Top Stories

Red Bulls to play in Emirates Cup

NY_Primary_COL

Thierry Henry is going back to the Emirates.

The former Arsenal striker and his New York Red Bulls teammates will participate in this summer's Emirates Cup along with host Arsenal, Paris-St. Germain and Boca Juniors.

New York will be the first Major League Soccer team to participate in the tournament, which is in its fifth year. The Red Bulls will play PSG on July 30 before squaring off with Arsenal, for whom Henry scored an all-time club record 226 goals, on July 31 in London.

What do you think about the announcement? Think it's a nice opportunity for the Red Bulls and MLS? Planning your trip to London?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. As an Arsenal fan Wenger’s orthodoxy is getting to be a little much. Traveling to the US doesn’t seem to hurt ManU every year. Wenger needs to get with the times. Great invite for NYRB though!

    Reply
  2. What’s assuming RBNY would be embarrassed in a friendly tournament simply because they are from the MLS? Seems like both of you should follow this advice.

    Reply
  3. Great exposure for the Red Bulls and MLS… Does anyone know whose gonna show it? (ESPN? FSC? Someone else?)

    And for those that are concerned about the travel I don’t think it’s that big of a deal… they have a few days off before and after the tournament.

    It’s not like they’re going to London to go to a wedding then playing a game in Dallas two days later, cuz that would just be ridiculous… ha!

    Reply
  4. A friendly is a friendly albeit the tittle of the torunament. As far as team depth is concerned, let there be alliances with NASL and USL organizations. The Red Bulls can call up five players from one of those teams.

    Reply
  5. Good news if they don’t lay an egg. If they play in this tournament and are competitive it is a good opportunity. If they perform by leaps and bounds as the worst team at this event it will be a major failure for the MLS.

    Reply
  6. How can NYRB possibly play two games over two days? MLS teams don’t have that kind of depth. The reserves will presumably play against PSG.

    Reply
  7. I understand your point and it’s valid however I think we are in this tournament with Arsenal because Henry plays for NY and Ivan Gazidis was a big part of MLS for so long and now he is working for Arsenal. I don’t think it does a lot for anyone. In fact I thought the tournament the Red Bulls put on last summer would be preferable than traveling to England.

    I will say that I didn’t look at the NYRBs schedule. Manic Messiah pointed out that they have a buy and so the games should be less of an impact but I still don’t think it helps the league as much as people think.

    Reply
  8. I am basing that on a couple of random viewings of fixtures between a couple of clubs floating around just above the middle of the table. I felt like it could have been CLB, DC or SKC. Lower flash, equally as physical. I see know reason why a mid-table random MLS club can’t compete with a random French club.

    Reply
  9. I agree. Most players would rather play games (friendly or not) than train. Two weeks with no games is a long time for pro footballers.

    Reply
  10. Wenger has said in the past that he doesn’t like the idea of his teams traveling to the States. This, unfortunately, might be the best thing we get.

    Reply
  11. I can appreciate your perspective. I follow MLS closely as well and I also want what is best for the team that I support. Unfortunately the League doesn’t always choose the popular direction. In light of MLS being relatively a new organization, the league must take a “big Picture” perspective. The upside to playing in this tournament is pretty significant. It may not mean much to the MLS fans or to the European teams competing in the cup however, from an MLS executive perspective, it is invaluable.

    Reply
  12. Come on, are you serious man? Finally MLS is being considered as worthy team / league, and the best clubs get invited to these kind of tournaments. there so many clubs and leagues in Concacaf that would love oportunities like these. even if they are meaningless friendlies for you, it’s a great experience for MLS teams to play these kind of clubs away from home…. forget about the league for awhile and don’t be negative about it

    Reply
  13. I guess it’s good advertising for the league. But it’s still kind of embarrassing that our top league plays exhibition games in the middle of the season.

    Reply
  14. I think this is great for the league and one of those fringe benefits one would hope would come with bringing in someone like Henry. I think it’s well-timed for them schedule-wise too, even though I wish it wasn’t (a little fixture burnout for NY would be good for the rest of the league).

    Reply
  15. The French league isn’t all that more advanced than the MLS. And RBNY’s starting lineup is mostly made up of Europeans now. But i am sure you already knew that. by the way thanks for taking time out to to talk to us less enlightened football fans.

    Reply
  16. They don’t have a weekday match on either side, so if they didn’t go they’d just have two weeks of doing nothing.

    The week after this tournament they go to Rio Tinto to play RSL, it seems like decent competition to get the team ready for what will be one of the anticipated matches of the season.

    Reply
  17. This will be good for the rest of the teams in the league because NY will lose ground in the standings. This tournament will put a strain on NY’s depth and if they have any injuries at the time it will be even worse.

    It is a high profile tournament, a high profile European PRE-SEASON tournament that doesn’t mean anything and it takes place right in the middle of MLS season. It goes to show you that MLS considers European exhibitions to be more valuable than league matches and that the Supporters Shield really is not special. If MLS wants to raise the profile of the league then at least do it for something that is real not exhibitions to help European clubs get in shape before their season.

    Reply
  18. What a great opportunity for Red Bulls! But the level of competition will be high and they would have to play their best game not to get embarassed.

    Reply
  19. It’s great for Red Bulls and MLS.

    Yeah it’s just a friendly tournament; and Henry is the connection/attraction for Arsenal fans.

    But still, another inch forward for MLS.

    Reply
  20. Fantastic! Still “friendlies”, but good exposure for MLS and experience for the Bulls. Problem is who will they have playing at that time. Will DeRo, Juan, Ream, or Rapha be available?

    Reply

Leave a Comment