The Red Bulls opened training camp yesterday, and were available to the media for the first time today. And while GM Erik Soler said the team isn’t signing Ze Roberto _ or Olof Mellberg or Armando Cooper, for that matter _ he did promise two more additions and defensive reinforcements.
Soler rubbished reports that the team still had a multi-year offer on the table for Ze Roberto, and said the Brazilian star isn’t in their plans anymore _ plans that include adding another right back and either a central defender or defensive midfielder, a decision that may well determine where Rafa Marquez lines up.
“No, we’re not going to sign Ze Roberto. If you look at the balance of or team, we’re not going to sign any offensive players at the moment,’’ said Soler. “Ze Roberto is a fantastic player. He was voted the player with the best physical ability in the Bundesliga last year when he was 35; he can play for another five years. But we have absolutely no contact with Ze Roberto at this moment.’’
Considering Ze Roberto’s contract with Hamburg expires in the summer, and Soler himself had said the Red Bulls wouldn’t sign a Designated Player this winter but might look at adding one this summer, I had to ask if that meant they’d resume talks with an eye to bringing the Brazilian midfielder in midseason.
“He’s one of the players we had on our radar for the last year, because he’s a great footballer, he’s a Brazilian, a wonderful attacking player with a lot of abilities,’’ Soler acknowledged. “But we don’t have him in our plans for the future. I wouldn’t thank that he’d be one that he’d be signing.’’
Soler also denied having any interest in Mellberg or Cooper, a veteran centerback from Olympiakos and a rising young midfielder from Arabe Unido in Panama that have both been linked to the Red Bulls in recent media reports. Soler added the last time I looked at Olof Mellberg was…13 years ago.’’
Still, that hardly means the Red Bulls are standing still until their March 19 season opener against Seattle.
“We’re going to sign two more players before the start of the season,’’ said Soler. “One of them is going to be an alternative on the right fullback, and the other is going to be a central defender. It could also be a central midfielder. Hans would then look at moving Rafa Marquez down as a central defender. We’ll see. But we’re going to sign two more players before the season starts. That’s what we decided, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Both Soler and coach Hans Backe said that who they sign will be the determining factor in where the Mexican National Team captain plays, either as a defensive midfielder in a diamond, or as a central defender next to Tim Ream.
“That’s the beauty of having Rafa Marquez as a player; he’s a world-class player as a central defender and he’s a world-class player as a defensive midfielder. There are not many players that have that quality,” Soler said. “So we’ll primarily look for a central defender, and if we can’t find one that is good enough, then we’ll look at the other way around and see if we can find a top-quality defensive midfielder.’’
Backe agreed that where he deploys Marquez will depend on what sort of player Soler can deliver him over the next month or two.
“We have the option to put Rafa as a centerback; then we only have to look at central midfield players. We’ll see what could be the best solution, see what names we have,’’ said Backe. “We have some names of course, but you never know. It takes time. We have to look at centerbacks and the central midfield position.’’
