Appointed New York Red Bulls head of sport just weeks before the country shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, settling into a new job, a new league and a new country hasn't been so simple for Kevin Thelwell. But he's not complaining.
Thelwell joined the Red Bulls after successes with Premier League club Wolverhampton. He's ready for a new challenge, ready to attack his first offseason in charge, not long after appointing a new head coach in Gerhard Struber, Thelwell is starting to put his imprint on the club.
The Englishman isn't worried about budgets or potential spend, but focused on improving the roster and continuing to improve the club's prospects for 2021.
“I don’t necessarily know whether spend will go up or go down, I just know about building a better team with better players," Thelwell told media on a virtual press conference Wednesday. "We’ll really work hard to improve the areas in which we feel we’re a little bit weak. Hopefully, we’ll become a bit more cohesive and consistent. I’ll be working along those lines and how that relates to spend, I’m not sure. There’s all sorts of opportunities out there for us to improve the group.”
They should have plenty of roster flexibility to do so.
After announcing end-of-season contract decisions, the Red Bulls have 22 players under contract with at least one Designated Player spot open. Kaku and Dru Yearwood occupy two of the three slots and speculation persists the club could buy down Yearwood's cap hit and open up a second slot, though Thelwell didn't confirm nor deny that possibility.
“Without going into detail, we still think there’s a lot of areas we need to improve," Thelwell said.
Struber's hiring signifies a renewed focus on the Red Bulls' core tenants of style and ethos, which is to play a high-pressing brand of soccer while giving plenty of opportunities to young players. Struber's Barnsley side pressed maniacally in England's Championship during his time there.
RBNY have a number of talented young players, headlined by Caden Clark. The Homegrown midfielder progressed from the club's USL Championship affiliate and straight into the first team by the end of the season, becoming one of the youngest goalscorers in MLS Cup Playoffs history. Cristian Cásseres Jr. and Mathias Jørgensen are another two promising young players, plus whoever the club bring up from the academy this winter.
“The vision of this football club is achieving performance, but doing that in a particular way, which relates to a football identity and young players. I don’t think we should be afraid to say that, it’s not a dirty word. We want to develop our own players and give them opportunities."
That's not to suggest the club will disregard players of a certain age. For instance, Thelwell points to his time at Wolves where they both developed and acquired talented young players, like Ruben Neves, Adama Traore and Diego Jota, but sprinkled in a number of veterans, like Joao Moutinho, Raul Jimenez and Rui Patricio.
A player like Aaron Long will be central to the Red Bulls' plans in 2021.
"There needs to be a balance, someone like Aaron Long will be a very important piece for us," Thelwell said. "Gerhard has been very pleased with him. Going forward, of course we’ll center around young players, but that’s not to say there’s not a need for slightly older players."
The offseason's singular goal is to bring the club closer to MLS Cup.
“There’s only one thing we’re here for, only one thing we get out of bed, is to achieve things," Thelwell said. "And we’re here to win MLS Cup.”
