It hasn’t been a year to celebrate for New York Red Bulls as they miss out on the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2009. However, the development of key players that should play a role in their attempt to return to that minimum requirement has had great progress. In particular, young Julian Hall has worked his way through the reserve team and just last week scored one of his biggest goals against rivals New York City FC.
“This is a really, really good example when a player is doing, step-by-step his individual development,” said Schwarz when asked about Hall’s progress. “Academy, second team, now first team. That’s a great example and I’m sure his potential is very high.”
Hall joined New York as a professional in 2023 with the New York Red Bulls II MLS Next Pro team. While there he made 30 appearances, scoring 11 goals. Now, with the first team, he has two goals over 32 total appearances. The past two weeks have seen a significant boost, as the young NYC native started two consecutive games, proving that he can handle the pressures of the top tier in American soccer.
Hall was just 13 years old in 2020 when he joined the Red Bull youth Academy and worked his way up like others have before. Proving to be an invaluable tool, Red Bulls II under the guidance of Ibrahim Sekagya, developed him into the attacking star that will more than likely be a major part of the 2026 season.
“I think all season he’s been developing,” said team captain Emil Forsberg. “He’s been listening very good. You can see he’s been like a crocodile, waiting to snap, to get his chance. I think now he’s been taking it and I’m proud of him. He has a lot more potential.”
New York has relied heavily on players developed through the academy and second team. Currently starters Sean Nealis, Daniel Edelman, Wiki Carmona, Peter Stroud, Kyle Duncan, Ronald Donkor and Mohammed Sofo have all spent significant time with the lower league team, gaining experience through competitive games.
While that may sound like a consolation prize, given that the team will not get a chance to return to MLS Cup in 2025, player development has been a decade-long priority for the club as they hope to accomplish their goals in their own way.
Red Bulls will play out their next two games, hoping to have a better point total to 2024. To do so they’ll need to win both of their games against FC Cincinnati on Saturday night, and Columbus Crew SC in two weeks.
photo by Matt Kremkau