The 2014 New York Red Bulls season was the Red Bulls' nineteenth season in Major League Soccer, the top division for soccer in the United States.
In 2014, the Red Bulls participated in the CONCACAF Champions League for the second time in team history (the first time being 2010). The team also entered the 2014 MLS season as the reigning Supporters Shield winners.
Background
The previous season saw the Red Bulls under new leadership with both former general manager Erik Solér and head coach Hans Backe not being given contract extensions and thus relieved from their duties. They were replaced by Jérôme de Bontin, who took over as general manager, Andy Roxburgh as sporting director, and then-assistant coach Mike Petke as new head coach. During the winter pre-season the club made numerous roster moves with several regulars such as Sébastien Le Toux, Joel Lindpere, Wilman Conde, and Kenny Cooper leaving the team. The club also released disappointing designated player Rafael Márquez. In terms of notable signings, the team managed to sign in Fabián Espíndola, Jámison Olave, former Brazil international Juninho, Eric Alexander, Jonny Steele, and former France international Péguy Luyindula.
It took the Red Bulls five games before finally winning their first match of the 2013 MLS season against the Philadelphia Union at Red Bull Arena by a score of 2–1 on March 30. A 4–0 victory over the Montreal Impact at Red Bull Arena on July 13 turned out to be the turning point for the Red Bulls season as from then on the Red Bulls went on to win eight of their last fourteen games that season and thus secure the Supporters Shield on October 27 in their last match against the Chicago Fire at Red Bull Arena. However, despite winning the Supporters Shield, the Red Bulls failed to make it farther than that as the team were eliminated from the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs by the Houston Dynamo in the first round they played in.
Roster transactions
Pre-season The first roster move by the Red Bulls was announced on November 21, 2013, when it was announced that two-time MLS Cup winning goalkeeper Kevin Hartman had decided to retire from the game. Then, four days later, it was announced that the team had decided to decline the contract options of defenders David Carney and Brandon Barklage. Then on November 27, the Red Bulls announced another departure from the team by parting ways with defender Heath Pearce.
The Red Bulls then announced their first non-departure news of the off-season on December 4 when they announced that defender Kosuke Kimura, midfielder Eric Alexander, and forward Péguy Luyindula had all re-signed with the team. Then on December 10 it was announced by Major League Soccer that the Red Bulls had also declined the contract option on forwards Fabián Espíndola and Andre Akpan when they released the list of eligible players for the 2013 MLS Re-Entry Draft. However, on December 12 it was announced that Akpan had re-signed with the Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls first signing of the season came on December 13 when they signed former American international Bobby Convey from Toronto FC in a trade for the Red Bulls' first-round pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft and first-round pick in the 2016 Supplemental Draft. The Red Bulls also got Toronto FC's second-round pick in the 2014 SuperDraft in the trade. The Red Bulls then re-signed goalkeeper Luis Robles and defender Roy Miller on December 16 before parting ways with defender Markus Holgersson on January 2, 2014.
Then, right before pre-season training began, the Red Bulls signed Spanish defender Armando Lozano from Córdoba before signing English fullback Richard Eckersley via a trade with Toronto FC for the Red Bulls fourth round pick in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft. Then, on January 29, it was announced that 2013 Team Defensive Player of the Year Jámison Olave had re-signed for the Red Bulls.
Finally, on March 6, right before the season began, the Red Bulls announced the signings of Cameroonian defender Ambroise Oyongo and draft picks Chris Duvall and Eric Stevenson.
During the season The Red Bulls made their first roster transaction during the season on July 10 when they mutually agreed to part ways with midfielder Jonny Steele. Steele went on to sign for the Newcastle Jets of the A-League three days later. Then, later during the month of July, the Red Bulls sent out midfielders Ian Christianson and Connor Lade to Orlando City of the USL Pro and New York Cosmos of the NASL respectively in order to gain more game time.
The Red Bulls then made their first signing of the summer transfer window on July 28 when they secured the signature of trialist Damien Perrinelle for the remainder of the season. Two weeks later the Red Bulls traded Andre Akpan to the New England Revolution for Saër Sène.
