Red Bull New York held a midseason media roundtable with head of sport Julian de Guzman on Thursday afternoon at the state-of-the-art RWJBarnabas Health Red Bulls Performance Center in Morris Township, New Jersey.

The 45-year-old former Canada international who succeeded Jochen Schneider as the club’s head of sport last October entertained a variety of questions from a select group of invited media members including, South Ward Central.

De Guzman spoke for a total of 52 minutes, and the entire roundtable will be presented in a multipart Q&A on South Ward Central.

In Part 1, de Guzman discussed the Red Bulls’ pre-World Cup break performance, transfer strategy, youth development, long-term strategies and tactical fluidity.

Q: Six months into the year, I think most fans would be in a good place with where the team is on the table. But you can always improve in areas that are clear improvement. I’m curious what your plans are as you look towards the mid-season break and then the summer window.

JDG: Yeah, it’s going to be certainly a lot of discussions between the group, myself, Michael, based on areas that we need to see develop and progress. In the beginning of the season, I know there was the big highlight as to who’s the next center-back, because Noah [Elie] has stepped up. So lots of question marks as to how Julian Bazan was going to step in. He comes in, plays some minutes with the second team, and then you can see there’s a moment in the game when he came in against Sporting Kansas that he has something, which is a big positive.

So it’s hard to really pinpoint one position on the field. Then, after 18 days when the guys come back, what shape are they in? We’re scoring goals. We’re certainly fun to watch, especially in the final third when we develop attacks through our wingers, [Jorge] Ruvalcaba, Cade Cowell, Julian Hall.

Then you can see in our midfield, we have some stability between Ronnie Donkor and [Emil] Forsberg, Adri [Mehmeti] and then our back line, there’s lots of shuffling around until we see Justin Che come back to form, and Justin Che comes back and certainly puts on another performance against Sporting Kansas. So there will be a lot of work as we look into what happens in the summer window.

Does that mean that we’re going to repeat what happened in the winter window? Probably not. We would probably narrow it down to two areas in the field, and I cannot say that, yeah, we’re going to do it 100 percent. I cannot say that we have a name in place. I cannot say what players are going to leave by the window because there could be offers coming our way as well that we may have to explore. Most important is that it has to make sense performance-wise for the group.

Right now the team is performing in a good place. We’re happy all around, but we also want to make sure we have enough depth to get us across the finish line – finish line meaning into the playoffs, and then becoming a competitive team in the playoffs. We certainly need depth.

So to answer your question, there’s no real answers to where we need to improve right now. But we know there’s going to be room for improvement when we talk about the depth of the team with rotations, fitness, and that’s going to come down to how the guys come back on the 11th of June.

Then we evaluate that in the first two weeks of training. Transfer window opens the 12th of July. So that gives us certainly some time, but we are certainly proactive in terms of where we could target in case a player gets traded, a player gets sold. But lots of moving pieces, and we’re prepared. For now, we’re in a good place.

De Guzman Talks Julian Hall’s Future

Q: In terms of Julian Hall, has he exceeded all of your expectations here? How do you approach his future kind of understanding that? I mean, the secret was already out about him, but now I’m sure that there’s probably a lot of people kind of foaming at the mouth to talk to you guys about him.

JDG: Yeah, he has been great. He really took on the opportunity to be a starter. The question was — can he continue to be a starter? It was always a discussion, do you give him two or three games to see if he could get the minutes and compete at a high level? He certainly exceeded that expectation.

Then, he’s become a focal point of our attack, which has really helped us get through this first part of the season. We want him to continue to develop. He still has a lot of work to show and prove.

There’s still a full season ahead of him to see what that looks like going into the second half of the season. There’s also for a young player, the other layer where, okay, now there’s pressure, and there’s expectations, and people are talking about you every game. And I talked to (Red Bulls PR). I said, guys, easy on Julian because he’s still a young kid, right? He wants to be a kid. But to his credit, he has done an exceptional job for himself, for the team. We want to keep pushing that.

We want to keep pushing that, and let’s see how he comes back. I really and truly think these 18 days is going to be a huge test to see how these players come back, including Julian. Will he come back at the same level he left in the last game against Sporting Kansas? Will he come back at a higher level? Will he come back? We don’t know. We’ll find out when they return on the 11th of June.

