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Red Bulls practice day one (Running commentary)

Good morning folks. I’m coming to you from the practice bubble at Giants Stadium. The place is filled with prospects hoping to land a contract. I’ll provide some live commentary from here for the next hour so feel free to follow along.

12:13pm– Osorio has left the building but we still have one more game going. Agoos and Williams are watching the last game.

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12:07pm- For those of you wondering, Columbus still has the rights to Teddy Niziolek but apparently the Crew and Red Bulls are talking trade again.

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12:03pm- Spoke to Francis Doe and it turns out he spent the off-season in Minnesota, where his parents live.

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12pm- We’re still going and Palacio finished off a nice sequence with a goal. The kid’s a player.

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11:45am- I’ve said it already but Kassel is legit. Obviously the competition is a few notches below what he’ll see in MLS but you can see the skill.

We’ve had two goals since the opener, including a nice one by Martin Nunez.

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11:40am- Here are the rosters of the teams today (some players are here who aren’t on the lists):

YELLOW TEAM

  • Laurent Manuel
  • Matt Kassel
  • Tighe Dombrowski
  • Scott Palguta
  • Oscar Carmona
  • Zen Darwcz
  • Keith Hernandez
  • Sola Abolaji
  • Leo Buttitta
  • Chris Megaloudis

BLUE TEAM

  • Danleigh Borman
  • Abimbola Pedro
  • Marshall Leonard
  • Martin Nunez
  • Ted Niziolek
  • Cody Ericson
  • Hakim Zermouni
  • Felipe Libreros
  • Gabriel Ortega
  • Christian Camacho

ORANGE TEAM

  • Michael Palacio
  • John Gilkerson
  • Steve Curfman
  • Ricky Schramm
  • Spencer Allen
  • Ben Clack
  • Carlos Manuel Mora
  • Mauricio Turizio
  • Alex Cunliffe
  • Kevin Mesa
  • David Panchano

Goalkeepers in attendance are: Andrew Sparkes, Alex Satovic, JP Franchini and Bill Gaudette.

Now you can Google away.

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11:34am- We finally had a goal, scored by Gabriel Ortega. There was no roar from the crowd. Hopefully more goals are coming.

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11:26pm- We’re in between games again and there still hasn’t been a goal scored. I wish I could say it is because of the stellar defending but it hasn’t. There have been some players who have showed some skill so it hasn’t been a complete loss. I would still rate the action so far better than Day One, Game One at the MLS Combine. I’m still in therapy after that disaster.

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11:22am- One prospect who has looked decent in a central midfield role is Christian Camacho. Then again, he might just stand out because of the mohawk he’s sporting. Actually, he’s pretty skillful.

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11:17am- Marshall Leonard is certainly an interesting prospect. As a left-sided defender, he should get a long look as a bench option. He’s not doing much today but only because he hasn’t faced much in the way of attacks.

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11:12am- Yes, they are still playing. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ve had a goal all day.

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11:03am- We’re in between games and I can tell you that Kassel, Palacio and Dombrowski have impressed. Defender Sola Abolaji has also looked pretty good today.

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11am- Yes, I just figured out I was putting PM on my updates. Supplemental pick Michael Palacio has been impressive today.

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10:56am– Tighe Dombrowski has looked pretty good in defense.

Stil waiting to see a left-sided player stand out.

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10:50am- Supplemental picks Michael Palacio and John Gilkerson look decent.

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10:42am- Former RSL defender Steve Curfman is also here.

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10:38am- Teddy Niziolek is here and playing center back.

Kassel with a nice surge forward that results in a shot saved. The kid can play.

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10:33am- Also in the house is Francis Doe. That is good news because it means he isn’t stuck in Liberia with visa issues.

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10:31am- A little 10 v 10 action is taking place right now and it’s about as sloppy as you would expect.

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10:26am- MLS veterans in attendance today include former Columbus Crew goalkeeper Bill Gaudette and former New England defender Marshall Leonard.

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10:21am- Guess who is on the field for the first action? None other than Red Bulls youth prospect Matt Kassell. Yep. The boy wonder is here.

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10:18pm- Richie Williams is gathering the players and giving them the rundown of things. He and Jeff Agoos are in attendance.

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10am- Head coach Juan Carlos Osorio has arrived and it looks like his brain is going a thousand miles an hour. I don’t have the heart to tell the prospects in this bubble but I think Osorio’s mind is on the foreign players he’s hoping to sign.

Comments

  1. Ives,

    Any idea why they didn’t call Johnny Exantus or Walter Hines into the practice/try-outs? If they’re taking a look at all these different players (local and non-local I guess), why not also take a look at the top academy kids in addition to Kassel?

    Reply
  2. onionsack, if there polish it doesnt mean that ill like him…. hes not a starter in mls in my opinion maybe off the bench…. but at all the players that were there i would right matt kassel the highest…. and thats kind of sad….

    Reply
  3. I’m pretty sure MLS Underground has all the 2007 salaries organized by team. I remember using that to calculate the Galaxy’s payroll and determining that with their allocations, they actually did not seem to be over the cap.

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  4. Curious to hear about Gilkerson. Any shot of making this team? He’s one of 2 Winthrop Univ players picked up in the supplemental draft (Saidi Isaac to NE). My alma mater, so I hope one or both can make it.

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  5. Does anyone know how the Goalkeepers did?
    Bill Gaudette have what it takes to be a Red Bull?
    Where have I heard that name Andrew Sparkes from?
    JP also a good local Prospect!

    Reply
  6. This is extremely out of the blue but I thought I´d just put it on the most recent post. Is there a list anywhere of team salaries in MLS? Obviously LA seems to be able to ride above the cap line but I´m wondering if any teams actually choose to not reach the cap.

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  7. Leonard is a solid left-sided option who can play left back as well as left mid. I’m glad to hear that he is in camp to give us depth at both positions. Gaudette is a solid MLS backup keeper as well. Can’t wait to hear more about Kassell and how he does this Spring. NM

    Reply

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