Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com
Planning for summer friendlies is already in the works, and it appears that the New York Red
Bulls will be welcoming one of the Premier League's top sides to Red Bull Arena for an
exhibition.
According to the New York Post, the Red Bulls will play against Tottenham either July 31 or
Aug.
Photo by ISIphotos.com
By DAVE MARTINEZ
There will be no hero's send-off for Thierry Henry.
After Henry scored the final goal in a 7-1 Arsenal victory over Blackburn last weekend, Arsenal
manager Arsene Wenger eluded to the possibility of extending Henry's loan up to the London derby
against Tottenham on Feb.
Kenny Cooper opened his New York Red Bulls account on Tuesday, doing so against his former club in
the process.
Cooper scored the opening goal in the Red Bulls' 2-0 preseason victory over FC Dallas in Cancun,
Mexico, a game that was postponed from Monday because of field conditions.
photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
D.C. United added more depth to its midfield on Monday, signing a player who is no stranger to
MLS.
United announced the acquisition of midfielder Marcelo Saragosa, the 30-year-old Brazilian who
previously had stints with FC Dallas and Chivas USA.
By CALEB SONNELAND
Thierry Henry's return to Arsenal may last just a little longer than expected, according to
manager Arsene Wenger.
The French striker has enjoyed his brief loan spell at Arsenal, netting a goal in the club's
7-1 win over the weekend.
Sporting Kansas City's quest to repeat as Eastern Conference regular season champions began
today with a 2-1 pre-season victory against the San Jose Earthquakes in the pre-season opener for
both clubs.
Kansas City midfielder Konrad Warzycha delivered the game-winning goal, converting a free kick
to break a 1-1 deadlock.
By DAVE MARTINEZ
As the New York Red Bulls opened their preseason camp two weeks ago, coach Hans Backe surveyed
the landscape of his young goalkeeping ranks and assessed the need for an established veteran to
take a leadership role.
Despite being heavily rumored to be grasping that role, Venezuelan netminder Renny Vega will not
be the one manning the posts at Red Bull Arena this season.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By DAVE MARTINEZ
New York Red Bulls manager Hans Backe will be able to count on Luke Rodgers after all.
After suffering a lapse in his U.S. visa status that left his future with the Red Bulls up in
the air, the English striker is no longer a question mark entering the 2012 MLS season after having
his visa approved and renewed.
Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
Joel Lindpere might not be a Designated Player like Thierry Henry or Rafa Marquez, but he
arguably means the most out of anybody to the potential success of the New York Red Bulls. That
makes the club's announcement Tuesday that he isn't going anywhere anytime soon all the more
notable.
Just days after selling Tim Ream to Bolton, the New York Red Bulls have secured the services of
his replacement, signing Colombian centerback Wilman Conde after making a trade with the Chicago
Fire.
The Red Bulls dealt allocation money (which one source put at $150,000) to the Fire for the
chance to sign Conde, who returns to MLS after spending 2011 in Mexico with Atlas.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Tim Ream was married all of 24 hours and on the brink of going on his honeymoon before he got a
phone call that would alter his plans.
Getting ready to head to Tahiti with his wife, Ream received a call on Jan.
Tim Ream is officially a member of Bolton after his transfer from the New York Red Bulls was
finalized on Thursday.
The transfer, believed to be valued near $3 million, is the highest ever paid for an MLS
defender, surpassing the $2 million paid by French club Boulogne for former Chicago Fire defender
Bakary Soumare.
By DAVE MARTINEZ
Though the New York Red Bulls were once considered clear-cut favorites to win the 2011 MLS
Eastern Conference crown, the team imploded with a host of problems on the field, and in the locker
room.
The defense became a porous mess that forced head coach Hans Backe to retool tactically in the
final quarter of the season with a crude system he dubbed "cynical soccer" in order to stay
competitive.
Juventus and Italian national team legend Alessandro Del Piero has long been linked with a move
to MLS, and despite recent reports having him wind up with the Montreal Impact, the club's
president set the record straight on the matter.
