“We’ve Made Good Steps” Red Bulls Ready for MLS

Reigning Eastern Conference Champions New York Red Bulls are ready for the MLS regular season following a stint in California for preseason. The team will kick off the 2025 campaign against FC Cincinnati on Saturday night and head coach Sandro Schwarz feels confident in his new team being able to integrate many of the new pieces in the squad.

“We made good steps in how we want to play,” said Schwarz at the team’s first press conference. “Now it’s important to see this in the first game against Cincinnati. I’m very satisfied with the guys, with their behavior on the field and off the field. So now we are very excited to start on Saturday against Cincinnati.”

Red Bulls have added significant players this off-season, the types that have not been brought in for quite some time. Veteran striker Eric Choupo-Moting joins from Germany as well as rising stars such as Marcelo Morales from Chile and Raheem Edwards from Toronto FC. The club has made unprecedented moves considering their lack of signings in recent years, increasing the expectations for the club to finally lift silverware in 2025.

The first step will be a newly evolving FC Cincinnati team that has seen the departure of former MVP Luciano Acosta. In his place enters Brazilian attacking midfielder Evander who had a stint with Portland Timbers but now hopes to revamp himself in the midwest.

“It’s important not to compare the end of the season and the beginning of the season,” said Schwarz when speaking on expectations. “We want to be ready, directly, to win games and that starts in Cincinnati. Of course, when we are talking about end of the year, hopefully, we are talking about how we want to play and that we are seeing this every day. So this is important, the style of play.”

How that style is implemented remains to be seen. Now entering his second season, Schwarz has more weapons at his disposal than any Red Bulls manager in recent member. Choupo-Moting brings a proven track record to the striker position that hasn’t been there since the likes of Thierry Henry. The proven midfield connection between Daniel Edelman, Felipe Carballo and Peter Stroud is also a proven concept that has high expectations. The inclusion of Hack into the defense should also give depth as the club looks to start the season off strong.

“We want to win games,” said Schwarz. “But how we play is the first step in our performance. It’s the first step in our mentality, every weekend, every training day and then we will talk at the end for the result.”