He’s a young boy. He wants to go on vacations with his friends. He wants to be with his family, right? So let’s see how him, including other players, take care of themselves during the break. Then if he could come back at the level he left off, he’s heading in an excellent direction. For now, we are extremely happy with the output he’s delivered. He’s been really helpful for us to be in the top five in the Eastern Conference.

De Guzman Discusses Long-Term Planning

Q: This is an interesting time to take up this position, not just for this team but also with the league. You’re getting your grip on this team, but then you’ve got the sprint next year and then the transition and learning, however ways the new transfer windows are going to work. How difficult is it to make a long-term plan knowing all of these changes are coming in the league?

JDG: Yeah, I mean, we started already going into the window that just passed in the winter.

Given that we went into a new look, a new system, wingers, attacking minded eights, we had to accelerate the process almost a year in advance. Just due to the structures of the contracts in the past and that’s why we went to work.

So what we did in that window, it actually reflects to your point, the sprint season as well. We’re also looking at the extension of what contracts could look like, even the transfer window in the summer of 2027, as well. So that could be a big window for us to really participate in.

Now that we’re aligned with Europe, most of the world, not just outgoing but also incoming. The most important for us was to pretty much put a roster together at the beginning of the season that allows us to perform that reflects in a 4-3-3 that has wingers, we never had wingers before.

So it’s a new feeling when you have Cade Cowelll and Ruvalcaba down the sidelines and they’re like, okay, wow, there’s something going to happen between these guys.

What does that look like now for the next guys up and coming? What does that look like for our full-backs? Can they be participating full-backs with those wingers as well? Right now we could say, yeah, we’re quite happy with that. So sprint season will be no different than this season. We already experienced it in the first 15 games.

It’s essentially a sprint season that we experienced in the first half of the season or first part of the season. So those are some good benchmarks that we could really use and prepare ourselves going into 2027. Then with our roster now, it’s pretty clear we have a guy like [Eric Maxim] Choupo-[Moting] who last year gave us a lot, this year not so much.

But that’s because Julian is doing so well. In the past we played with two strikers, 4-2-2-2, now we play with one striker. So we know we need to manage Choupo. He’s getting older. We certainly want to see him get more minutes as well, and we have to be clever when it comes to making sure we manage the expectation for Choupo when that time does come.

He also wears a DP tag that we would love to see more minutes out of a player like that. But for now, we continue to evaluate this window for summer. But then once we hit this window for summer, this becomes now the big window moving forward and we need to make smart decisions if we ever decide to have any outgoings and incomings.

Then that’s going to pretty much go on repeat moving forward. So we’ll treat it almost like it’s the new calendar year. But at the same time, I think we’re in a good place with the core of players that we have that’s able to get us through a full season. Based on current events of the way things are playing out — yeah, it’s a juggle for sure, and we look at it both ways, but we’re still treating the season like it’s 34 games to play and get ourselves into playoffs. Then let’s see how far we can go with it. Julian is there.

De Guzman on Acquiring Positionally-Flexible Talent

SWC: Is there a greater emphasis on tactical flexibility with players’ positions? It seems like the way things are going for the team now, you have [Jahkeele] Marshall-Rutty. He can play right-back, he can play left-back, he can play the wing. You bring in [Justin] Che, and Che is able to play right-back or centrally. Even existing players like Dylan Nealis have moved towards the middle. Is that by design? Is that the idea of as things move forward with Coach [Michael] Bradley, do you want players who are able to be different chess pieces around the board?

JDG: Yeah, you certainly need that. You couldn’t have just a roster made up of players that could play one position. There has to be flexibility based on the profiles, based on the type of center-backs we have now. There’s a lot of running.

They play such a high line. Justin Che is a great example as to how he’s able to match the physical expectation, the running, the sprinting, even the ball playing. So Justin Che, put him as a right back, wow.

Then you get a new version as a right-back. So it’s good to have that flexibility. Ronnie Donkor could also play as a holding midfielder if Adri needs a break – Gustav Berggren as well. So it’s really nice to have that.