In #Position:PlayerSigned fromDetailsDateSource15 Toronto FCTrade for 2014 MLS SuperDraft 1st round pick and 2016 Supplemental Draft pick5 CórdobaSigned on a free transfer2 Toronto FCTrade for 2017 MLS SuperDraft fourth round pick3 Coton SportSigned after pre-season19Draft pickSigned after pre-season25Draft pickSigned after pre-season55 IstresSigned after a trial39 New England RevolutionTraded for Andre Akpan and allocation money
Out #Position:PlayerSigned byDetailsDateSource1Retired8 Newcastle JetsOption declined25 San Jose EarthquakesOption declined3 Montreal ImpactReleased9 D.C. UnitedOption declined5 Wigan AthleticReleased19 Club TijuanaMutual Decision22 Newcastle JetsMutual Decision9 New England RevolutionTraded for Saër Sène and international spot
Loaned out #Position:PlayerLoaned toDateSource6 Orlando City16 New York Cosmos
Re-signed #Position:PlayerDateSource27128153174
Draft picks Round # Position Player College/Club Team Reference 2 (22) — Chris Duvall Wake Forest University 2 (34) — Eric Stevenson University of Akron
Team information
Squad information As of July 29, 2014.Current Roster MLSsoccer.com
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Previous club Goalkeepers 18 Ryan Meara GK Fordham University 24 Santiago Castaño GK Academy 31 Luis Robles GK Karlsruher SC Defenders 2 Richard Eckersley RB Toronto FC 3 Ambroise Oyongo LB Coton Sport 4 Jámison Olave CB Real Salt Lake 5 Armando Lozano CB Córdoba 7 Roy Miller LB Rosenborg 20 Matt Miazga RB Academy 25 Chris Duvall DF Wake Forest University 27 Kosuke Kimura RB Portland Timbers 32 Ibrahim Sekagya CB Red Bull Salzburg 55 Damien Perrinelle CB Istres Midfielders 10 Lloyd Sam MF Leeds United 11 Dax McCarty CM D.C. United 12 Eric Alexander RM Portland Timbers 13 Marius Obekop MF Renaissance 15 Bobby Convey MF Toronto FC 17 Tim Cahill CAM Everton 19 Eric Stevenson MF University of Akron 21 Ruben Bover MF Charlton Athletic 23 Michael Bustamante MF Boston University Forwards 8 Péguy Luyindula ST Paris Saint-Germain 14 Thierry Henry ST Barcelona 39 Saër Sène ST New England Revolution 99 Bradley Wright-Phillips FW Charlton Athletic
Pre-season and Friendlies
Pre-season On January 9 it was confirmed that the Red Bulls would begin their pre-season preparation on January 24 before heading off to Orlando on January 27. On January 23 the official pre-season roster was revealed by the Red Bulls. On February 5 the team's first friendly was official announced to be against the Philadelphia Union on February 12 at EverBank Field. The team went on to win that match-up 2–1 thanks to goals from Lloyd Sam and Thierry Henry; the Union goal coming from Jack McInerney. However, seven days later, the team lost their next pre-season match to the previous season's MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City 0–1 in the opening match of the 2014 Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic. Despite the defeat, head coach Mike Petke still commented positively about the defense saying that "We had long spells without the ball, but Kansas City never really threatened, which we wanted to see from our guys. Get into good defensive shape and then we exploded out of that for three or four opportunities."
Three days after losing their opener in the pre-season tournament the Red Bulls went on to win 3–0 over the Montreal Impact. Roy Miller, Ruben Bover, and Bradley Wright-Phillips were the goalscorers in this match. The Red Bulls and Ruben Bover both continued their good form when the team defeated the Fluminense U23 side 1–0 thanks to a goal from Bover. The team then finished off their pre-season with an emphatic 4–4 draw to future MLS newcomers Orlando City SC. Wright-Phillips scored a double while Jonny Steele and Ibrahim Sekagya scored the other two goals to round the pre-season off.
Summer friendlies On March 26 it was announced that the Red Bulls would play a summer friendly match against English Premier League side Arsenal at Red Bull Arena on July 26. The friendly match ended 1–0 to the Red Bulls. The goal came from a Thierry Henry corner which was headed by Ibrahim Sekagya to Bradley Wright-Phillips who tucked-it into the back of the net.
Major League Soccer season
Following the 2013 season in which the Red Bulls won the Supporters' Shield, the team began the 2014 season with a 4–1 defeat against Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place on March 8. Kenny Miller scored the first goal of the game from the penalty-spot for the Whitecaps in the 34th minute before Sebastián Fernández doubled the lead for Vancouver in the 49th minute. Kenny Miller then scored his second goal of the game and the third for Vancouver in the 77th minute of the match before Pedro Morales scored the fourth goal for the Whitecaps. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the lone Red Bull goal in the 91st minute. The team then played their home opener son seven days later against the Colorado Rapids. The match ended in a 1–1 draw in which Thierry Henry opened the scoring in the 57th minute before the Rapids equalized through a Vicente Sánchez penalty. The next week the Red Bulls went back on the road to face the Chicago Fire where they drew the match once again 1–1. The Red Bulls went behind early in the sixth minute through Chicago's Jeff Larentowicz before Dax McCarty grabbed the Red Bull equalizer in the 21st minute. The Red Bulls then finished the month of March with yet another 1–1 draw, this time against Chivas USA who took the lead in the 25th minute through an Erick Torres penalty before Péguy Luyindula headed home the equalizer in the 95th minute.
The beginning of April started as March finished, with another draw. This time the draw result came away at the Montreal Impact at the Olympic Stadium. The game finished 2–2 with both Jonny Steele and Péguy Luyindula scoring for the Red Bulls and Andrés Romero and Felipe finding the net for Montreal. Unfortunately the team's fortunes did not improve as the Red Bulls fell to their second loss of the season in the very next match against rivals D.C. United at RFK Stadium. A fourth-minute strike from Davy Arnaud lead to the 1–0 defeat. However, in the next game, the Red Bulls managed to win their first match of the season against the Philadelphia Union at Red Bull Arena. Thierry Henry started the scoring in the 57th minute before Lloyd Sam doubled the score ten minutes later. Former Red Bull, Sébastien Le Toux, then managed to bring one back for the Union from the spot in the 80th minute but the Red Bulls managed to hang on for all three points. That result was then followed up with an even better result against the Houston Dynamo. In their first match since the Dynamo knocked the Red Bulls out of the MLS Cup the previous season the Red Bulls ran riot against the Dynamo, scoring four goals in a 4–0 rout. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his first ever hat-trick for the Red Bulls while Thierry Henry scored one as well. The Red Bulls then finished the month off with a draw away from home against the Columbus Crew. A penalty from Jairo Arrieta and a late strike from Bradley Wright-Phillips lead to the 1–1 finish.