Saves like these are why Luis Robles has kept his spot as the New York Red Bulls starter for the past five seasons and why the club gifted him a new contract on Wednesday.
The New York Red Bulls announced numerous updates on their roster in the past 24 hours, both contractual and health-wise.
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Ironman goalkeeper Luis Robles was given a new contract for the club after his phenomenal five seasons at the club. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“My entire family is grateful for this organization,” Robles said. “We’ve said it many times and we’ll say it again — they gave us a chance at a moment in our lives where we thought we were turning the chapter to something else. So for them to keep believing in us and commit to us in this way is just leaving us feeling grateful.”
The 2015 Major League Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year has entered in club lore since his debut against Toronto FC in the fall of 2012.
He has yet to miss a league game since that debut, setting a league record for most consecutive starts with 142 after becoming the first player in MLS history to start 100 consecutive matches. Robles is the only goalkeeper in club history to keep 50 clean sheets and is 13 matches shy of breaking the record shared by club legends Mike Petke and Dax McCarty for most MLS appearances in Red Bulls history.
“I don’t think it changes anything to be honest,” Robles said of the renewed contract. “My greatest desire, footballing anyways, is to help this organization win an MLS cup, to be a part of that team, to be a part of that legacy. Regardless of the contract, that hasn’t changed. If anything now, it allows me to just continue to do what I’m doing knowing that I have an organization that believes in me and I’ll do everything to help this organization forward.”
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Midfielder Felipe was given a new contract a day after Robles, the Red Bulls announced Thursday morning.
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The Red Bulls announced that forward Mike Grella will miss the remainder of the season on Thursday morning. The Long Island native will undergo surgery next week to take care of the discomfort in his left knee which has kept him out of seven matches between the end of March and the beginning of May.
A large part of the success of the Red Bulls’ attack in the past couple of seasons, Grella has made only eight appearances on the season. It’s one of the many reasons the Red Bulls’ have struggled to produce in attack, the team averaging a goal a game in MLS play with 17 goals in as many games.
Head coach Jesse Marsch has spoken about improving the team through the transfer market in the past few weeks, a sentiment which will only intensify with the guaranteed absence of one of his best players through the remainder of the season.
“Every year we’ve kind of gone in with the approach that we have a good group; let’s get things going a little bit and see what we think we need. Because you can go into the season thinking you need one thing and you can get through the season thinking you need one thing and all of a sudden realize you need something else,” Marsch said after training on Tuesday. “Scoring so many goals in the last two years, we felt like it was going to be a little bit easier to come by goals then it has been. We’ll definitely look to add an attacking piece or two.”
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Minutes before kick-off against the Philadelphia Union in the Round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Wednesday night, the Red Bulls announced they would be waiving former first-round pick Justin Bilyeu.
The St. Louis, Missouri, native played in four MLS matches, as well as two in the Open Cup and three in the CONCACAF Champions League, but he spent most of his playing time with the II side in the United Soccer League. The SIU Edwardsville grad played in 29 matches in the USL over the past two seasons.
“We thank Justin for his service to the club, and wish him well in his future endeavors,” Hamlett said.
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Follow Brian Fonseca on Twitter @briannnnf for updates. Email him at brianfilipefonseca@gmail.com with questions, concerns, tips or story ideas.
New York Red Bulls
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