Tag: New York Red Bulls

It looks like Armando Lozano is set to become a New York Red Bull. According to Diario Cordoba — the same source that broke the original story linking him to New York — Lozano severed his contract with Segunda Division side Cordoba and is set to come to New York on a two-year deal. The central defender did not feature in Cordoba’s 18-man roster this weekend. Further, He didn’t travel with the team for their most recent fixture against SD Ponferradina either, perhaps signaling a change in address for the Granada native. Last Thursday, New York Red Bull Sporting Director Andy Roxburgh revealed to EOS that the team was indeed in conversations with the Spanish defender. "There is discussions going on," Roxburgh tells EOS. "As soon as there something to say to you, we will let you know." A seldom used player with Cordoba, Lozano, 29, will have several opportunities for minutes in the Red Bulls’ multi-front season. He made all of 28 appearances in the past year in Spain with eight starts this season. In New York, Lozano will likely be backing two veteran centerbacks in Ibrahim Sekagya and Jamison Olave. While that may not yield the minutes the Spanish defender seeks, New York’s participation in both the U.S. Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League will ensure several appearances for the Spanish back.

Jack Bell at the New York Times wrote a long piece today on the New York Red Bulls' recent moves, including the signing of Wilman Conde and Joel Lindpere's new contract. But the most intriguing part of his article (click the link above) comes at the end, when Bell claims that the Red Bulls are pursuing Stephen Ireland of Aston Villa as (one would assume) a mid-season designated player signing. Ireland is quite a character, as you can see here and here, but he's also a midfielder with considerable attacking talent and still young at age 25. Only time will tell if this goes anywhere, but it would certainly indicate that Erik Solér and Hans Backe have decided to think differently when it comes to a third DP.

Having released a number of players at the end of the 2011 season (and with only one pick in the 2010 MLS Superdraft, in addition to three supplemental selections), it was perhaps inevitable that the New York Red Bulls would bring in a lot of players on trial during preseason training. The club publicly released the full list of trialists late Monday, and Dave Martinez at the excellent Empire of Soccer blog tells us a little more about each player. Interestingly,Tom Williams, the English journeyman whose potential arrival we mentioned over the weekend, is listed among the trialists, while Victor Pálsson - the Icelandic midfielder most recently with Hibs - is not. Sky Sports reported this morning that Pálsson's signing may be imminent.

On the main SBNation MLS page, I take a look this morning at how the Red Bulls got where they are - from defensive blunders to coaching conundrums to panic trades. Click the title link above to take you to the article.

Luke Rodgers had some choice words about Landon Donovan after the Red Bulls played the Galaxy. In my opinion Luke made a bit of an ass of himself...