TUCSON, Ariz. (February 21, 2017) – Amongst the Red Bulls’ Desert Diamond Cup roster in Arizona are New York’s first and second round SuperDraft picks, Zeiko Lewis and Ethan Kutler.
Since joining the team for their first preseason stint back in late January, the pair have been tasked with learning the team’s tactics and adjusting to the professional’s pace of play.
Although it’s a difficult task, the rookies have been up to the challenge.
“Our style of play is not always easy for young guys, but they’re certainly taking on the challenge,” NYRB II head coach John Wolyniec said. “It’s a work in progress, but there’s definitely been strides made from the first day of preseason to now.”
For Kutler, the adjustments have been drastic. Despite playing as a forward for his entire college career, the Red Bulls staff has identified him as a potential right back.
While it’s a challenge to change positions, Wolyniec believes with his soccer IQ and continued hard work that he’ll be able to complete the transition.
“It’s not easy to make a positional change. Especially when you’re stepping up levels,” Wolyniec said. “And then at the same time, we have some specific tactics that aren’t always used at the college level. He’s already made some strides and we believe that he’ll continue to make those and we’ll end up in a good place.”
Lewis is also finding his way in a new system. On Saturday’s opening Desert Diamond Cup match against Sporting KC, the rookie started at striker alongside Brandon Allen.
Wolyniec noted he was able to create, ‘opportunities to make plays and possibly finish,’ and hopes that by learning the roles of a midfielder and a forward, he will find his position with the club.
“The formation that we’re playing, it’s kind of a change of position for him whether he plays in the striker role or the midfield role,” Wolyniec said. “We’re trying to work through what might be best for him, and we feel like he has qualities that fit playing one of the strikers or playing one of the attacking midfielders.
“It’s a little difficult if you’re not playing the same position day-in-day-out, which makes it a little bit harder as the tactics change with each position, but we still see the qualities that we saw when we drafted him and we feel like he’s also making strides.”
Overall, Wolyniec is confident that if they keep up the hard work, they’ll make an impact with the team in 2017.
“There’s a balance of being patient and working hard. Getting up to speed with the speed of play, the physical demands, the endurance demands, the in-game focus demands. Once they get up to speed on that, then they can begin to put their own spin on things within the framework of the style of play and start to show what they can do.”
