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Marquez: I have not come here to finish my career, I have come to play and to win championships
“I am a really, really happy man because this is adding quality to the team … he is a piece of this puzzle of building a really strong team, that I would say can compete with the best ones in MLS.”- New York Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe. Backe has the right to be happy, given Marquez’s illustrious resume. Marquez, a defensive minded player who excels at centerback and central midfield, is a fierce competitor and is a gifted passer of the ball. Although his press conference lacked some of the fanfare that marked Thierry Henry’s introduction, this signing is just as important for the club, as Marquez will be a key hub in New York’s midfield and his signing is likely to bring some of the areas large population of Mexican soccer fans to Red Bull Arena. As with the Henry signing there were plenty of team and league bigwigs around, so plenty of topics and information was touched on during the conference, the most notable of which has been included in this article. Role and Formation Marquez is better known as a center back than midfielder, but he has played in the middle for Mexico and Barcelona successfully. He is certainly a defensive minded player, but this doesn’t mean his role will be totally limited to that of a destroyer or even holding midfielder. Hans Backe has stressed that Marquez gives his teams plenty of options, and he is not yet set in any one formation or tactical approach: “We have more options now with Rafa coming in, we could still of course play flat but he is a guy that can control and dictate a game from a central position. He wants the ball all the time and his distribution short passes, long passes will help us enormously.”- Hans Backe. Backe went further, stating the squad lacks the attacking midfielder to play at the top of a 4-4-2 midfield diamond, meaning Marquez likely won’t have to play as a straight defensive midfielder. Backe believes Rafa is talented enough to play in the middle of a flat midfield, but he is also considering implementing a 4-4-3 for the team. If the team does stay with its current 4-4-2, Lindpere would be likely to play on the left with Marquez and either Tchani or Robinson starting centrally and Kandji playing wide right. “We don’t have that attacking midfielder, if we don’t get one now, its up to Hans to figure it out and win the games.”- New York Red Bulls General Manager Erik Soler on working with what you have. Roster Rectifications As with John Wolyniec, someone will have to be moved or cut to make way for Marquez. Soler is currently weighing his options and would not disclose who the team is planning on letting go, but a trade for picks or allocation money could be in the works. If this doesn’t pan out, expect another player to be cut. “We have different options, based on different clubs interest and positioning within the team. We haven’t made any conclusions and we have a few more days but we have to clear some space and well do that.” – Erik Soler. Soler also talked about the possibility of bringing in another signing during the current transfer window: “We are still looking, still working on it. Obviously with the visa thing it has to probably be people already in the league because if you pick someone from abroad, and if they have to apply, it takes six to eight weeks and the season’s already over. For this now it will probably be in the league or someone that can get a visa very easily for some reason.” – Erik Soler. Bringing in Marquez also means another younger, less established player is likely headed to the bench. Head coach Hans Backe doesn’t seem to mind the Baby Bulls being stuck on the bench: “I think it will just help them. They need to be aware that they need to take the first season, possibly the second season because they are not on that level. They have to just work as we want; getting closer to the line up, closer to the bench, play some minutes. But I already see now with Henry and how he works with the younger player and talks about defending and attacking games they will improve from the change.”- Coach Backe Other Tidbits The goal for the season is still to make the playoffs, which may seem pretty conservative at this point but this is what it was at the beginning of the year and Backe and company are not changing it because of recent signings. According to Soler, Juan Pablo Angel for Ljunberg was never on the table. Erik Stover, New York Red Bulls Managing Director, is disappointed with the attendance at the Barclay’s New York Football Challenge games but still believes signings like this, as well as fielding a competitive team are the best way to market the team. Hans Backe knows who Dennis Rodman is and doesn’t think Rafa will be anywhere near the villain that he was. Soler gets called regularly about players from other teams, notably about Kandji, but nothing seems too serious as of right now. Share this |
DailyHarrison Conversations
Next time you talk to Stover, pls ask about how they fell about their results w/r/t marketing in the local area, a soccer hotbed, and how they feel they've drawn from Ironbound & Harrison. They focused marketing there & worked their way out, so, is it still the plan to continue to do that until it works, or does having TH14 & RM4 now mean that they'll just go balls out in Jersey & New York for 2011?
I like talking to Stover and will try to get more in depth with him the next time I see him. He hasn't specifically mentioned local newark/harrison support, but the impression I got is that he was pleased with the fans who came out for the Santos and Sporting matches, which were aimed at the local brazilian and portugese populations. He also seems pretty convinced that the these two signings and the press conferences about them are enough to give the team a bit of a buzz and now it is up for the team to play well to get people to come back. 2010 is pretty much done marketing wise but Ill ask him the plan for next season a little later in the year.