New York Red Bulls: Red Bulls’ biggest storylines to follow in 2019

Defense wins championships.

There is perhaps no player on the Red Bulls better than Aaron Long. Since coming out East to play for the Red Bulls, he has emerged as one of the best players in the league today. Obviously him winning MLS Defender of the Year in 2018 speaks for itself, but the story is here is that things can go even better for the Californian as his young career rolls on.

However, I feel like it would be criminal to talk about Aaron Long and not mention Tim Parker. That is because both of them are incredible players. The Red Bulls are lucky to have this tandem and both of them show how great the Red Bulls are at finding diamonds in the rough.

Long came from multiple teams out West, one of them being the Sounders before finding his way into the Red Bulls academy where he learned how to be the player he is. The Red Bulls got Parker from the Whitecaps in one of the best trades the club has ever made.

Together, the duo combined to give up just 33 goals last season. That is an impressive enough number to be 11 less goals given up than the next Eastern Conference team, Atlanta United.

So, I know I might have failed to address what this means for 2019 earlier on in this slide, but their accomplishments are just too nice to not mention.

In 2019, both of these players will back and both of them are signed on for multiple seasons beyond this one, their second one together.

The test these two face is this. It is one thing to have an incredible season and give up that little goals. They gave up less than a goal per game. That is almost a standard that is impossible to meet. However, all eyes will be on if they can do that again. They are expected to be great and expected to pick up right where they left off.

The testament of a great club is consistently competing no matter what. The testament of a great player is repeating success and setting a new standard for greatness every time they play. I don’t know if this back line will have to go to that extreme, but they will need to be solid again.

This duo both being back on and the anchors of a high defense, high pressing team, and proving they can be successful again is a massive storyline. Let’s hope they can defend themselves and this story like they defended everything else last season and in the CCL so far.

I didn’t even mention Kemar Lawrence who is a darn good defender too, he is also signed on for a multi-year deal, but you’ll know his name soon enough if you already don’t.