Football Season Guide

New York Red Bulls finished as the Eastern Conference champions for a second season running but played through an underwhelming playoffs campaign as they were knocked out at the first hurdle itself by an excellent Montreal Impact side. While the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings would be seen as a successful campaign by the fans, New York coach Jesse Marsch will be disappointed with how his side finished last season, bowing out at the Conference semifinals stage after being tipped to make an appearance in the MLS Cup. There were a lot of positives for Marsch from last season which saw New York bounce back from a disastrous start to finish at the top but missing out on silverware would have affected Marsch who will see the need to make changes not only to the roster but to his preferred system as well if New York are to put up a stronger challenge in the post-season. The biggest change though comes in the personnel with the club parting ways with captain Dax McCarty who has been traded to Chicago Fire. Omer Damari has also left the club after failing to impress during his loan stint while other departures include Ronald Zubar, Karl Ouimette, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Chris Duvall. For fresh recruitments, New York have focused on their Red Bulls II, which secured the USL Cup trophy last season. Aaron Long, Dan Metzger and Rafael Diaz are three of the players that New York have signed from the USL affiliate while Hassan Ndam and Amir Murillo represent their only two recruits from outside, with the latter being signed on a season-long loan from San Francisco FC. Marsch is likely to ditch his 4231 system in favor of a two-man attack with Gonzalo Veron expected to partner Bradley Wright-Phillips in the attack while Sean Davis is seen as the successor to McCarty's role in the midfield. Pressure is on Marsch to ensure that his side avoids another slow start to the season and while New York should not have any problems in booking a place in the playoffs, it is their performance in the post season that will determine whether the new campaign would be seen as a success.