|
RBNY TRAINING REPORT – FRIDAY,
SEPTEMBER 11
Before training in Columbus, O.H. on Friday, Red Bull New York Head Coach Michael Bradley and defender Dylan Nealis spoke with the media prior to New York’s road match against Columbus Crew on Saturday.
News and Notes
• New York are 34-35-14 all time in regular season matchups against Columbus.
• .In their last five matches across all competitions against the Crew, New York have posted a 2-1-2 mark. The Red Bulls won the first match of the series this season against the Crew in a 3-2 victory at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
• Forward Julian Hall scored his first career MLS hat trick the last time the clubs met on May 13 in a 3-2 win for New York at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Hall became the youngest player in MLS history to record a hat trick at 18 years, 50 days old.
• Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath has recorded 13 saves in his last three appearances that is tied for the second-most in MLS between Matchday 23 and Matchday 25.
• The Highlands Ranch, CO native has saved seven opponents crosses in his last three appearances that ranks tied for the most in MLS between Matchday 23 and Matchday 25.
• Horvath is tied for the seventh-most saves in MLS this season with 84.
Red Bull New York Head Coach Michael Bradley
On outlook for rest of the season…
We all understand that there is an expectation to play for this club, and we all understand the standards that have been set, and we embrace every part of that. More than—more than carrying the history of the club with us, I think that this team and this group is excited to write a new path and build a new way forward. And that is our focus, and that is the work, and that is what we are after every single day. I've said this on a number of occasions this year, we are all very determined and very ready to give everything that we can to take what we're doing and make it better, to accelerate the improvement, to make the progress go that much faster. We're competitive. We want to—we want to show that we're picking things up. We want to show that we're moving things forward. And so that's the work for us right now. You know, it's been a period where we have been pushed in a lot of different ways, and we are still there and still fighting to take the next step and to understand how we can really be a team that, as we move into the last part of the season, is finding momentum and really putting things together in a big way. And I'm convinced that's what we'll do.
On Columbus…
It's a team with interesting football ideas. Obviously, they have changed the coach this season. They have gone back to a little bit more of some of the older Columbus Crew—not older, but the Wilfried Nancy ideas. Obviously, Laurent Courtois worked with Wilfried, and so it would appear as if he shares some of those same ideas because you see a lot of that in the team at this point. And obviously, there are still a good number of players who are still there from that time. It's a team with interesting football ideas. It's a team that now has made two really, really good signings in Brais Méndez and Santiago Rodriguez. We expect a difficult game. It's a great stadium here. We're excited now to end the week in a really positive way, to step on the field and to, again, enjoy the part of showing who we are, showing the improvement, showing the progress that we're making, and trying to make it all count for more, trying to be a team that even in a stretch where not everything has gone perfect or not everything has gone our way, with a light and positive energy, step on the field and not be phased, not be weighed down by what the last stretch has been for us, and to just keep going. Keep going. Keep playing. Keep moving forward with our ideas and with the belief and the conviction that we are a really good team and we're going to show that to everybody.
On translating strong possession spells into goals…
Generally speaking, this season we have—we've done a pretty good job of—of balancing the part of possession and control and passes with creating chances. You know, if you look in the league, we're still a team that, in terms of chance creation, we can always be better. Trust me. We're trying to take that and make even more. But for the most part, that's been pretty solid. There's been a few games where the pure ability to take some of that possession and some of those passes and turn that into bigger chances—there have been some games where that has not been—that's not been quite enough. Obviously the way that we play and the types of attacking players that we have on the field also means that in certain moments we get into—we'll get into the box and we get into really good and dangerous areas, and we will play a really good ball across the six-yard box, and we might not have a guy the timing of the last part of the action or the running in the six-yard box might not be what it needs to be. And obviously, we look at that and try to be able to make some of those moments even better. But if you just then go back to the pure statistic part, yeah, that doesn't count as a shot on goal. There's no xG assigned to an action like that. And so, yeah, we try to look closely at all of that. The type of football that we're playing, the amount of—of control and possession that we have in the attacking part of the field, the number of passes that we make, how we are getting into the box, the different ways that we can get into the box. When we do, how are we turning those into—into chances, into big chances. And so we take a long and close look at all of those things on an almost daily basis.
Obviously, against LAFC, the part of being able to turn a lot of the good football into some bigger chances, that wasn't quite what it needed to be on the night. But I'm always confident that part is going in a good direction and we'll be able to make even more of that tomorrow night against Columbus.
Red Bull New York Defender Dylan Nealis
On Columbus…
Yeah, like you said, it's going to be a tough game, difficult place to play. They're a good team. Obviously, they're below us in the standings, but they have a ton of good players, a ton of talent. They signed a bunch of new guys. I think a new number 10. Also Santiago Rodriguez from New York City is now there. So yeah, some familiar faces, some new ones, but you know we'll be prepared. And yeah, like you said, it'll be a difficult game, so we'll get our mindsets right on that.
On advice to team with tight match congestion…
Yeah, it's a good question. Nothing really comes to mind in particular, but I think what I would say is just you know have a short memory, especially on a road trip like this, where results haven't really gone our way. You know, not dwelling on the past too much, just taking it one game at a time. You know, moving forward. We have 10 games left, and I think we'll take one game at a time. We'll not look past this game coming up tomorrow, and you know, our full focus is on Columbus and how we can get a result here because you know it'll be important. There's not that many games left, and I think the results are going to be important to get. So we'll start tomorrow night.
On defenders Justin Che and Julián Bazán…
Yeah, just I mean, you forget how young they are at some points whether it's playing or even just talking to them. They're both amazing individuals that are super talented. They can go a long way as long as they keep working hard, training hard. But yeah, they're a fun duo to watch. Both physically strong, not the tallest, but you know their size doesn't really affect them on the field, they play a lot stronger and bigger than they actually are. So they're fun to watch, fun to see them duel out. You know, whoever it is they're playing against. And yeah, like I said, they're fun to watch and especially fun to play with too.
|
