Photo Credit: MLS Soccer
Following the disappointing home draw against Real Salt Lake, New York’s Jesse Marsch fielded questions from the media.
On the absence of key midfielder Sacha Kljestan:
“Sacha’s a huge player for us in terms of creating chances but we had plenty of chances to get a goal, to get a win. We went through this a little bit at the beginning of last year where we couldn’t quite find a way to get ourselves going enough…it’s going to come together, we’re gonna score goals, it’s taking a little bit of time.”
Despite 18 shots, three of which were on target, the Red Bulls struggled to find that key touch to put themselves on the scoreboard. Marsch was eager to note that even without Kljestan the team was able to create chances but merely lacked the last opportune touch to put them away. The Red Bulls are still without a game winning goal as both of their victories this season were the result of an own goal.
In Jesse’s mind, the standout performers were:
“There’s alot of really good, standout performances on the day. I feel like Connor Lade came in and for 60 minutes was pretty much our best player. Thought Aaron Long continues to do well. Luis gets a clean sheet. Kemar Lawrence comes back and plays fairly well. Tyler Adams was very good and Felipe’s been good all year. There’s still plenty of positives to take away from it…”
Connor Lade, despite not having returned to full match fitness, put in an impressive shift with midfielder Tyler Adams who started over Sean Davis in the heart of the midfield on Saturday.
On Tyler Adams:
“Tyler is tenacious in there, he’s aggressive, he’s confident on the ball [but]he’s still developing the savviness and sense of how to move around with the game and set plays up in front of him. But I thought overall that was pretty good tonight.”
Marsch commented on the number of RSL fouls against NY:
“This is not a new tactic for playing the Red Bulls. Don’t allow their pressure, foul them when we get on the counter, break up their play when they have the ball, make it hard on their good attacking players…”
Teams realize when New York has the ability to dictate the tempo of the game, they are dangerous.
On the draw being perceived as a loss:
“…Anytime we don’t get three points at home we’re disappointed because we’ve been a very good team here at home for quite some time now. We like to put on a show for our fans [and]we like to be very aggressive at home…The guys walked off the field like it was a loss, I kinda had to remind them in the locker room like ‘come on it’s the beginning of the year we have things to work on.'”
Winger Daniel Royer, when asked about New York’s struggles finding the back of RSL’s net, commented:
“I think second half we did much better than [the]first half, we created more chances. I think sometimes the last pass was missing or the finish was not good enough. We still have to work on our plays and show that in the first half.”
The Red Bulls looked more threatening after Gulbrandsen’s exit in the second half, switching to a 4-2-3-1 while bolstering the team in the midfield.
Goalkeeper Luis Robles on being named the captain for the match:
“It is symbolic in what it is [but]at the end of the day one of our strengths is that we have a lot of leaders on this team…a lot of guys that hold themselves accountable.”
The ever humble Robles deflected the honor from himself, recognizing his fellow teammates as leaders.
New York will play their next two games on the road, returning home on Saturday, April 15th to play Eastern Conference Rivals D.C. United.
New York Red Bulls
