Do the Red Bulls Have a Blueprint?

Maybe the Red Bulls just don't get it.

They continue to ignore the blueprints of success with other Major League Soccer clubs, and hire foreign coaches with zero MLS experience. Without a head coach with a keen knowledge of the American player - be it current players in the league or upincoming collegiate/youth players - the Red Bulls have failed on several occasions.

I'm not quite sure why if Carlos Queiroz, Bora Milutonovic and Carlos Alberto Parreira hadn't worked, that new general manager Erik Soler would think that passing over interm head coach Richie Williams to hire a 57-year old Swede would be the right play.

The foreign managers that have been successful - Steve Nicol in New England and Peter Nowak in DC and now Philadelphia - have extensive experience in the US as either players or coaches.

When DC looked to rebuild their franchise, they even looked at a 34-year old college coach in Caleb Porter before selecting Curt Onalfo - another young American with MLS playing and coaching experience.

Stefan Bondy of the North Jersey Record writes about how history is not on the Red Bulls' side with this selection.

History tells us the Red Bulls made a huge mistake. Foreign coaches with zero MLS experience have failed miserably in the league’s unique single-entity system.

Nowhere is the trend more prominent than in New Jersey, where Bora Milutonovic and Carlos Alberto Parreira coached the MetroStars like it was a season of "The Simple Life."

Red Bulls general manager Erik Soler knew this going into the hiring process. The Norwegian defied it purposefully, saying last month that he’s a pioneer and unafraid of past failures. It’s a decision that could backfire to the point of mutiny, or surprise the long-suffering Red Bull fans with its ingeniousness.

Either way, the stakes were raised the moment Soler passed on the interim coach, Richie Williams, in favor of an unknown, unfamiliar Swede.

But failure this season — both on the field and in the box office — wouldn’t be so much a reflection on Soler or Backe or even the players.

It would be the ultimate indictment of the Austrian ownership, Red Bull, and its inability to operate a team using a European model from 4,000 miles away.

MLS success has been predicated on depth, college scouting and a core of cheap American players. These Red Bulls – with their foreign coach, foreign general manager and foreign ownership – are attempting a different strategy, historically to their detriment.