Marked for AJ Marcucci
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Emil Forsberg out for 70 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason New York Red Bulls will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for AJ Marcucci
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. New York Red Bulls lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge Ruvalcaba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; New York Red Bulls are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Julián Bazán gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Andy Rojas asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
79 days out for Emil Forsberg after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. New York Red Bulls will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for AJ Marcucci
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. New York Red Bulls lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Nehuén Benedetti: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” New York Red Bulls have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and New York Red Bulls know it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market30 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at New York Red Bulls, another week without a signature from Julián Bazán.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Emil Forsberg breaks a bone — 86 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 Nov 2026
AJ Marcucci damages knee ligaments — 100 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 100 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
John McCarthy: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” New York Red Bulls have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Emil Forsberg breaks a bone — 96 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The knee: AJ Marcucci out for 107 days
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. New York Red Bulls lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ethan Horvath was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Emil Forsberg breaks a bone — 104 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The knee: AJ Marcucci out for 115 days
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. New York Red Bulls lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tim Parker in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at New York Red Bulls this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Emil Forsberg out for 112 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason New York Red Bulls will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for AJ Marcucci
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. New York Red Bulls lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Robert Voloder, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at New York Red Bulls training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julián Bazán is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tim Parker moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at New York Red Bulls than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
1‑4 against Inter Miami CF, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.23 for the rest of it.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at New York Red Bulls this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Emil Forsberg retires from international football
“92 caps. I have loved every one, and it is somebody else’s turn.” At 34 he has stepped away from his country and is going nowhere at New York Red Bulls.