Coming off the team’s 2013 MLS Supporters’ Shield winning-season, the New York Red Bulls enter Thursday’s MLS SuperDraft taking place at the Philadelphia Convention Center looking for players who can add quality to the squad and develop into contributors. The MLS SuperDraft will be telecast live on ESPNews starting at 12:00 PM.
Here are a few quick facts to prepare you for tomorrow’s draft:
- The Red Bulls hold two second round picks (22nd and 34th overall) in this year’s draft. Last season, the Red Bulls selected Georgetown University midfielder Ian Christianson with their sole second round selection (22nd overall). A year before, New York picked up Fordham University goalkeeper Ryan Meara in the second round (31st overall).
- Christianson and Meara are still on the club’s roster. The club also drafted and eventually signed Boston University midfielder Michael Bustamante in the third round of last year’s MLS SuperDraft. The rookie made a strong start to his professional career, earning plaudits from Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke and his first MLS start last September in a 2-0 win over Toronto FC.
- Some notable recent selections in the past at the 22nd pick include Columbus Crew forward Dominic Oduro (2006) and current Red Bulls forward Andre Akpan (2010).
- The Red Bulls last had the 34th pick in 2010, when they drafted forward Conor Chinn from the University of San Francisco.
- New York held its natural first round pick (15th overall) until Dec. 13, 2013, when it traded the selection to Toronto FC along with its 2016 third round MLS SuperDraft pick in exchange for midfielder Bobby Convey and this year’s 22nd overall selection.
- The third and fourth rounds of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 21. New York currently has no selections in portion of the draft. The Red Bulls traded their third round pick to Real Salt Lake in a deal for midfielder Jonny Steele while the LA Galaxy has New York’s fourth rounder (NY acquired goalkeeper Bill Gaudette in that trade).
Over the past few days, MLSSoccer.com writer Franco Panizo was down in Fort Lauderdale, FL at the MLS Combine, featuring a majority of the players available, and spoke with Petke on Tuesday towards the conclusion of the event. Petke also talked last week here about the team’s approach to the draft.
Follow all of the action live tomorrow via newyorkredbulls.com and the team's official Twitter feed.
