Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has played for some of the top clubs in the world in some of the top leagues in the world, so he knows a thing or two about creating chemistry with the players around him, and that doesn’t happen overnight.
After one of the most drastic offseasons of change Red Bull New York has had in recent memory, the ability for Choupo-Moting and recently acquired wingers Jorge Ruvalcaba and Cade Cowell to mesh will be paramount for a club looking to rebound after a disastrous 2025.
The Red Bulls are coming off a year in which they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, while the club’s offense teetered in the lower half of the league during the regular season.
Enter Ruvalcaba and Cowell, who will play on the wings of Choupo-Moting — RBNY’s leading goal scorer last year with 17 — this season as the club embraces a more free-flowing, possession and speed-based attack under new head coach Michael Bradley.
The Red Bulls will get their first real sense of where their new attack stands when they kick off the 2026 MLS regular season Saturday against Orlando City SC.
The preseason over the last month-and-a-half has given the new Red Bulls trio a chance to lay the groundwork for the regular season, and while Choupo-Moting said that “it always takes a bit of time,” there was one thing he quickly noticed.
“The most important thing is, I think that we have all the same idea and the same goal together,” Choupo-Moting told The Post. “It’s not about only me, that I have to be the best, the most goal scorer or whoever. It’s we are a team, and if we don’t work like that, we will not have the success that we want to have.”
During Wednesday’s media day at Sports Illustrated Stadium, Ruvalcaba called the opportunity to play alongside Cowell — whom he played against in Liga MX — and Choupo-Moting “super exciting” and spoke glowingly about getting to learn from the two.
And while they have only played together in a very small sample size, Cowell has been quick to pick up on the tendencies of his new teammates.
Cowell explained to The Post that he already knows where to find Choupo-Moting in the box and that “sometimes I don’t have to look” while noting how good Ruvalcaba is with his right foot.
“I think we all link up very, very well together and it’s very exciting,” he said.
Cowell and Ruvalcaba connected for an impressive goal during a preseason match against the Dynamo last week, with Cowell finding the Mexican international with a cross before Ruvalcaba showed off the power of his right foot.
“Me, as a striker, if I see a quick change of the side, I can already think a step ahead. Maybe that if Cade gets the ball, I have to be ready in the box,” Choupo-Moting said. “Because he’s so fast, he might be faster than the opponent, and hopefully he will give a good cross. Then Ruva … he’s good with the ball. He also makes the deep runs, which is what is very important as a winger. … You have to understand the game. When do I make what kind of run so that I’m not in the offside position so that I become dangerous, not only in front of the goal, but also so that I can assist somehow?”
The Red Bulls’ attack will be an important piece of the puzzle this season, but the club as a whole has undergone a number of changes, with a backline that is still a work in progress in terms of filling all their needs personnel-wise.
The club is still reportedly in the market for another center-back to join veteran Robert Voloder and fellow defender Justin Che.
“The part of becoming a good team, of building a team that can hold up on the hardest days, that is the work and that never stops,” Bradley said. “Yes, this season starts this weekend. We’re all really excited, but the part of now building a real team, the work never stops.”