New York Red Bulls striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has played nearly every minute since joining the club as a free agent this past off-season. With four goals and one assist in nine games, the Cameroonian international has made himself an essential part of head coach Sandro Schwarz’s future plans.
“He’s working hard every day for the whole group,” said Schwarz about his striker. “This is what we need and it’s good now to have him in this situation. In the box, where he can make the final pass and also when he can score.”
One of the lingering questions when he joined the club was whether or not he could last in what is known as a very physical league. Recent seasons have shown that Choupo-Moting has had injury concerns and found himself playing more off of the bench for Bayern Munich than being a starter, behind players such as Sadio Mane and Harry Kane. That has been dispelled as he is expected to play his 10th consecutive match, having already logged over 800 minutes for the club.
On top of his durability, it has been obvious just how important he is to the team’s offense. For years the club has searched for a striker that can not just score goals but also be involved in the build up. Thus far Choup-Moting has done both alongside fellow designated player Emil Forsberg.
“His quality to keeping the ball, sometimes in the red zone, in our built-up moment, he has that connection,” said Schwarz. “Especially with Emil (Forsberg), our sixes, our wing players but of course on the other side we need him in a good position to be very aggressive in deep runs.”
Choupo-Moting is attempting to be what Red Bulls have missed since the departure of Bradley Wright-Phillips. It is a large role to fill and the team has attempted in various ways to fill this role with little success. Dante Vanzeir, Fabio, Ashley Fletcher, Tom Barlow, Elias Manoel and Corey Burke all failed to grab the spot when given the opportunity. Thus far Choupo-Moting has presented himself as the best option and could end up being what Schwarz and the club have looked for in recent transfer windows.
Saturday’s game against Montreal will prove as yet another test as the veteran striker looks to make his mark on the league.
photo by Matt Kremkau