“I come to fight, to be the best, to see my team be a champion. I don’t come for a vacation. I’m coming to do my part to help my team become the champion of this league.”
So how will the Red Bulls use Rafael Marquez?
The team has enjoyed a solid 2010 season, but after a strong start, the Red Bulls have struggled with consistency. They are banking on Rafael Marquez helping with that.
Marquez will be deployed in central midfield in a deep position just in front of the defense. His ability to circulate the ball from the defense to the attack should help take some pressure off a defense that has relied too much on rookie Tim Ream to be the distributor out of the back. Rather than having Ream deliver long passes from the back, the Red Bulls can now have defenders sending balls to Marquez, who can more effectively deliver passes to New York’s attackers.
Marquez also provides good defensive bite and should help take some of the pressure off the center back tandem of Ream and Carlos Mendes, who have played well, but who have struggled at times to form a consistent bond with the midfield. Carl Robinson and Tony Tchani have shown good flashes at times, but Robinson has struggled to stay healthy while Tchani has had the rookie growing pains that are to be expected.
Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe raved about Marquez’s ability to make his teammates better, noting that he could already see Marquez’s positive influence in the Mexican’s first day of practice with the Red Bulls. His passing, movement and ability to find teammates in good spots should help the Red Bulls make even better use of the star forward tandem of Thierry Henry and Juan Pablo Angel.
Marquez's presence should also help All-Star midfielder Joel Lindpere focus on getting more involved in the attack. The Estonian has been more of a two-way midfielder, but has proven to be a dangerous attacking option when he can focus on getting forward.
Marquez will need to be careful with his temper, which U.S. national team fans are very familiar with.
Off the field, Red Bull is banking on Marquez being able to help the club tap into the large Mexican-American market in the New York/New Jersey area. It seems like a simple enough plan. Sign a big-name Mexican player and the Mexican fans will come.
While that plan may work initially, the reality is that Latino fans are drawn to goal-scorers and playmakers, and devoting more than one or two games to see a defensive midfielder, even a great one, seems unlikely.
That doesn’t mean Marquez won’t be an effective marketing tool for Red Bull in other ways. His movie star looks and status as a Mexican star should lead to plenty of marketing opportunities for the club and the energy drink, opportunities that make it worth Red Bull’s considerable financial investment. Media coverage of Marquez’s American adventure is sure to get plenty of play back in Mexico, which means more potential consumers for Red Bull to reach.
MLS commissioner Don Garber applauded the signing as a significant step for the league to cater to the Latino market, but while Marquez’s arrival should help increase the league and Red Bull’s visibility with the Mexican market, the idea that Marquez will attract non-Mexican Latinos to MLS just isn’t the reality of Latino-American soccer fans in this country. Colombian fans aren’t going to suddenly watch Red Bull games because Marquez is in town. Neither are any other South or Central Americans.
What Marquez’s arrival can do is increase the credibility of the Red Bulls and MLS among American soccer fans in general by improving the quality on the field. That can eventually lead to more interest from fans of all backgrounds, but the notion that Latino fans will suddenly flock to Red Bull Arena to see a Latino player is misguided.
What soccer fans will flock to Red Bull Arena to see is a good, entertaining and successful team with star players. If Marquez and Henry can help the Red Bulls be those things, and fill Red Bull Arena and transform new fans, then their signings will prove to be wise investments.
If and when that happens, MLS will start to be taken seriously by those American soccer fans who have been ignoring a league that is becoming tougher and tougher to ignore.
Ives Galarcep is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering Major League Soccer and the U.S. national team.
