Red Bulls Paper Revue: November 21, 2022

Oliver Mintzlaff drops his Black Album, Carlos Coronel sets his sights high, and Jesse Marsch reminds you he went to Princeton in this week’s links

Welcome to the Red Bulls Paper Revue presented by Once a Metro.

I like how every year there’s some person on Twitter or in the blogosphere who decides he or she is the first enlightened individual to suggest that other meats can be served on Thanksgiving other than turkey. Yes, you’re so intelligent and special. You’re the first person who ever came up with that idea and all of the social media attention you’re currently receiving is totally a validation of your contribution to the world.

Here’s this week’s top story.

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By now, you’ve probably seen some of the bigger headlines in the blockbuster discussion Oliver Mintzlaff conducted with Bild.

The newly-minted Red Bull CEO, Corporate Projects & New Investments gave what is being termed his “last interview.” His last official day with Leipzig was on November 15th, although he plans on attending the occasional DFL meeting and keeping a watchful eye on the football enterprises. However, don’t expect any financial handouts because the “approach has never been to buy success,” instead opting for a “step-by-step” [♫ Day by day / A fresh start over / A different hand to play ♫] process.

Perhaps of interest to New York fans are his musings on Mario Gómez, currently occupying the somewhat-opaque technical director role. “I’m extremely happy about his signing, he’s settled in really well and will gradually take on more responsibility,” said Mintzlaff. “Here, too, we’ve built up a solid structure and a very good team, so I’m also totally satisfied with the overall development.”

Of course, one of his most difficult moments of his storied tenure involved jettisoning Jesse Marsch after a rough start to last season. “We started the season with so much euphoria and there were always games that were outstanding and gave us hope that we could be successful with him in the long term,” said the 47-year-old executive. “But then, unfortunately, there was often a disappointing game where we thought that we’re not. That’s why it was hard to admit that it doesn’t work.”

Something tells me Mintzlaff will not be as quiet on the sporting scene as he claims. I have no actual information, just a feeling. Nobody can ever fully close the door.

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Stop rushing Grêmio! Give them the time to make the decision on their own!

Ahead of returning to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A next season, the club is deciding what to do with the significant list of players on loan. Manager Renato Portaluppi will have a say and who comes back, stays, or leaves again. In that group is, of course, Elias Manoel.

“This analysis is very thorough, because every player who wears the Grêmio shirt deserves respect and is a club asset,” said recently-hired director of football Antonio Brum (through Google Translate). “So, we have to sit down with Renato and analyze each case. It’s too early to nail the departure of any athlete. We’ve already done a preliminary analysis of the cast, but this hard core that [club president] (Alberto) Guerra referred to in the interview worked on attracting new names that could bolster our cast, just as the proposals were made and I think that, in a way part of the crowd, there was great acceptance of the name.”

I bet Elias comes back to New York. I just have a feeling. And, as we know, my feelings are never wrong.

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Carlos Coronel had a pretty decent season in Major League Soccer. At least, I think he did, but the goalkeeping position is hard to understand and anyone claiming to be knowledgeable tends to be a charlatan. Anyway, ESPN wanted to talk to him about his journey and things of that nature.

How did he get to New York? “I thought I had to play and I put pressure on [Salzburg] in that sense, but the club had their interests,” said the 25-year-old. “They wanted to get a return from selling [me]. I felt that I was better and that created a conflict in the group because of the situation. I decided to leave because the coach wouldn’t give me opportunities. They told me they weren’t going to use me and I was released… I like [New York], the league, and living in the country. Our team has a base and next year we will improve.”

Coronel views the next step as “playing in Europe.” He hopes to return to the old continent in order to compete in “one of the biggest five leagues” and the Champions League. His ultimate goal is, of course, suiting up for the Brazil national team.

I’m sure that the desired transfer is more like five years from now.

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Avocados From Mexico unleashed a new campaign titled… Guackeepers Keep it Good… [Okay]… ahead of the 2022 World Cup. The advocacy group, a subsidiary of the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association, set up a promotional program featuring “in-store displays, consumer savings, digital engagement, and innovative recipe inspirations for fans.” There are even two officially named… Guackeepers… [Whatever]… who may be familiar to fans: Landon Donovan and Rafa Márquez.

They will “always bring delicious guac made with Avocados From Mexico and Takis snacks to the party.” Let’s hope their partnership is a little more harmonious than the conference semifinal round of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs, during which the Mexican legend received a red card during stoppage time in the first leg. Anyway, here’s an advertisement featuring the two gentlemen.

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Some guy named Jesse Marsch was profiled by the Princeton Alumni Weekly, a university I’m just now hearing for the first time that he attended. The Leeds manager talked to Grant Wahl about the thrill of managing in England and other things in his life. There was even some discussion about his New York Red Bulls tenure.

In the early days, Marsch went to Europe to watch the sister clubs, learning a bit about that whole gegenpressing and transfer strategy ethos. “[Ralf Rangnick] explained to me the entire philosophy from A to Z,” said the manager. “I almost couldn’t believe what they were describing to me at the time. It was so complex and aggressive tactically in so many different ways. But it fit me. I said: This is going to work.”

