In the wake of Aaron Long’s season-ending injury suffered against Philadelphia last month, a conventional wisdom quickly developed among New York Red Bulls fans. The team would ride out a difficult couple of fixtures (a messy loss in New England followed by a convincing home victory over Orlando) before the June international break gave the front office time to assess the marketplace and obtain a shiny new starting center back.
But could Gerhard Struber’s team get away with just...not doing that?
The Red Bulls play Nashville on Friday night and, barring a Tim Parker-style airport Starbucks meetup, the club will not be debuting a newly-signed central defender.