Examining Red Bulls’ Urgent Needs in the Transfer Window
There are major needs on the Red Bull New York roster: a goalkeeper and central defenders.
Before the season, many central defenders like Noah Elie and Sean Nealis left the team, and the best the team did was get Robert Voloder and Justin Che.
It was so evident that when the window closed in March, another defender was brought in: Julian Bazan.
Bazan and Voloder have not played many minutes this season and are often not even on the team sheet, and it shows in how the team plays. When Voloder was last on the team sheet, the team was able to win against Sporting Kansas City. I am not saying that Voloder is the reason the team might win or lose the game, but it is evident that his abilities are missing in defensive midfield.
There are a couple of players who I think might be good for the team in this position, and two of them play for my hometown team, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense.
Alexis Gamboa
One of these is named Alexis Gamboa. Gamboa is 27 years old but has been playing in first division play since he was 19 and has been a regular in the national team as well. Him as well as Santiago Van Der Putten (who happens to be injured with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament in his right knee) were a duo of central defenders who kept many games with few or no goals.
Granted, the Costa Rican league is similar to the USL Championship at its best and at its worst, and it is at the level of MLS Pro; they played well against MLS competition in the CONCACAF Champions Cup against LAFC. In that series, Alajuelense lost by one goal when normally Central American teams lose by at least three.
Santiago Van Der Putten
Moreover, Van Der Putten is 22; however, he is a bit injury-prone, as he has torn both of his ACLs, which ended his trial with the Real Betis U19 team.
When he is on the field, he is a candidate to be a captain and has been so occasionally with Alajuelense in a squad with Celso Borges and Alexis Gamboa.
Evan Horvath
When it comes to the goalkeepers, the Evan Horvath experiment has not resulted in great success as of late. The Red Bulls are the second-worst defense in the Eastern Conference and have conceded 37 goals so far in the campaign. This number is eleven more than what the team surrendered last year, and the team has had its worst loss in many years this year, losing 6-1 to Charlotte.
I think it may be time to see Aiden Stokes or another goalkeeper on the second team who has played many games in their system.
With Horvath’s recent performances, it is clear why he wanted a move stateside, as he was inconsistent before the move to England.
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