ONLY IN AMNEWYORK
Soccer success seemed written in the stars for New York Red Bulls right back Dylan Nealis.
The Long Island native, whose three older brothers also played soccer, starred everywhere he went. He scored the game-winning goals in the New York Class AA semifinals and finals to deliver Massapequa High School a state championship. Attending college at Georgetown, he was the Big East Conference’s defender of the year two years in a row while captaining the Hoyas to their first-ever national championship in 2019. There, he was named the NCAA Tournament’s most outstanding player.
His impressive resume caught the eye of Inter Miami, owned by the iconic David Beckham, which took him No. 3 overall in the 2020 Major League Soccer SuperDraft to undoubtedly begin the start of a brilliant professional career from the jump. Right?
Not so much.
Just two months into his MLS career, COVID hit, and Nealis’ series of unfortunate events began.
“Coming out of the draft, there was all this excitement, going to a new club owned by David Beckham in Miami. The buzz was huge,” Nealis told amNewYork. “I couldn’t wait to get started with my professional career and then all of these unfortunate circumstances happened. Of course, it happened during my first year at MLS.”
Nealis appeared in just 19 matches, making 10 starts, and averaging fewer than 60 minutes per appearance while struggling to find his footing in the pros. All the while, pre-Lionel-Messi Miami finished near the very bottom of the Eastern Conference.
“It was a weird year… it was tough to get into a real rhythm,” Nealis said. “I think that kind of attributed to why we struggled that first year in Miami. we couldn’t see each other, we couldn’t do anything. Just go to training and leave during that whole quarantine period.”
Miami changed their front office and fired head coach Diego Alonso for Manchester United legend Phil Neville, ushering in a new vision for the club.
“I guess I was kind of out of the picture,” Nealis admitted.
In late March, he contracted COVID and on his very first day back from quarantine, he was told that he was being traded “with no notice.” Two days later, he was on his way to Nashville SC for a fresh start.
Things quickly turned sour, however, as then-manager Gary Smith played Alistair Johnston and Eric Miller over Nealis every chance he could get. Nealis made just four MLS appearances in 2021.
“I was probably at my lowest in Nashville,” Nealis admitted. “Just another difficult situation. They had a guy in the same role so it was tough to break in. With that kind of manager, it was tough.”
In December of 2021, Nealis was traded for the second time in eight months. This time, though, provided a homecoming of sorts as he joined his brother and fellow defender, Sean, with the New York Red Bulls
“Yeah, 100% it does something to you mentally [to be traded twice in such a short span],” Nealis admitted. “It was a tough road. I think it kind of helped because… I knew what not to do to get back down there. Just keep my eyes forward and keep looking ahead.
“But I’m glad I found my way here.”
With New York, Nealis was immediately utilized as its go-to right back, making a career-high 28 MLS appearances with 20 starts while providing a pair of assists during a 2022 campaign in which the Red Bulls finished fourth in the Eastern Conference.
He re-assumed starting duties in what he described as a “prove-it” 2023 season considering the Red Bulls held a team option in his contract that would decide his fate in 2024. As it had twice before in his MLS career, it appeared as though the wheels were falling off for him, again. New York sputtered, winning just one of its first 11 matches, head coach Gerhard Struber was fired, Troy Lesesne was promoted to the interim gaffer, and a rash of injuries depleted the side.
Nealis was one of the major players hit by that injury bug, suffering a core muscle injury on June 3. He missed over a month before deciding to get surgery on it in mid-July.
“I was getting games, I was playing well, and then that injury came,” Nealis said. “It wasn’t a major injury and I tried to play through it. I figured if I wanted to prolong this and keep my career going, I should just get [this surgery] out of the way and focus on recovering. It was a time where if I got the surgery I would’ve made it back for the end of the season versus if I waited, who knows what would have played out? Who knows the amount of pain that would have come with it?”
He did not return until mid-September — a 14-week absence — where he did not just help the Red Bulls scramble to a 14th-straight playoff appearance, but into the good graces of club management in hopes of convincing them to retain him in 2024.
“The guys needed me in a way but I knew that I wasn’t 100% and being at 70, 80% wasn’t going to help the team,” Nealis said. “It was definitely something I took a long time to think about… It was tough because I wanted to club to pick up my option but they can’t pick it up if you’re not playing. So it came to a choice that I had to get the surgery and then prove to the club these last final games that I was worthy of staying.”
Nealis appeared in each of the Red Bulls’ final six matches of the season, which featured four wins to get into the playoffs. He played 22 minutes in their 5-2 Wild Card win over Charlotte FC, 45 in a first-round, first-leg loss to FC Cincinnati, and a full 120 minutes in the second leg on Nov. 4 — his first full match in five months.
The stability and versatility he helped provide were more than enough for the Red Bulls, who picked up Nealis’ option for the 2024 season and with a clean bill of health and a new head coach in Sandro Schwarz, gave him the starting right-back role once again and made it entirely his to lose.
Just two months into the season and after 10 MLS appearances, which featured an assist against his old club, Inter Miami, on March 23, the Red Bulls rewarded Nealis with a three-year contract that runs through the 2027 season with an option for 2028.
“Dylan has been an important member of our backline this season,” Schwarz said. “He has proven to be a leader in our group and we are happy to keep him on our roster for the years to come.”
Finally, some stability for the kid from Massapequa who had been searching for nearly half a decade for it.
“[It’s so exciting to have a place to settle down in] for once,” Nealis said. “I’m not really sure what it’s like so I can’t even answer the question, but things are going well so hopefully it continues on this path. I think we could do pretty great things here with a core group of players and stability and coaching.”
Following the Leagues Cup break, the Red Bulls resume their season on Saturday against Charlotte sitting in fourth place in the East with nine games remaining. Amidst New York’s success is Nealis already setting a career-high with 1,800 minutes played across 22 MLS matches as the sudden workhorse of the Red Bulls’ backline. In 24 games across all competitions, he has played a full 90 minutes in 21 of them, anchoring a defense that has allowed the fourth-fewest goals in the Eastern Conference this season.
“I think this is kind of how I was expecting my career to start off,” Nealis said. “It’s kind of taken a while but I’m glad it’s kicked off now and I think I can only improve from that. I can use this as a benchmark and use this to forget about the other years and use this as motivation because you know how quickly things can change in this sport. I just need to keep my eyes forward and keep looking ahead. We have nine games left and we want to finish strong.”