Ruvalcaba could play as an 8. We knew that before he even came. For sure, he loves to play as a winger. He’s doing great there now. But he’s also played as a box-to-box 8 in Pumas [UNAM].

So it’s important to have that based on this transition as to what the system looks like, and it will continue to look that way when we bring in players.

Julian Bazan, we signed him as a center-back, but can he play right-back? Yeah, we’ve seen him do it with the U-20 and Colombia national [team].

So that’s extremely important, and then having a coach that’s able and willing to look at these options as possibilities whenever he’s making decisions for his roster, substitutions. I think it’s worked really well for Michael but also the players have stepped in and said, yeah, we’re ready to do this no matter what. Every conversation we’ve had with the players, Gustav, you’ve got to be a center-back against Charlotte. Sure, no problem. I’m here to do it.

So that’s also very important to have from every player, and that was also a big thing in the recruitment process.

I mean, I would say most of my discussions with players and agents have been very good. When you meet the player in person, that’s always, I think, a turning point when you see the attitude and the personalities. When they bring that here to this environment, and they’re willing to adapt no matter what the coach wants, it’s a no-brainer that these guys really help the team take it to the next level. They’re able to adapt to any position they’re thrown into on a game day.

De Guzman on How Youth Culture Is Key for the Red Bulls’ Present and Future

Q: Obviously, it’s no secret this team likes to build around a young core from the academy. But how do you long-term plan and sell that vision to a fan base when you know that maybe you’re getting one good year out of — if they’re all reaching, say, the heights that we’re seeing from Julian, from Adri, the heights you want to reach, the Tyler Adams level?

That’s obviously the goal of the academy is to build players to reach that peak. How do you kind of sell that when they’re going to be theoretically gone? MLS is not Europe, it’s not yet at that level. How do you sell that kind of vision of yeah, Julian’s great, but okay, he’s probably going to be sold in a year, maybe two, if we’re lucky and build a long-term sustainable roster?

JDG: The great thing between Julian, Adri, Matty [Dos Santos], you can throw in Tanner [Rosborough], they carry a great deal of this culture. They’ve been here before, most of this team. So this is home for them.

You want the same feeling for any new player that comes into this environment to make it feel like home. You walk into that locker room with those guys, and you just enjoy it.

It just becomes fun, and it becomes exciting. What’s even better is when you go onto the field, it’s like, they’re no longer kids. There’s a different respect for these young kids because they can play.

So that’s always eye-opening whenever you see a new player amazed to understand, wow, these are really good players. They could actually go to Europe. They could play at top levels in the world.

So for Ruvalcaba, for Cade Cowell, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Justin Che, Robbie Voloder, these are new faces that have come into this environment and putting on a different respect for just kids. Most clubs in the world, they’re just kids. They’ve got to earn the right to be in that locker room. They’ve got to earn the right to be on the roster. They’ve got to earn the right to be in the first team, and that’s by coaches, that’s by players, that’s by fans.

It’s different here. Those boys are the identity of this club, and we respect that. They can play as well. We will respect that. Those things hand-in-hand allows you to now drive this into a whole new direction and to allow these new faces to come in and get comfortable and be themselves.

Ruvalcaba started to show that toward the last seven, eight games. He wasn’t himself when he first came here. He realized, woah, this is actually a physical league. It’s not the same like in Mexico. But what helps him get comfortable is when you get to play with these kids.

Cade Cowell, the same thing. You can see he wasn’t sure, do I make my runs? Do I get the ball to my feet? How do I play? How do I learn the platform? He has to learn these things, but to allow him to adapt, we have to take advantage of this particular moment because it’s not going to happen every year, to your point.

So how do we build this long-term? It’s by getting the difference-makers that we bring into this team, and I will identify every player that we bring into this team as a difference-maker, adapting to the culture as soon as possible.

What helps them adapt to the culture are the kids. Why? Because they can play. When you can play and you show an impact on the field, you will get respect from top to bottom, and that’s the one thing those boys are getting, is respect from any player that comes into this environment.

They’re getting respect from opposition. They’re getting respect from the league because they can play.

So we definitely have to take advantage of this next two, three years, as long as they’re here for it, to make sure newcomers feed off of that. Then you also have the Tim Parkers of the world. You have the Dylan Nealises, the Emil Forsbergs, the Choupo-Motings. Those are like the OGs.