Joey Saputo admitted to having discussions with the 37-year-old Del Piero's representatives on
two occasions -- last April in Montreal and last June in Italy -- while discussing a potential move
to MLS, but offered that Del Piero has his eyes on the league's two major markets should he come to
America.
Tim Ream's time in MLS has come to a close.
After spending the first two years of his professional career with the New York Red Bulls, Ream
is set to sign with Bolton Wanderers after being granted a work permit on Monday. Ream will join
Bolton on a transfer worth an estimated $3 million, the highest amound ever paid for an MLS
defender.
Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
As a new season approaches for the New York Red Bulls, it is still very uncertain who will be
standing between the goalposts for a team looking to surpass its results from 2011.
According to multiple reports, manager Hans Backe definitively said that German goalkeeper Frank
Rost would not be returning to the club, weeks after sporting director Erik Soler said there was a
"good possibility" of Rost coming back.
photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
On the verge of losing one of its top defenders, the New York Red Bulls have locked up another
for the foreseeable future.
The Red Bulls signed centerback Stephen Keel to a new contract, the club announced on
Wednesday.
By AVI CREDITOR
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The New York Red Bulls turned some heads by trading a 2013 first-round pick
and allocation money to the Portland Timbers for veteran striker Kenny Cooper, a move intriguing
for a number of reasons, none more than the fact that New York already has a full stable of
first-team strikers in Thierry Henry, Luke Rodgers and Juan Agudelo.
photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
The New York Red Bulls' forward corps just got a little deeper.
The Red Bulls acquired Kenny Cooper from the Portland Timbers in exchange for a 2013 first round
MLS SuperDraft pick and allocation money. Cooper joins the Red Bulls after a return season to MLS
that saw him score eight goals and have two assists in 34 league games.
In a game that was begging for a special moment, Thierry Henry stepped up to the task to resume
his duties as Arsenal's king.
Ten minutes after making his return to the field as a substitute for Arsenal, Henry delivered a
game-winning goal to lift the Gunners in the fourth round of the FA Cup via a 1-0 victory over
Leeds United in front of a delirious crowd at Emirates Stadium on Monday.
It's official: Thierry Henry is going back to Arsenal.
The New York Red Bulls forward and his former Premier League club put the final touches on a
short-term loan that has Arsenal's all-time leading goal scorer returning to the Emirates through
the end of February.
Henry will be eligible for the club's FA Cup match against Leeds United on Monday.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
American players are not the only ones going abroad for training stints during the MLS
offseason.
In an effort to keep sharp and maintain fitness, Rafael Marquez has begun practicing with
Barcelona B.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
The New York Red Bulls have had an awfully quiet offseason, which has been used more to deflect
rumors and links to star players as opposed to making improvements to a team that vastly
underachieved by its own expectations in 2011.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had been coy in recent days when discussing a potential return to
Arsenal by legendary striker Thierry Henry, but on Friday Wenger acknowledged that a two-month loan
move is in the works and needs only some paperwork to be finalized.
"Normally it should happen," Wenger said in his Friday press conference ahead of Arsenal's match
against Queens Park Rangers.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
Although Thierry Henry's recent stint at Arsenal was technically just for training, rumors
continue to swirl that Arsene Wenger is considering offering the former Arsenal striker a
short-term contract. Some reports stipulate that a two-month loan has already been offered to the
New York Red Bulls forward.
One of the more interesting rumors of the holiday season in Europe surrounds Thierry Henry's
potential return to Arsenal on a short-term loan in January. Nobody at Arsenal is publicly
admitting it is in the works (Arsene Wenger said he has yet decide whether to pursue it), and there
is no guarantee that the New York Red Bulls would be willing to let their star player go on a loan,
but the idea remains an intriguing one.
Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com
By AVI CREDITOR
Tim Ream's training stints with West Brom and Bolton are just that and nothing more.
Officially.
