Former Germany international striker and current Red Bull Soccer technical director Mario Gomez believes there will be plenty of growth within the United States soccer scene in the coming years.
Gomez, who oversees development at multiple Red Bull owned clubs across the world, has his eyes across the world looking for the latest talent to bring to clubs in Brazil, Germany, and the USA.
Speaking to a group of journalists at the team’s training facility in Leipzig, Gomez praised the potential for American soccer in the next decade.
‘I’m super excited about football there the next couple, probably 5-10 years, because let’s be honest, soccer in the US, it’s not number one, not at all,’ Gomez said.
‘There are [other] sports, and probably it will be always like this. But I would say 95% of the countries all over the world, football is number one, and [in the US] there’s a huge potential.
Red Bull technical director Mario Gomez sees massive growth potential in American soccer
‘In your country, I can see millions of kids starting to play. You guys are crazy good athletes. I mean, of course, you have millions of good footballers, but we have to find them and we have to develop them and we have to help them to be better.
‘That’s one of the things we have to do better, for sure. We did it already in the past, but nobody recognizes our team [RB Leipzig] as a development machine of young Americans, bringing them, for example, to Europe…
‘First step is to be very successful there and then creating very successful football players. And then probably, we will see many more Tyler Adams’ in Europe.
‘The potential, to me, is really huge. I believe that football will have a different position in the future in the US.’
Taking Gomez’s job into account, he probably hopes that the New York Red Bulls could be at the forefront of that improvement.
So far this season, the Red Bulls have shocked MLS with a blinding start that sees them sitting in fourth place in the league and second place in the Eastern Conference behind Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
On the outside, the upgrades were clear: Sandro Schwarz came in as head coach and Leipzig legend Emil Forsberg moved to New Jersey.
But Gomez says that the move was a calculated one and that Forsberg isn’t there just to earn a paycheck. He also stressed that RBNY has a long season ahead of them, and they shouldn’t be complacent in the chase for an MLS playoff spot.
Gomez said development in the United States could produce more players like Tyler Adams
Gomez also praised the play of Emil Forsberg, the former RB Leipzig star and RBNY captain
‘It sounds very easy to say, “Okay, we’re going to bring Emil Forsberg there, and then we will be successful.” That’s not the case,’ Gomez explained.
‘We really believe that this will be the case with [Forsberg specifically] because he’s [spent] many, many years with us. He always behaved amazingly. He’s a real leader in the dressing room. For us, it was clear that if he will go there, he will be the leader of the team.
‘But it’s not that easy. In the past, many players were always saying, “I want to retire there. I’m going to do my last two years there.” And that’s not great for the league.
‘I mean, this league wants to be successful, and that’s not [older players] going there, having a little bit of football and having a nice vacation in LA or New York.
‘We really try to bring a good balance into the team of young talented players from the US, and also the experience of a player like [Forsberg]… In my opinion, and I think many guys here in Red Bull think the same, our young players, they can only develop if they have players next to them like Emil or Yussuf Poulson. Benjamin Sesko is doing great because he’s learning a lot from Yussuf.
Gomez believe that Forsberg and coach Sandro Schwarz can eventually fight for an MLS title
‘I did the same when I was young. I had the anchor players, the leaders of the team. They helped me to get bigger and better, and that’s what I believe in.
‘So it was an amazing start to the season. But again, it’s not important [in the] first 10 games. It’s important at the end of the season in the US. September, October will be crunch time.
‘Then we have to play a different level of play-offs that we did the last years… I cannot hear it anymore to see interviews that people are telling me that we did 14 times in a row of the play-off…We have to be there, but we [have to] want to win it. Probably not this season because we did a huge change in the team, but this is for sure our goal to win the MLS.
‘Therefore, we need a different mentality, not being happy with reaching the playoffs – winning the playoffs. This is what we want, and therefore, we need players like [Forsberg], and also Sandro as a coach.’
