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The New York Red Bulls have already opened up and are getting down to business after a quick stint at their training facility in Hanover, NJ. The majority of their training camp participates are together and ready to go, as the club has their first matches in International Cup Competition.
With their CONCACAF Champions League match up with Club Atletico Pantoja just a month away, the Red Bulls have already asembled their players from their senior roster, USL Bulls, current MLS Super Draft picks and invites to try and get the right combination.
The list is out and here are the players in their respective positions, who will be attending this camp. Those who aren’t with the club now are Central Defender Aaron Long who is in camp with the US Men’s National Team, as well as Midfielder Cristian Caserers Jr. who is currently with the Venezuelan U-20 national team.
GOALKEEPERS: Evan Louro, Ryan Meara, Luis Robles
DEFENDERS: Roy Boateng, Rece Buckmaster, Kyle Duncan, Connor Lade, Kemar Lawrence, Janos Loebe, Michael Aimr Murillo. Sean Nealis, Tim PArker, Jordan Scarlett, Amro Tarek, John Tolkin, Allen Yane
MIDFIELDERS: Vincent Bezecourt, Sean Davis, Marcus Epps, Derrick Etienne Jr., Omir Fernandez, Andreas Ivan, Kaku, Jean-Cristopher Koffi, Chris Lema, Ben Mines, Alex Muyl, Danny Royer, Marc Rzatkowski, Jared Stroud, Florian Valot
FORWARDS: Anatole Abang, Tom Barlow, Brian White, Bradley Wright-Phillips
Seeing the club invite Marc Rzatkowski back to the club for training camp is a good move, while we understand releasing him at the end of the seaon last year is business, I felt he played very strong when he came off the bench or as a spot starter. He could be that replacement for the recently transferred Tyler Adams who is currently with Red Bull Leipzig.
The current MLS Super Draft Picks are also getting a taste of being with the senior team right away as Roy Boateng, Rece Buckmaster, Janos Loebe & Sean Nealis are getting a chance to work with Tim Parker, Kemar Lawrence and Michael Murillo who have been a solid backline along with Aaron Long.
Seeing Kyle Duncan & Florian Valot on the list for this training camp is fantastic to see. After both men suffered season ending injuries during a match or during training was a difficult blow to handle, but knowing these two, you felt that they had unfinished business and hopefully they can get back to their solid selves early this season.
And of course there are the players who are currently on the USL Championship Red Bulls squad, who are getting a chance to train with the senior side. Jordan Scarlett, Chris Lema and Jared Stroud will be getting a shot to see if they will make the senior roster, or just getting some fitness in and might return to USL play.
But the surprise of last year in Ben Mines, it’s going to be a lot of fun to see what improvements he has shown, even when he scored his first MLS Goal as a seventeen year old to open the regular season against the Portland Timbers.
Once again this season is going to have a lot of challenges, as the CONCACAF Champions League will open first, then the league opener at the Columbus Crew, then during the season they will be involved with the US Open Cup. It’s getting exciting already before they begin on Wednesday, February 20th.