Yes, New Jersey has a new Boss and his/her/its name is Red Bull Arena! The Old Boss should come and see for himself sometime in the near future. The above picture is courtersy of daveredbulls (aka Dave Martinez from The Offside: New York Red Bulls). Dave also gives us this video of trialist Ibrahim Salou's juggling skills and this video of The Cake Boss' RBA cake. I had some Cake Boss cake at a Christmas party back in December and it was fantastic. I'm assuming the Arena cake was fantastic as well.
In other Red Bulls news:
In a great article by Jack Bell that can be found on the New York Times Goal Soccer Blog, Coach Backe gushes about rookie defender Tim Ream, who has signed a one-year contract (with a three-year league option) for the league's top minimum salary of $36,000. Mr. Backe also shot down rumors linking RBNY with Brazilian Creative Midfielder Ze Roberto and stated that the mystery midfielder RBNY was trying to sign could not get out of contract with his current club. On another note, Mr. Backe hints that Richie Williams will be running the show here soon enough.
After finally getting the stadium built, RBNY's next goal is to get their own training facility. According to this report, the club is considering options on where to build said training facility, including on a site adjacent to the Cathedral of Football. Very interesting, considering the club has already invested in a 15 year lease on a site located in Hanover, NJ.
Big Apple Soccer also give us this report, including video, of Chris Albright sharing some thoughts on his imminent return and playing in Red Bull Arena.
Some more interesting Red Bulls related news from today:
The great ThreeFourThree reports on Twitter (now confirmed by this Brazilian publication) that Brazilian television is reporting that Santos superstar Robinho picked up an injury over the weekend. Could his appearance at the Grand Opening of Red Bull Arena be in jeapardy?
Edit: It's now confirmed. Robinho will not play in the RBNY/Santos RBA Grand Opening match.
Of higher importance, American Soccer News reports that MLS players will not start the season without a new CBA in place. RBNY defender Mike Petke did not mince words on this very subject at Media Day. Let us pray!
Edit: Apparently, MLS players are set to strike at midnight, March 23rd.
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