Jochen Schneider Addresses the Media on the End of the Season

The final press conference for Schneider as he hands over the reins to his successor

Harrison, NJ- As the 2025 season came to an end on the pitch, the official end came with the end-of-season press conference, as Jochen Schneider was joined by Julian DeGuzman to talk to the media and recap their horrible season. But more importantly, informing the media why he was leaving the club and promoting his sporting director to his position.

Family troubles with Schneider

Jochen Schneider reviewed the season with the media, but he also informed them that he is leaving the club and heading back to Germany, as his wife is suffering from a Brain tumor, as she was diagnosed back in September of this year.

“My plan and Red Bull’s plan was that I stay for one more year, until the end of 2026, until my wife Annabella got the diagnosis in mid-September of a brain tumor, and that changed everything. And well, there was only one solution: what to do in a situation like this, and that’s why I had to make the decision to leave the club and to go back to Germany and to look after my wife and our three wonderful children, Carl, Pauline, and George, and this is the most important thing now for me. Nevertheless, I’m really grateful for the three and a half years I had here. I think we have changed a lot. We changed the culture of the club,” said Schneider

Schneider thanked those from ownership, to Red Bull Global Football, those who were at the New York Red Bulls, and also the supporters and the fans for his time here. Now he hopes to help his wife get through these trying times and give her all the support a loving husband should give.

Sandro Schwarz has parted ways

After the last match of the 2025 regular season and through much thought between him and the club, both sides agreed to part ways. While this season was an absolute disaster, we will never forget his first season in 2024 when he took this club to an MLS Cup Championship.

He took down the Columbus Crew in two games of the first round, a clean sheet victory at Citi Field, then an Eastern Conference championship down in Orlando. Unfortunately, the LA Galaxy stood in their way and won the title at the Dignity Health Sports Stadium.

Discussing Transfer Windows

When the discussion of the transfer windows came, there were some positives and some negatives. The winter windows showed the positives with Emil Forsberg, Noah Eile, and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, but when it came to the summer windows, there wasn’t much there. Felipe Carballo was a positive in the run to the MLS Cup Final, but missed on big names, and Gustav Breggren wasn’t enough to save the season.

“We had not been happy with the two transfer windows this year and and We expected more from our our signings Unfortunately Wiktor Bogacz and Marcello Morales came injured took them quite a while to Make it into the team and it’s also it’s not easy when you come from Countries far away from the u s to adapt to life to the league to the style of play to the travel.

So we’re expecting a lot from both of them, also from a player from experienced player like Alexander Huck. We have high expectations for them in the upcoming season, and when you finish like we finished this year, for sure you cannot be happy.

But I’m really hopeful and convinced that Julian and the team will turn the page around and will present a much better roster next season. I’m also excited to see, you know, when you look at RB, our young players, how they perform, how they develop, if they come up. It’s exciting to see, and this is the right way to bring these players up next season to the first team and to see them here at Sports Illustrated Stadium.“

The Julian DeGuzman era has officially begun

The former Canadian International Julian DeGuzman, who became the Sporting Director of the New York Red Bulls, has now been promoted to the Director of Sport position. This is a big challenge for him, and he knows he has some time on his hands, but very soon, when the playoffs are over, DeGuzman knows there will be some big work in front of him at the club.

One of those big moments is to find a new head coach, either going from within the club, within the Red Bull Global Soccer department, or a full head coaching search from within the country, within the confederation of CONCACAF, or from around the globe.

“Yeah, you know there’s certainly a lot of work to do. Clearly day two in the position, I’d certainly want to evaluate, one, you know, what does that sporting director position look like? There’s nothing that needs to be decided at this moment.

We clearly have a lot of great experts within the staff who have done a great job since I arrived here, and we want to continue to work with them. So that will stand as is, and you know we will have maybe a better decision down the road as to what that looks like regarding the sporting director position.

As for the head coach, I mean, there’s going to be, you know, a deep dive into what that candidate looks like, and we need to make sure this is somebody that fits the philosophy, the playing style, and also the expectations and the priorities of developing players as well. We want to succeed, and we want to do our due diligence when we come to that decision,” said DeGuzman

Possible style change for the future

We have seen clubs in Major League Soccer take on the pressing game from the Red Bulls, but now they have enhanced that style and turned it into something more than just a full offensive press. Like the Philadelphia Union or St. Louis City SC, and a few others that have made adjustments to make it their own. DeGuzman wants to make changes himself to make the club more dynamic for the future.

DeGuzman has seen that first-hand in his first two seasons as Sporting Director, and he believes that change for the future of the club needs to start right away for the 2026 season.

“I’m very, very certain that, based on the philosophy that we want, the playing style, you know, we will see something different compared to what we’ve seen in the past 12 years, based on the philosophy and styles that we’ve seen. And I think when you look at Red Bull in the past, we’ve been a very high-intensity, energetic team.

But I think we could add a lot more in terms of the playing style, bringing in players with footballing IQs. You want guys who can perform with excitement in the attack. And we want to play, you know, fun football, fun football. where it allows us to succeed and win, and develop players. And those are the things that this coach will certainly have moving forward.”

Personal thoughts

While it’s sad to hear the news of Jochen Schneider’s wife going through this difficult time, it’s very understandable why he will be leaving the club in his own way. For Julian DeGuzman, this is his time to shine and to make positive strides to get the right head coach and, when the Winter Transfer Window opens, to get his players to the club.

At the same time, he needs to make the right decision on who he will inform to decline an option or not re-sign with the club to keep them. The hard work starts right now, and he needs to get it right when the roster freeze is lifted so he can get to work.

New York Red Bulls News:

• Looking at the Schneider/Schwarz era has ended at New York Red Bulls
• Red Bulls’ Historic 15-Year Playoff Streak Ends, Prompting Major Leadership Overhaul
• Red Bulls 2 selected and ready to face Chicago Fire 2

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