ignore (not that Germany needed to be told about it: Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt was hired away from RB Salzburg in 2014).
Even the New York Red Bulls have got on board the RalfBall bandwagon, though the club is no fan of the term "RalfBall" and head coach Jesse Marsch - the man responsible for guiding RBNY toward the RB Global Soccer family's preferred playing style - insists on referring to the other RB clubs as "subsidiaries".
If RBs Leipzig, Salzburg and Brasil are subsidiary to RBNY, then the tail is wagging the dog, because the New York branch of Papa's soccer family is late to the RalfBall game and has some catching up to do. So no surprise when one RBNY fan noted Leipzig's latest success and suggested the MLS Red Bulls should be in Germany learning from the master:
the #RBNY manager ought to be in Leipzig until christmas learning from Ralf & Ralph
— RedBullGlobalTolstoy (@TolstoyFC) November 18, 2016
It was a surprise to find out, almost immediately, that the brains trust of the MLS Red Bulls was already there.
@TolstoyFC He is, the whole staff is there. They were behind Ralf in the box, watch the highlights.
— swissgear08 (@swissgear08) November 19, 2016
For the doubters, there is visual evidence:
Got Armas and Hamlett behind Ralf after Leipzig won. #RBNY pic.twitter.com/kUL9U4nrje
— Juan Mesa (@JuanMapu) November 21, 2016
It's unlikely the entire coaching staff is hanging out in Leipzig until Christmas. There is an off-season to attend to: contracts to be renewed, players to be cut, prospects to be scouted, trials to be arranged, and training plans to be made.
But the RalfBall revolution would seem to be alive and well in New York - and we will presumably soon see what fresh ideas the coaching team has brought back from its latest pilgrimage to RalfBall HQ RBNY's effervescent subsidiary.