That’s funny. I was told at the time that Marsch descended down from heaven and presented two stone tablets illustrating the principles of gegenpressing derived from his own ingenious mind. In fact, any mere insinuation that Red Bull and the existing braintrust were perhaps slightly involved in the process was met with fierce criticism. But, you know, times change and events become more clear with the enhanced lens of historical hindsight, I suppose.

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Who’s that appearing on an episode of Coolbet Unplugged?

That’s right, it’s Joel Lindpere! The Red Bulls legend spoke to former Estonian international striker Rimo Hunt on… well, a lot of topics. Now, I would love to tell you that I fought the good fight and watched the entire eighty-three-minute episode. I wish I could tell you that, but writing the Paper Revue is no fairy-tale world.

Thankfully, the Estonian blogosphere stepped up and filled the aggregation gap, presenting tales like the time he hung out with a pop star from his home country. “While living in New York, I had an extraordinary opportunity to help Getter Jaani,” said Lind-pair-ayy. “At the New York Red Bulls stadium, where I played, she had the opportunity to sing the national anthem… It was very cool! We collaborated with Getter and I also helped make the music video – ‘NYC Taxi’ was the name of the song. Of course, I was glad that I could help my little Estonia… We finally got to the point where I was still in the US and I bought Getter a used yellow cab from Brooklyn for the song ‘NYC Taxi.’ Such situations have happened to us.”

Here’s the music video for “NYC Taxi.” It’s certainly a single that hit 30 on the Estonian music charts in 2012. The director made sure to highlight the city’s cultural mecca of Times Square.

During his time stateside, Lindpere also met celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Ashton Kutcher, and Mila Kunis. He hopes to eventually become the president of the Estonian Football Association, but the sporting director’s current focus is building Tallinna Kalev into a power player. After almost single-handedly dragging the early Twenty-tens Red Bulls to multiple playoff appearances, nothing should be impossible for him.

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Former Red Bulls Academy member Daniel Peluffo-Wiese received a profile from ESPN Deportes.

The six-feet-six-inches goalkeeper began competing with the club in August of 2018 and did a little training with the reserve squad. He then moved to the SpVgg Unterhaching youth setup before joining Türkgücü München in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Bayern. His potential and trial-national [That’s one after “dual.”] status even earned an invitation to the Uruguay U-20 camp.

Peluffo-Wiese seems pleased as punch after earning a handful of caps, including competing at the recent South American Games. “From the very beginning they have made me feel very comfortable, at home, like family,” he shared. “That shocked me. I must take advantage of this opportunity in the U-20 National Team because it is something unique… The greatest emotion was going out onto the field with the whole team in [Uruguay]. I remember that my teammate was in front of me, I looked at the other team and the referee. Yes, I was nervous and everything, but after five minutes I had no more problems; I felt very happy.”

Peluffo-Wiese is learning from the Uruguay program, finding goalkeeping techniques and tactics “very different” in South America. [That part of the article is interesting.] Perhaps his career leads to the top, with the Red Bulls having played a small part in his development. I think that would be neat.

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At the perfect intersection of sport and business resides one man: Tim Cahill.

The former Red Bull lives in Qatar and serves as the chief sports officer of the country’s Aspire Academy. He’s lived his life as a world traveler, having “always been different” than the crowd. The newest post-retirement job allows him to “affect football in a unique way,” which is nice.

“I went on the journey of wanting to become a manager and then took a different approach,” said Average-Sized Tim. “After doing some executive diplomas, sports management, the business course at Harvard, I wanted to manage from a much higher level – help to run football clubs, help to run federations and also grassroots with methodologies… It’s nice to be in the thick of the action with football but … I am the chief sports officer so I work across athletics, swimming, table tennis, squash, fencing. I am learning a lot about different methodologies and different sports.”

I bet Tim Cahill would have succeeded at any sport he played. Some people are just better than others. He’s simply better than you – not me, of course.

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As expected, Hans Backe is the star of Sweden’s World Cup television coverage.

The former (and forever) Red Bulls manager spoke with Expressen about the upcoming competition, horse racing, and parenthood. The broadcasting is hard work but rewarding, and the majestic equine beasts are thumping along. I’m sure you’re most interested in Backe’s personal life.

How is being a father to his youngest, a seven-year-old boy who loves parkour and is learning math? “Cool, and you’ve learned a lot about relationships over the years, which makes things easier,” said the native of Luleå, Sweden. “My friends thought it was great and said that I should stay young even longer. That’s probably it too. But it can be tiring sometimes to be 70 years old and have a seven-year-old boy, but I think it’s going well. [My son] is in first grade… I can do a little plus and minus, so six minus three or five plus four are no problem. But it will get a little worse, then I won’t have a chance to help him.”

And what of Backe’s life partner, whom he met at a match between Manchester City and Arsenal? “She is easy-going,” enthused the sharp footballing mind. “Sofia has played soccer in Café Opera’s women’s team. She likes playing more than watching matches. [She never gets bored], not when it comes to football, but she sometimes rots when there is too much talk about horses.”

Sounds like Backe is really enjoying things. There are worse things in life than horses, talking on television, and an enjoyable family. For example, he could be me, who has none of those things.

Here’s a joke that was submitted by Lois of Bradley Beach.

“Every time Hans Backe does a math problem, the answer is 4-4-2.”

Thank you, Lois. That doesn’t really make sense, but I get what you mean.

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