E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A few months removed from a remarkable run to the MLS Cup, there is a tangible buzz around the New York Red Bulls in their first week of training camp. After getting a taste last year, the club was anxious to return to camp, to build on last year's unprecedented success.
"There's a great mood around the training ground right now," Red Bulls captain Juan Pablo Angel said. "Everyone came and you can see that almost everyone is fit because the intensity in training is great."
How serious the players are taking the opening week of preseason is evident. Jorge Rojas, who saw mixed results in his first MLS season, already looks sharp and in great shape, having worked on his fitness in the offseason in his native Venezuela.
"We're very pleased to see Jorge in the shape that he's in now," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "He obviously took it very seriously and he has done his homework, he has done his job as a professional very well, he looks quite sharp."
Dane Richards was a one-dimensional player last year, just utilizing his blazing speed to get behind defenders. Now, the Jamaican winger is becoming more of a complete player. He said he "cleaned up my touch and also when I get inside I don't lose the ball, I connect with my strikers and try and put in better deliveries in the box."
"Technically he's a better player, his first touch, his control is better and how he looks to play more with the other players," Osorio said of Richards. "Before he was about just getting in behind. Now he looks at all his options and sees the bigger picture now, I think."
While Richards has proved early on he's more than just a speed demon, Osorio has put an emphasis on quickness in the offseason. As a result, he traded for Dominic Oduro, who is already starting to form a partnership with Angel.
"We played a couple of games (in practice) and we did great. It's a long way to go, but so far, so good," Oduro said. "I would say he's on a different level. It's great to part of this franchise with a guy like Juan, an amazing striker. I have a lot to learn from him."
And while Osorio has teased Richards during camp that Oduro is faster, there is no question the Red Bulls will be a difficult team to run with this season.
"I'm going to play behind the goal now to try and keep up," Angel said jokingly. "From what I've seen right now he wants to have some speed up front. Oduro is going to be important, he has something you're born with. He's extremely fast and if he can learn the game and understand how we play, he's going to be very, very important."
Having fun with it, both Richards and Oduro have skirted the "who's faster," question, but Richards likes the possible 4x100 team of Richards, Oduro, Mac Kandji and Matthew Mbuta.
"Kanji, me, Mbuta (and Oduro), I would bet my money on that one," Richards said.
Two weeks removed from being selected in the MLS SuperDraft, rookies Jeremy Hall and Nick Zimmerman have looked sharp in their exposure to professional soccer. While used primarily as a left-sided midfielder at the University of Maryland, Hall has seen time centrally in the first few days of preseason.
"I see him more as a box to box player, a guy that likes to score goals and who can get at the end and can attack the box," Osorio said. "I think that's a big plus in midfielders."
Hall has shown well early on despite the increased speed of play from college to the pros.
"In college you can take two or three touches, but here it's one, maybe two," Hall said. "It's a lot different. Guys are a lot more experienced, stronger, faster. Being in college, I thought Maryland prepared me well, but I'm still on that learning curve, I still have to make that transition."
The Red Bulls head to Bradenton, Fla., for the next stage of training camp on Monday and Osorio said he plans to have about 35 players there. Joining four college players who made the cut from tryouts two weeks ago will be four European-based trialists. While Osorio wouldn't divulge their names, he did say that one is a Mexican-American, two are from Central America and one is Scottish.
Also reporting to camp will be central defender Ryan Mirsky, one of the two rookie free agents on which the club put in a discovery claim (the other being Calum Angus from Saint Louis University).
A few injured regulars who didn't train this week should step on the field in Bradenton.
Seth Stammler, who is recovering from knee surgery, and Luke Sassano, who suffered a high ankle sprain during the playoffs last season, will both begin to run in Florida.
Andrew Boyens, who had surgery on a broken forearm, will not be able to participate in contact activities for a month, goalkeeper Terry Boss and forward Oscar Echeverry are still rehabbing from offseason knee surgery and attacking midfielder Michael Palacio has been experiencing pain in his surgically repaired knee. He will be back in 1-2 weeks.
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