These guys will manage the locker room just from their careers, from their experiences, and that now becomes an amazing balance and fluid process of trust, cohesion, and culture when you have those dynamics in the locker room, and then you start to see it on the field.

There’s a different feeling now when Michael’s in there, obviously, because Michael is Michael, but just the team alone, for sure, for me, they have been the nucleus of this team, and we know that. There’s no hiding behind that, but we need to take advantage of this moment, which is why we trust the process.

We trust them. We trust everything around them, but we still want to see more from everyone else, and that’s what we’re getting to see, and we want to continue to see it in the second half of the season. Now that, okay, we spent 15 games working with these guys. We’re going to come back. We know who these guys are. Let’s go.

I think at first it was like, these are some young kids here. They’re going to be too young, but when they could see they could ball, then it’s like, okay, it’s a different discussion. Maybe it was a good game, the first game. Let’s see the second game. Let’s see the third game, and then you realize Julian’s scoring goals, Adri’s putting up some cool passes, Matty’s being able to hang for 90 minutes.

Then it’s like this. You don’t say much. You watch it. You learn from the young ones. You trust the process, and then Ruvalcaba starts to step up, Cade starts to step up, and you’ll begin to see more of that coming from the other guys around them, even guys who have been here before those boys all played together. You’ll start to see more of that.

De Guzman on Development and Identifying the Right Personalities

Q: Just in terms of taking advantage of the moment, obviously, you have them. Is it now how you put the pieces around these young players to take advantage of this one-to-two-year window before they turn 18, before they can leave? Not saying they will, but I think we don’t need to beat around the bush that there’s already interest from big clubs.

JDG: I don’t want to think about them leaving anytime soon. Yeah, I mean, but… We need them here, that’s for sure. We will sell as well. But we want to win, first and foremost. We are here to win.

Again, it’s a unique process when you’re talking about winning, and you have young players that you’re turning to. We’ve got to win with these young guys. Wow, okay, we’re not winning with three DPs on the field and 10 players and guys with names.

No, we’re actually going with guys who are homegrown, who’s kids, from the local area, and they haven’t been proven, right? So what can they really do for us is going to be the big question. So far, they’ve shown enough to hang with the rest.

We need to continue to make smart decisions when we look at transfers, when we bring in new faces. Who are those personalities? That’s always been my message to every player that has come into this team in the last window.

You’re coming into a very young team, you’re coming to a very young team, but you’re going to come into this team as a leader, a proven leader coming from whether it’s Colombia, whether it’s Mexico, or another team in the MLS. You’re coming in here to set an impact.

It may not happen after the first game of the season, it may not happen after the first week of training. But you are here to lead these kids because they’re going to look up to you as an example. Every player that we bring into this environment, even with the second team, that will be the message.

But it’s our work in the background to make sure when they come in, they’re going to come in to set an impact and grow while these guys are here and become a part of this culture. Because not to name and mention names, I think in the past, if you look at the roster, my first game, you look at the roster, and I was asking myself this the other day, if we had these three boys that are playing with the roster we had maybe back in 2024, I’m not sure if it would have worked.

Not because of the type of players we had. I think it’s the personalities. That’s one thing I knew as a player. You have to be bought into the project.

This is the project. That message needs to be very transparent and clear from the moment you meet this new individual. This is what we’re about, and this is why. For the player, the family, for the agent, we’re all aligned.

They’re like, yes, I love it. I want to be a part of Red Bull. I’m in for it. That has been the process in the last window, especially in our scouting process. When we go there to meet them, we’re very transparent.

We’re not here to sign big-name players. It’s a young team. We’re a very young team, and we’re going to stay young. So are you ready for this? Yes, I am. I’m ready to go. So that’s the feeling we’ve got from our negotiations and the meetings.

It will continue to be that. We’ll continue to emphasize that. But yeah, we want to and they have to be good players, good people that come into a really good culture and continues to elevate it at a new level. That’s what I sense with these new signings that we’ve had. Take the young guys away, the new guys that have come in – it feels like the locker room is in a much better place.

That’s all for Part 1 with de Guzman. Check back Friday for Part 2.

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