With the Red Bulls mired in one of the worst seasons in MLS history, many players would avoid them like the plague. But ex-MetroStar Leo Krupnik wanted to come back _ and the fact he hopes to debut Thursday, just a day after his ex-Maccabi Haifa teammates play their Champions League opener _ shows just how much.
The 29-year-old central defender asked out of his contract with the Israeli Premier League champions because he saw a chance for his family to return to the U.S. and him to return to MLS, back with the team that actually drafted him back in 2002. Now he finally gets a chance to make an impact.
“I had an opportunity to come here. I asked for a release there, and that’s the story,” Krupnik said. “(It was) just getting back to the U.S. I was in Israel for four years, and the economic situation there has started going downhill. And it was an opportunity to come here, for my wife and my family. I thought it was a good opportunity to come back to New York.”
And by the way, I’ve officially joined 2009. I’m finally on Twitter.
It’s a homecoming seven years delayed. Krupnik had gotten drafted 68th overall in 2002, but he wasn’t signed until late in the season, and then was undermined by an injury he never even knew he had.
“It was a very weird situation in 2002. I didn’t get any chance to play. I came in with like five games left, a very short period of time in late August. Pretty much right away I suffered a hernia, and I didn’t find out it was a hernia until I was released,” said Krupnik, who won a USL2 title that next season with Wilmington and played from 2003-05 with USL1 Charleston.
Eventually, Krupnik got scouted playing for the U.S. Maccabiah squad that made the 2005 finals, and spent the next four years playing in Israel.
He helped Bnei Sakhnin get promoted, then led the newly-promoted team to an Intertoto Cup berth. Last June he signed a three-year, $360,000 deal with Maccabi Haifa, making 30 starts and helping them clinch their 11th Israeli Premier League title, sixth in the last decade. But after that he requested _ and got _ his release.
“There’s been a lot of cut-downs, players asked to cut their salaries,” Krupnik said. “The big push was when (Arkadi) Gaydamak came in and pushed the league through the roof by buying Beitar Jerusalem, and then last year Alexander Shnaider came in and bought Maccabi Tel Aviv. Everything went very much up.
“This year Gaydamak left and they said we don’t want to put that much money into it. The league lives and dies by billionaires coming in spending gobs of money and everybody’s salary goes up. Then they go bankrupt, or if they don’t want to put money in, the league goes down.”
Financial stability was key for him. That’s why he wisely turned down a deal in the Ukraine that would’ve doubled his salary for a year but eventually saw the team go bankrupt. And it’s even more of a factor with a five-month old daughter that he wanted to bring back to the U.S.
The Red Bulls gave him that chance.
“We have been tracking Leo’s progress for some time and we think he will immediately add depth and experience to our defense,” said sporting director Jeff Agoos, whose older brother actually coached Krupnik at Cal. Still, Krupnik needed no in to leave the Red Bulls impressed.
“He’s looking good. There’s a bite to him,” said coach Juan Carlos Osorio. “(He’s) strong. I think I need to see him more in the air, but I think he’s a good defender. I think he has shown that he can play and is a good defender.”
At 6-foot-2, 180-pounds, Krupnik is a fairly physical player who has a clean, simple game. Like Clint Eastwood said, a man’s got to know his limitations, and Krupnik apparently knows his.
“After 2002 I went to Germany, and Joe Enochs _ who played in Germany _ said do what you can, and the best you can do it,” Krupnik said. “I’ve been trying to focus on everything that I do well, and I never really try to do anything I don’t know how to do. I try to keep it simple and organized.”
Krupnik is waiting for the transfer window to open Wednesday, and his ITC to arrive. With right back Carlos Johnson and centerback Carlos Mendes both out, and centerback Kevin Goldthwaite likely to miss Thursday’s Galaxy game, Krupnik can’t get cleared fast enough.
Right now Mike Petke and Andrew Boyens are the only fit, natural centerbacks available. And even though moving left back Alfredo Pacheco inside is a distinct possibility, there is a far greater possibility that Krupnik will see time as quickly as he becomes available.