New York Red Bulls general manager Erik Soler made that much clear to reporters on Tuesday,
saying that Ream won't be transferred or loaned out despite what conflicting reports from overseas
might suggest.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
After three years as a backup, Brad Guzan will make his first Premier League start on Saturday
for Aston Villa, and the club is already in the process of trying to extend his stay at Villa Park
before his current deal expires this summer.
By JOSE M. ROMERO
PHOENIX -- Four MLS teams have agreed to take part in the Desert Diamond Cup, a round-robin
tournament to be held at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium in Tucson, Ariz., Feb. 22-March 3.
The defending MLS Cup champions Los Angeles Galaxy, the New York Red Bulls, the New England
Revolution and Real Salt Lake are the scheduled participants in a series of matches that span a
week and a half.
The opening weekend of the 2012 MLS season will feature a Canadian derby.
The Vancouver Whitecaps will host the Montreal Impact at BC Place on March 10 as part of MLS
First Kick, the league announced on Tuesday, as bits and pieces of next season's schedule begin to
be released.
Photo by/ISIphotos.com
Another longtime MLS standout is hanging up his cleats.
Real Salt Lake's Andy Williams announced his retirement Monday night, ending a productive
14-year playing career. The skillful Jamaican midfielder won't be straying far from the game at
all, though, as he will join the Real Salt Lake techinical staff as a scout.
The wave of young MLS players heading to train in England continues to grow, with New York Red
Bulls striker Juan Agudelo the latest to take the trip across the pond.
Agudelo will spend two weeks training with Liverpool FC. Ron Waxman, Agudelo's New York-based
agent, confirmed the training stint on Wednesday.
Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Andres Mendoza may have scored 13 goals in his first full season in MLS, but that didn't stop
him from being let go by the Columbus Crew.
At times the subject of controversy due to his behavior, Mendoza was among the players whose
options were declined by Columbus on Tuesday.
Photo by Brett Sarsfield/ISIphotos.com
Juan Agudelo will be the latest MLS-based U.S. men's national team player to get a training
stint overseas with a top-level club.
Agudelo will be training with Bundesliga outfit VfB Stuttgart -- one of U.S. national team coach
Jurgen Klinsmann's former teams -- agent Ron Waxman wrote on his official Twitter account.
Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphoto.com
The Tim Ream buzz in England continues to spread throughout the Premier League.
After reports surfaced that Arsenal had a summer bid for the New York Red Bulls centerback
rejected and was scouting Ream during the MLS playoffs comes word that West Brom has invited Ream
for a trial and is reportedly into offering a loan to the 24-year-old defender.
Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
It appears that Frank Rost's time in Major League Soccer has come and gone.
Hans Backe told the New York Post Tuesday that he expects New York's midseason acquisition and
Designated Player goalkeeper to return to Germany, leaving the Red Bulls with an unresolved
situation in goal yet again.
Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com
With their MLS seasons over after losses in the conference semifinals on Thursday, a handful of
up-and-coming players in the U.S. Under-23 and Under-20 pools will get their chance to make their
mark ahead of this spring's Olympic qualifiers.
By JONATHAN VERA
CARSON, Calif. – The Western Conference final second leg between the Los Angeles Galaxy and
New York Red Bulls certainly lived up to its much-anticipated hype. Aggression was high, tempers
flared and drama unfolded after a quick start by the Red Bulls, but in the end, New York took the
long plane ride home broken and defeated.
BY ADAM SERRANO
CARSON, Calif. -- David Beckham has enjoyed his finest season in MLS and on Thursday in the Los
Angeles Galaxy's most important game of the season, Beckham led his team to Conference Final.
Dealing with back spasms that nearly forced him out of the game in the first half, the Galaxy's
midfielder sparked Los Angeles' rally as the Galaxy defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1 advancing
to the Western Conference Final against Real Salt Lake 3-1 on aggregate.
The Supporters Shield-winning LA Galaxy will try to move a step closer to the MLS Cup Final with
a win (or draw) at Home Depot Center against the New York Red Bulls tonight (11pm, ESPN2) in their
Western Conference semifinal second leg.
The Red Bulls have other plans, trying to continue a surprising run from last team in the
playoffs to MLS Cup Final.
