How does a team replace one of the top playmakers in Major League Soccer over the course of the last three seasons?
That was the most pressing question for the New York Red Bulls in preseason after the club traded Sacha Kljestan to Orlando City SC for Carlos Rivas and Tommy Redding on Jan. 3.
The answer isn’t necessarily Alejandro Romero Gamarra, the young Argentine midfielder known as Kaku who will wear the No. 10 jersey.
For Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch, the playmaker isn’t one individual.
“We have a saying in Red Bull that the system is the playmaker,” Marsch said. “It’s an easy thing to say, but it’s a more difficult thing to achieve. We’ve been really close with a lot of different teams that we’ve built here to really establish our way of playing, but we as an organization, as a staff, and as a team are more optimistic than ever that we have the players to meet what we want to become.”
While preseason optimism isn’t exclusive to the Red Bulls, Marsch has reason to be excited about this year’s group. By definition it’s not his most talented squad — it may lack some of the league’s biggest names — but this team, he believes, fits like a glove.
“From a philosophical and style perspective this talent pool fits the way we play better than any group we’ve ever had,” he said.
Marsch said he’d put the team’s spine — from Luis Robles in net, to Aaron Long and Aurelien Collin in defense to Tyler Adams, Sean Davis Kaku, and Felipe in the midfield and Bradley Wright-Phillips up top — against any other in the league.
He also likes the versatility of the team with players able to fit multiple positions and this year’s squad team able to play in several formations.
“I think right now that’s an exciting proposition for our team,” Marsch said. “Each year I talked about trying to use formations and game plans and tactics to manipulate what we want to try to achieve against the opponent. This year, I truly know this group has those capabilities and that flexibility.”
There are, of course, questions ahead of the team’s MLS opener against the Portland Timbers on March 10. There have been some defensive miscues in preseason and one particularly that led to the equalizing penalty kick by CD Olimpia of Honduras in the opening leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 last week.
It’s impossible to predict how quickly a newcomer from abroad adjusts to the league and playing in the United States. That will be a question for Kaku and Marc Rzatkowski in particular, both of whom had shortened preseasons.
And the Eastern Conference again will be unforgiving. But Marsch’s enthusiasm goes well beyond coach-speak.
“It’s going to require still a lot of work and we’ve got to develop still a lot of really important things within this group,” Marsch said. “But we’re incredibly optimistic and really positive and excited about the prospect of this season.”