It's no secret that Dax McCarty was upset by the circumstances of his trade from the New York Red Bulls to the Chicago Fire. He said himself that he was "blindsided" by the news. The man who broke it to Dax, RBNY head coach Jesse Marsch, told FourFourTwo's Paul Tenorio that he regretted the way the deal had to go down (which is to say: abruptly and without warning to RBNY's club captain and all-time appearances record holder).

I’ll take responsibility for it and I know that Dax harbors ill will about it and frustration, and I understand that. It’s an incredibly awful situation that he and I may never really have the relationship that we once had.



In a chat with Men in Blazers' Roger Bennett, McCarty opened up a bit more about his reaction to the trade. Saying he felt he was leaving New York with "unfinished business" and had expected that the core team built in 2015 would get a three-year stint to try to achieve its goal, he was characteristically open about his thoughts when told he was on his way to Chicago:

I was very sad, I was upset, I was angry - all of the above.

He has little choice but to accept RBNY's decision. "Emotionally, I've tried to move on," he told Bennett after a few thoughts on the near extinction of loyalty as a feature of player-club relationships in soccer. And he admitted that his personality is such that almost any circumstance would not have been sufficient to see him leave a job he considers unfinished without taking some grievance with him for future motivation:

No matter what would have happened, whether I would have been able to leave the Red Bulls on more positive terms - if they would have come to me and said, "Listen, we're looking to move you for business reasons. Can you help us facilitate your next move?" And it would have been a positive outcome - I still would have had a chip on my shoulder. I always feel like I have something to prove.

Not to us, Dax. Not to us.

All the best in Chicago (except, you know, when you're playing RBNY).

Listen to the full interview below (start at 15:19 for the Red Bulls stuff):