So far this season, 14 players have earned minutes in both Red Bulls II and first team games. The extensive list includes Tyler Adams, Brandon Allen, Justin Bilyeu, Anatole Abang, Gonzalo Veron, Damien Perrinelle, Sean Wright-Phillips, Gideon Baah, Alex Muyl, Sean Davis, Derrick Etienne, Karl Ouimette, Aaron Long, and Ryan Meara. Long and Meara have made their appearances in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, while the rest have appeared in MLS Regular Season Games or both. Additionally, Kyle Reynish, Florian Valot, and Zach Carroll have all been listed on first team rosters.
That brings the total to 17 players that have been with both clubs. This number shows the impact Red Bulls II has had on the first team. Having another team to play on allows for players to get valuable playing time to develop, recover from injuries, and stay in game shape. In total, those who appeared in Red Bulls II games have also recorded 146 games played, 85 games started, 7,735 minutes played, nine goals, and seven assists in games with the first team.
For Red Bulls II Head Coach John Wolyniec, winning is important, but it isn’t his only objective. He strives to develop his players towards their ultimate goal, becoming a successful player for the first team. Hear what he had to say on the topic:
His takeaways from the regular season…
“Obviously we had a lot of success on the field, we’ve been able to increase the profile of a number of our players in the club which obviously is important. The goal being, moving USL players on to MLS. We’ve been really happy with the way things have gone but at the end of the day, as many games as we’ve won and as much success as we’ve had, the goal for many of our guys is still to achieve that next level, and to move up to the first team.”
On his players getting called up to the first team…
“It’s great and in some ways that’s a better, more important success than winning games. It’s great to see Aaron Long get a chance to move up and to play with the first team, I think it’s well deserved and then with Brandon Allen and Zach Carroll travelling down to participate with the CCL, for those guys, to get back on a first team contract and Florian Valot to get there for the first time. It’s just rewards for having a good season and playing well. It’s great that the team is doing well but it’s really important to see these guys get opportunities with the first team.”
