The New York Red Bulls officially kicked off their pre-season this Monday at Red Bull Arena, with many team members checking in for physicals before spending their first day at the team's training grounds in Montclair, New Jersey on Thursday.
In the team's first day of media availability, coach Hans Backe announced plainly that mid-season goalkeeping addition Frank Rost would not be returning. With only recent draft acquisition Ryan Maera reporting for training camp, the clock is ticking on the Red Bulls to find a suitable leader between the posts for the 2012 season. Rumors point to Venezuelan National Team keeper Renny Vega as a likely candidate.
Mexican captain Rafa Marquez, who had not spoken to the media since his controversial comments in September, also spoke to reporters on Thursday. While Marquez claimed that his comments about the level of his teammate were "misinterpreted", he also shouldered some of the blame for a lackluster 2011 season, stating "I wasn’t at a level that I wanted to be." Acknowledging that he had been approached by other teams to leave NYC, he added "I gave my word to this team and this club and I’m here to succeed.” Marquez will serve the remaining two games of his three game suspension for fighting with LA's Juninho at the beginning of the 2012 season.
Across the Atlantic, two Red Bulls chose to square off with fans. Striker Thierry Henry had some choice words for traveling Arsenal supporters during the team's 3-2 loss to Swansea City, but quickly apologized for using inappropriate language. Henry suffered a calf strain during training this week and is questionable for a major clash on Sunday against Manchester United, which will be the first Premier League game in history to air live on US network television.
Tim Ream, who continues to await his visa hearing to complete his transfer to Bolton Wanderers, reappeared on Twitter after a five month silence. Ream wasted no time in lashing out at some RBNY fans, who had attacked his newlywed wife on message boards over her recent frustration over their honeymoon being abridged (among other comments, one fan referred to her as "an unsupportive bitch"). Ream tweeted, "If you don't know shit about her, don't post shit about her. I didn't know people had such issues with women speaking their mind." Whatever happens when the British tabloids descend on Ream, it is unlikely to be pretty.
Finally, RBNY President of Business Operations Chris Heck appeared on the Seeing Red podcast this week. Heck candidly spoke on a range of topics from the recent tax court case against the town of Harrison (the ruling wouldn't impact his marketing budget) to the rationale behind the repricing of season tickets ("if you're going to be in the best seats in the house, you're going to have to pay a little more"). Heck said to expect a big media blitz for the team this year, stating "We're all in...we want to be more than that little thing that's on the other side of the river. We think that we can be." Heck also indicated that an announcement may be coming in the next few weeks about bringing in a special event game over the summer "as good as you'll ever see". The team hosted no friendlies in 2011, but did host the MLS All Star Game.
