Saturday’s matchup will have some new faces in the Red Bulls’ lineup, and that was before losing three regulars.
French star forward Thierry Henry has been ruled out of Saturday’s game with a leg injury, while Australian international Tim Cahill and Costa Rican Roy Miller have been called by their national teams for World Cup qualifiers.
But even before their names were removed from the travelling roster to Montreal, the Red Bulls have a lot of new names in the locker room in 2013.
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Assistant coach Mike Petke replaced Hans Backe as the bench boss for 2013 after a lengthy search had a number of international coaches pop up in the discussion.
Then the Red Bulls traded forward Sebastien Le Toux to Phiadelphia, DP Rafa Marquez was given his walking papers and the league’s second leading scorer in 2012, Kenny Cooper, was shipped off to FC Dallas.
To replace them, New York made a deal with Real Salt Lake to acquire striker Fabian Espindola, who has scored two goals already in 2013, along with defender Jamison Olave.
The team also brought in former Brazilian international Juninho, who helped Olympique Lyonnais win seven consecutive French league titles, and just this week, the club announced the signing of former Paris St-Germain striker Peguy Luyindula. The French forward, who scored 37 goals in five seasons with PSG and won two two titles with Lyon from 2001-2004, should make the trip up to Montreal this weekend.
So despite missing three players who have played in all three of the Red Bulls games so far this season, the team from the Big Apple still has plenty of firepower to electrify the crowd come Saturday at Olympic Stadium and will be looking to end their winless streak.
