The holiday season may be in full swing, but Ali Curtis is not anticipating having much downtime.
His work is just beginning, after all.
Curtis was appointed the new sporting director of the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday, leaving his long-time position of MLS senior director of player relations and competition to take his first gig at a club.
The 36-year-old Curtis – who is replacing the successful Andy Roxburgh – is being tasked with helping replenish a Red Bulls team that has already lost its most talented attacker in Thierry Henry (retirement) and defensive anchor Jamison Olave (trade). Curtis already has an idea on how to do that, but did not divulge details in his first session with local media due to not having yet spoken to head coach Mike Petke and co. at length about his vision.
"I have some thoughts as to where we can improve and build upon the team, but I first want to talk with Mike,” Curtis said via an approximately 20-minute conference call on Tuesday afternoon. “I want to talk with the rest of our staff, I want to talk with Bob Montgomery, who is our academy director.
“I really want to get some information from all areas of the club before we start running in a number of different directions, but I do plan on building the team and do plan on adding some players in this team and we're very excited about that."
Throughout his introductory interview, Curtis remained mostly tightlipped as to how he plans to approach the next few months. The former MLS forward spoke in broad strokes, rarely providing much in the way of specifics.
He responded to a question about when the Red Bulls first approached him by saying that negotiations didn’t start a week ago or a year ago. He also skirted an inquiry about whether the club planned to replace Henry with another big-name Designated Player, stating that the goal was to add quality domestic and foreign players.
A topic Curtis was candid about was the current standing of DP midfielder Tim Cahill, who was forced to the bench late in the season and in the playoffs. Curtis said he saw value in the 35-year-old Australian international, but that the two needed to have a discussion to figure out what would be the best course of action this offseason.
"Three things with Tim," said Curtis. "No. 1, he's under contract with MLS. No. 2, his domestic and international experience, he can be an asset on the field as well as in the locker room. No. 3 is probably most important: I need some time to sit down with Tim and get an understanding of who he is, what his vision is and how we're going to go forward and I just haven't had enough time to sit down with him yet.
"I will shortly."
Sorting out Cahill’s future is just one of many things on Curtis’ to-do list. The former JP Morgan Chase Private Bank analyst also needs to bring in some new pieces to a side that made it to the Eastern Conference Championship in 2014, prepare for the upcoming MLS SuperDraft, and decide how to go about next year’s USL PRO mandate.
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It’s no doubt a challenge for Curtis, but he has long waited for this opportunity and wants to take it by the horns.
"Everything I've been involved in, everything I've done over the last 10-12 years has prepared me for this role and prepared me for this moment," said Curtis. "… I knew years ago that I wanted to be at the club and I wanted to be prepared so that I would not only be successful, but I wanted the club to be the best.
“I've been fortunate to be able to interact with every club over the last seven years and I feel very prepared, very confident, very excited.”
