At 22 years old and in just his second MLS season, New York Red Bulls center-back Noah Eile is becoming ol’ reliable for head coach Sandro Schwarz.
The young Swede has played every minute of each of New York’s first seven league games this season — this coming after a debut campaign in which he started 27 of 29 games and played a career-high 2,418 minutes.
Suffice it to say that Schwarz has an abundance of trust in Eile.
“I’m very grateful to him for the chance he’s given me so far… he was a big reason why I came here in the first place,” Eile, who signed from Mjallby in Sweden, told amNewYork on Wednesday. “He’s given me a lot of chances. I’m very grateful to him for giving me those chances, and then that makes me want to perform and play well even more because when someone gives you the chance, you have to take it.”
Schwarz’s faith in Eile faced the ultimate test five months ago. Just five minutes before the MLS Cup Final against the Los Angeles Galaxy, the defender was alerted that he would be a late replacement for former center-back Andres Reyes.
Just nine minutes into the match, he sagged too deep, allowing Galaxy forward Joseph Paintsil to stay onside, get behind the defense, and score the opening goal. Four minutes later, Dejan Joveljic weaved through a disorganized Red Bulls defense and put Los Angeles up a pair — an advantage they narrowly held on to in a 2-1 victory to win the MLS Cup and keep New York waiting for its first-ever league title.
“Obviously, that was a big motivator,” Eile said. “You want to take that next step, and that is for sure, to win it all. But I think it’s also important not to think about something so far away… This was something that was difficult. It was disappointing for a long time afterward. But I think now you have to just focus on what we have in front of us.”
What is in front of the Red Bulls is a roster that is slowly inching back toward health after getting ransacked by the injury bug in preseason. Key contributors like star forward Lewis Morgan along with wing-backs Cameron Harper and winter signing Marcelo Morales are still shelved. Yet New York is treading water in the early portion of the 2025 campaign.
Through seven matches, they are 3-2-2 (11 points), but just four points off of Columbus, who sits atop the Eastern Conference. Eile has played the part of the unsung hero through it all. While his defensive play steadily improves — he ranks second amongst all defenders in ball recoveries and 12th in blocks — he continues to be an underrated distributor. He ranks sixth in MLS in passes completed.
“That’s something to take a lot of pride in,” Eile said. “I think it’s an important part of my game… it’s something that I grew up doing in my younger days. Like, all the time that was my philosophy to play like that. [Schwartz] wants me to use those qualities, and I think it’s great that I get licensed to do so.”
