Red Bulls Preparing for CF Montreal

By Daniel Feuerstein | March 7th, 2026 | Harrison, NJ

The first two matches in the 2026 MLS Season have been a pleasant surprise for fans, thanks to the new tactics from Michael Bradley, who has led the team to its first two wins and six points. Julian Hall has been the only goal scorer with three goals in these two games, but the amount of energy we have seen from this squad has been tremendous. They will face a winless team in CF Montreal after falling to San Diego FC and the Chicago Fire on the road. They have allowed an alarming eight goals while scoring none. This Red Bulls side must have its head screwed on right and play its game if it wants to achieve its first three-game winning streak since the start of the new season.

Thinking about CF Montreal

Already a rough start to this season for Club Football Montreal. They were taken to the woodshed by San Diego FC at Snapdragon Stadium to start the season, then headed to Chicago and were burned by the Fire for three goals, while they were scoreless for a total of 180 minutes. This is when a club is most dangerous, playing with wounded pride. This is a game where the Red Bulls must follow the game plan and start elevating goal scoring to get the full three points.

“Terms of the game this weekend, I think I’ll be alongside the team. We’ve had a good training week. We’ve studied Montreal, and we’ve taken it day by day, just to make sure that we’re ready for the weekend, for their style on and off the ball. Think it’s going to be a good game. Montreal has a lot of young players, so a lot of players with talent. We have to expect the unexpected and just take it step by step,” said Justin Che

Matthew Dos Santos finally gets his first team contract

Since his first two short-term loans from the Two Team, Matthew Dos Santos has already turned heads with the media and the fans. His elevation from the Academy with Red Bull New York to the MLS Next Pro squad and now permanently with the first team, he has earned his spot and will now have his place on the backline alongside Justin Che, Dylan Nealis, and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. He earned his first MLS Assist in the Game Winning Goal against New England when he delivered a solid cross into the area from the near side, going short on the corner.

“We know the qualities. We know for a young guy, how into it he is every day. And so we wanted to then get him a period with us when we got back. And from that first day, he really showed that he was a guy that we needed to be thinking about more seriously, faster than maybe we even expected. We know Matty’s quality.

We knew that as the season went on, he was a guy who was going to get a lot of good days training with the first team and start to move himself along. But when we brought him into first team training, he showed that it was all going to move a little faster than we had thought.

And so he established himself in a good way, rose to the level of training and the level of a competition at every moment, and when we got to the beginning of the season, we felt like he had earned the right to be on the field,” said Michael Bradley

Adri Mehmeti is already making a name for himself

In his first two matches with Red Bull New York, Adri Mehmeti has already become a topic of conversation among many fans from the New York City/Tri-State Area and all American Soccer fans across the nation. His motor and positioning have already endeared him to himself as a future player going across the Atlantic and a possible senior Men’s National Team spot for the USA. While his main concern is a box-to-box midfielder with defensive tendencies, earning an assist in two straight matches has been tremendous and surprising. His energy is already infectious, and linking up with Julian Hall has been successful.

“He is always trying to find spaces, to be able to play, to be able to link the defense to the attack. When he receives balls, his ability to quickly see the next play and in a really sharp, efficient way, receive and then either on the second touch play a pass right through the next line, or use a quick second touch to then prepare the pass on the third touch, his brain the wheels are spinning fast, and so his ability to again, find ways to help us play football. Find ways to help us play through lines to play from inside out to be available, then as we move outside, finding the right space to get us off one side, and then into the next space. For a young guy, he has real football intelligence. And the part that goes with all of that, and I’ve said this before, is he’s not afraid of a thing.

He’s ready in every moment to play, to compete. He wants the ball. If a play doesn’t work, he wants the ball again. And he has really, really picked up on some of the things defensively that we’ve talked about. I mean, the part having been in our academy for a long time, just the starting points of his aggression and his willingness to work and to counterpress that part are there. And then, you know, last year, when we tweaked things a little bit with the second team and started playing more 4-3-3, started playing with a single holding midfielder, as opposed to two, yeah, that changes the calculation of certain plays a little bit. And so he and I spent a good amount of time looking at different plays, watching other really good players in his position, trying to give him a good understanding of what certain situations look like in there, and his ability to watch and listen and learn and apply all of that has been really, really good,” said Bradley

The kids are alright

Everyone across the league is very giddy to see teenagers and young players part of this Red Bull New York side taking charge on the pitch, either at Sports Illustrated Stadium or on the road. They show no fear or initiative to attack and defend simultaneously. Having veterans like Emil Forsberg, Cade Cowell, Jorge Ruvalcaba, Ethan Horvath, and Dylan Nealis has, at the moment, balanced this Red Bulls side, but of course, we need to see more during the entire regular season. At this point, this has been a pleasant surprise.

“Young players in football, establishing themselves, breaking through. I don’t think that’s anything new, necessarily. I think if you go back, five years, 10 years, 20 years, you find examples of really talented young players that at a young age, then get an opportunity and show that they have quality and show that they have a fearless mentality to go with it. And that’s that. So we’re lucky that we have a really strong Academy here in this area in terms of young talent, diversity of talent, different profiles, people at all levels who love the game. That part is the starting points are so good.

And if you look then specifically at some of the young players that we have here, big credit would have to go to their families, and big credit would have to go to the people inside the club who have played really big and active roles in their development from the time they came into the academy at really young ages. And so, we’ve made it very clear that developing young players and then giving them opportunities is a part of who we are. It’s a part of the Red Bull identity. And we want to be a club that makes it known that if you’re a young player and you are growing and improving and you have the right mentality and you continue to move yourself along in the right way, there is a there’s a real path to a First Team opportunity here.

And nothing is given, nothing is guaranteed. We again try to make an environment every day that is competitive and really challenges players. But again, if we get the right mix of players here and come in with the right mentality every day and enjoy that part and understand that is going to make them better, then we feel good about the possibilities of putting all that together in a good way,” said Bradley

So, a late Sunday afternoon start for Red Bull New York as they try to earn that third consecutive victory at the start of the season for the first time in club history, either as Red Bull New York or the MetroStars. This match should be a good one, and let’s see this club continue to move up the ladder and improve a little bit more in this 2026 Regular Season

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