It’s in the title, folks. Every week during the MLS season, Backheeled is here to dive into the biggest Winners and Losers from around the league. Let’s get right to it!
Winner: Michael Bradley and Red Bull New York
For much of this season, Red Bull New York looked an awful lot like a plane in the midst of a nosedive. They were amazing to watch, if you ignored the inevitable consequences.
Back in February, Michael Bradley’s team made an early claim for the most entertaining team in the league thanks to a possession-based 4-3-3 setup with high-flying fullbacks, ball-carrying center backs, a single pivot, and plenty of youth. But entertainment certainly doesn’t always equate to effectiveness. For all of their flair in possession, RBNY were a sieve defensively due to, well, basically all of the reasons that made them so dangerous in possession. As per American Soccer Analysis, the Red Bulls rank 27th in MLS for xG allowed per game in 2026.
Now, to be clear, Bradley only had so many cards to play early in the year. With the roster in shambles — like, this rebuild might take five transfer windows shambles — it’s not like the first-year MLS head coach had an overflow of elite defenders that he should’ve been utilizing instead of unleashing the attack. Really, I think Bradley deserves credit for his bold early approach, one that played to the strengths of his best young players in Adri Mehmeti, Julian Hall, and Matthew Dos Santos.
But that doesn’t change the fact that Bradley's initial approach proved to be bad for business. RBNY found themselves shipping way too many goals without enough attacking quality in the forward line to win track meets every Saturday.
And so? Bradley changed the approach.
It happened gradually. More conservative fullbacks in Dylan Nealis and Devin Padelford, acquired in the summer, earned starting spots over Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty and Dos Santos. Julian Bazan, a true center back with a real center back’s frame, arrived from Colombia in March, bedded in, became a regular starter in July, and made my 22 Under 22 list. Change came via personnel, and it also came via a tactical shift. The Red Bulls have been much more compact over the last four games — three wins, including Saturday’s 4-1 victory over San Diego FC, and one short-handed loss to St. Louis City.
