(Jesse Marsch – Photo by Mike Lawrence)
Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch, goaltender Luis Robles, and midfielder Mike Grella are finalists for Major League Soccer’s 2015 Awards.
Marsch is a finalist for Coach of the Year in his first season with the Red Bulls. He led the team to their second Supporters’ Shield in three years, which goes to the team with the best record in the MLS. The Red Bulls went 18-6-10, with 60 points, this season.
The Red Bulls set franchise records for wins in a season with 18, and home victories in a season with 12. The Red Bulls led MLS in goal differential with +19 and goals scored with 62.
Marsch is one of three finalists for Coach of the Year, vying with Oscar Pareja of FC Dallas and Carl Robinson of the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club.
Robles is a finalist for Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year after a historic season in which he earned franchise records in victories with 18 and shutouts with nine. He started and played all 34 matches for the Red Bulls.
Along with Robles, Bill Hamid of DC United and David Ousted of Vancouver Whitecaps FC are up for Goalkeeper of the Year.
Grella is a finalist for Newcomer of the Year, and award that recognizes the best player with previous professional experience who made his MLS debut in 2015.
Grella is a native of Long Island who previously played for Leeds United in England, and joined the Red Bulls this season.
Proving to be one of the Red Bulls’ key players on offense, Grella had nine goals and seven assists this season. On October 18 against Philadelphia, Grella set and MLS record for fastest goal scored, as it took him just seven seconds to score in the 4-1 Red Bulls’ victory.
Didier Drogba of the Montreal Impact and Sebastian Giovinco of Toronto FC are the other finalists for Newcomer of the Year.
The finalists earned the most votes in polling of three voting groups: Current MLS players, MLS Clubs (Coaches, Technical Directors, Chief Business Officers, and PR Directors), and Media members who consistently covered the 2015 MLS Regular Season.
The Red Bulls also have several plays amongst the finalists for AT&T Goals of the Year and MLS Save of the Year. Those will be decided by voting on MLSSoccer.com from now until December 2.