Red Bulls Ready to Open the Season in Orlando

Ready to kick the ball in 2026

Orlando, FL- Red Bull New York is ready to go, starting their first match of this brand new season. They are heading down to Central Florida to face Orlando City at Inter&co Stadium. Many people are excited to see them play and get their first match under their belt, and they want to see what Michael Bradley will do after his brief stint as the head coach of the Red Bulls’ two team from the middle of last season till the end that gave them the MLS Next Pro Title. It’s a little different when you are managing the senior side, and it’s not kids growing up from the academy level to the second team, but legacy is on Michael’s side.

Goalkeepers

Having John McCarthy as a backup last year when they lost A.J. Marcucci to an injury during the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup in Philadelphia was a big blow. With Carlos Coronel moving on to another club outside of MLS, and bringing over U.S. International Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath from England, we will see if this upgrade will be helpful to the club when they take on Orlando City and prevent goals from going inside the net.

Defense

A lot of wheeling and dealing for the Red Bulls Director of Sport in this department. Julian DeGuzman sent Sean Nealis to DC United, transferred out Noah Eile, parted ways with Alexander Hack, and recently waived Raheem Edwards from the club to bring in Robert Voloder, Justin Che, and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to join Omar Valencia, Dylan Nealis, and Tim Parker. The feeling right now is that the center of the backline will be questionable, and how many per match.

Midfielders

Bringing back Cade Cowell to the league and transferring Jorge Ruvalcaba over from Pumas of Liga MX is to make the wingers help with service to the striker and to add some goal scoring as well. Of course, behind them will be Captain Emil Forsberg, and helping out in between the offense and defense are the defensive mids in Gustav Breggren and Ronald Donkor. While it feels dynamic, and during preseason, there were some positives, the hope is that everything will work once the opening whistle of the brand new season gets underway.

Striker

Right now, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is the lone striker, and if he can equal or surpass his goal totals from last season with these new additions, then everything will be just fine. It’s all about getting the service from his midfielders and how he takes his chances. If he can continue playing like this, it will be a huge upgrade, and the hope is that they can attempt a successful season. We will see how this will all play out.

Orlando City is their first opponent

Down at the Purple Palace on Church St., the Red Bulls will be facing Orlando City, and Oscar Pareja’s side will be a hard-working team with a South American Mentality. The golden lines will grind you on the pitch from the first whistle to the last. Gone is the Peruvian Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, and coming in is the Canadian International goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, along with Javier Otero. Duncan McGuire and Ivan Angulo will be a problem up top as a striker tandem, but the real engine of this Pareja team is the midfield. Robin Janssen will captain the backline and give crunching tackles when they are needed, but so far, this club has been giving problems every minute on the pitch.

Formation

This is my prediction for the Red Bulls starting eleven to begin the brand new season in a 4-3-3

GK Ethan Horvat
DEF Omar Valencia, Dylan Nealis, Robert Voloder, Justin Che
MID Gustav Berggren Ronald Donkor, Emil Forsberg
FWD Cade Cowell, Jorge Ruvalcaba, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting

Red Bull New York News:

• Red Bull New York has Media Day Starting the New Michael Bradley Era
• Red Bull New York Waives Raheem Edwards
• Red Bulls Send Wiktor Bogacz on loan to Polish First Division side KS Cracovia

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