Strooper expects strong MLS season with New York

MLS season 26 kicks off the weekend with an Austrian coach. Gerhard Strooper is in his first full season with the New York Red Bulls and wants to do better than he did in 2020, when he failed in the first round in what was then his first competitive match with Salzburg. Contrary to preparations, the coronavirus pandemic will not cause any problems, since all the players and the coaching staff have already been vaccinated.

APA’s Strooper said: “This makes everything easier, especially as things have stalled in preparation for Corona.” Conditions at the Florida training ground were excellent, but due to the Coronavirus cases, only two of the six planned pilot games took place. This is one reason why the 44-year-old, who arrived from Barnsley in the English second division in October 2020, did not put much pressure on his team from the start.

“Many things are going in the right direction and there is progress to be seen. But we are only at the starting point of certain tactical aspects. Team development will be the focus in the coming weeks and months. Above all, Red Bull Identity has to be clear. Words. “The most important key is” high pressure, pressure. ” We work hard on this every day. ” Men are really strong and show a great willingness to learn something new every day. The former Wydad coach said: “It is very interesting to work with individual players and constantly build a team in a work unit.”

With 39 times the NBA’s top scorer, Daniel Roer, the 30-year-old former Austrian is one of the best, with goalkeeper Carlos Coronel, on loan from Salzburg, and midfielder Yuba Diarra, hit by a crusade. In Rabat, there are two other players linked to the Austrian League. There were no major transfers in winter, and mainly young people were brought in. They are really looking forward to starting Saturday (local time) at Red Bull Arena against Sporting Kansas City.

This too, since 3000 spectators can watch the game. “We really want the season to start, more than that because there will be fans in our stadium again. That creates, at least in part, the atmosphere that we all want ”. The game should end more successfully than it did on November 21, when they lost 3-2 to eventual champion Columbus Crew. The opening statistics for the new season are very encouraging. There have been seven wins, two draws and one loss so far. At Red Bull Arena, you’ve never lost with four wins and one draw.