New York Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch
On what his message to the team was and thoughts on the performance:
We have talked about if we go a man down what the tactics need to look like. We still want to find moments to try and press and now compress the field and win balls and then when we do play forward and see if we can catch teams on the counter. We were able to do that effectively tonight, we make it easy on ourselves getting the second goal was hugely important, but it would've been - obviously the third goal was there for us and that would've made the game a lot easier, but in the end the test of the will of this team and the mentality and what it takes to be when you're a man down I thought we grew so much today and it was a character win and I'm proud of our team. I'm proud of our team probably more now than ever.
On the level of emotion he wanted from his team:
I guess I was emotional, you could say that. I wanted our team to use the emotion in the right way, but also stay focused on the things we felt we needed to do to command the game. Obviously we get an early goal which we've been talking about having better starts, but then they actually pushed the game a bit and now had a series of corner kicks and were playing in our end and so you got to give them credit for their response after it went 1-0. And then in the end, again when we go down a man, I think every guy just dug in and emptied the tank.
On Matt Miazga today and going to the U-20 World Cup:
To start with, he gets caught a little bit and almost tangled up in the second yellow so it was a little unfortunate. He was beating himself up a little bit, but you know this happens with center backs. You pick up an early yellow and especially with the way we played we tried to press up the field, there's situations where they have to put out fires, he gets tangled a little bit, second yellow. I tried to say to him this happens to the best center backs, it's not just a young mistake. Can he learn from it? Absolutely, but he also until the second yellow was playing really well.
Going away to the 20's, it's not an easy time for us right now, but I think that its an important moment for him. He's established himself here, he's become a real pro and now he gets to go on the world stage and against a bunch of players his age, put himself to the test against some of the best in the world and now see how he can hold up there and play for his country and see if he can help that team be successful so in the end, I'm excited for his opportunity to go. He'll go one game earlier than we wanted him to go, but you know we wish him good luck.
On how much this felt like a rivalry game:
I think there's a lot to it. I think having the energy of the stadium was awesome. Certainly we all knew about the fact that this will be a future rivalry and that's just a fact, that's the way it's going to work itself out. There weren't too many crazy moments in the game which surprised me a little bit. There was emotion, but, and I think maybe that the red card kind of took some of that out of the game, but overall, what a great crowd, what a great event, I think a great moment for our league, a great moment for both of these clubs. We're going to benefit, but seriously, I knew this when I was at Chivas [USA], we benefited from that rivalry we had with the Galaxy. Those were always good games, those were some of our best games of the year, the games are played with high energy, high emotion, very physical, we're so much better for playing this game tonight.
On the midfield battle and if it was a strength for the Red Bulls:
Yeah we thought that whoever they put out there that that we could be strong in that spot of the field. Even that said, I felt like in the first half we could have tried to get Lloyd [Sam] involved a little bit more that was one of the messages from the bench. Games like this when it's so loud the players can't even hear you, so it's almost I should just sit down and let them play, but yeah we did feel that Lloyd we'd be able to exploit that area of the field.
On the difficulty of containing his emotions before, during and after the match:
Yeah I'm not sure I contained it very well apparently. These are the games that you want to play in, you want to be a part of, you want to coach in, so there's different moments in my career, some of the World Cup games come to mind, some of the big rivalries in Chicago, some of the finals, some of the derby matches with the Galaxy, but this one will go down as one [to] definitely remember and yeah, the competitive juices get flowing and now especially when you're down a man and you see your guys fighting like hell to do everything they can to win that match, it was inspiring, I'm proud of them and it was a big night for us.
On if the derby exceeded his expectations and if he sees NYCFC getting stronger later in the season:
I knew it would be awesome in the stadium tonight and I think it was incredible. It did exceed my expectations and I think what I like about our crowd right now is that they get what we're trying to do, they get how we're trying to play, and they respond to it so it makes it even have more energy at the right time so it feels like an educated crowd and an educated fan base.
For New York, I don't want to comment too much on them. The only thing I can draw on is to say that its not easy. Okay, and the ability to stay on track and stay on course is so important when you're an expansion team and at some point it starts to turn and it's not always easy, you need to go through tough moments - it's the only way to do it as an expansion team. You need to go through tough moments and then understand how to handle them and then understand how to move forward so next time we play them I have no doubt they'll be better.
On where this derby win ranks for him and if it meant more because it's a derby:
For me I touched a little bit on some of the experiences that I've seen, but this experience in itself is only important for me because of what it means to our team which takes to the second point, that yeah, I think that this cements a lot of the things that we've been trying to build and trying to put together and now to see the team go on the field, especially in the second half, and understand what it really meant to play for each other, what it meant to be tactically aware, to react, to stay tuned in. I felt like the focus on the details of what it was going to take to win that game was at the highest level for just about every single guy on the field for us and that's going to make us better and somehow we've got to follow all that and harness it and make sure that every time we step on the field that as much as we've been playing well that we can do that at the highest level every time.
On the importance of the early goal:
I think the early goal was huge. We've been talking about better starts so obviously that was big. I think the second goal was probably even bigger because when you're down a man, and again with the way that we're trying to play even when we're down a man to get that second goal gives you a little bit of breathing room and knowing that you can still make one mistake, but keep yourself moving forward so every goal's big in every game, but I thought the timing of both goals was very vital.
On the physicality and Ronald Zubar's status:
It wasn't quite as physical as I thought and I think that might be due to the fact that both teams want to play and so it was a soccer game. I mean it was in covered ground, it was up and down, there was a few moments of physicality, but there were two teams that were trying to play forward and play the other team's end and command the game by scoring goals. But you know I think for instance the New England game in New England and the D.C. game in D.C. were much more physical than this.
In terms of Ronald, he's still continuing to move forward, but we didn't feel like we wanted to put him on the roster in case we had to make an early change at center back. Turned out to be an important decision because then we had Karl Ouimette on the bench and we needed to put in a center back in the game we were able to insert him so that ended up being a good decision.
On Damien Perrinelle's contributions to the game and if he paid attention to his yellow card accumulation:
We were very aware of him being on the cusp of good behavior. I don't know if center backs should ever have good behavior. He's quietly been very good for us and he just has such a feel with how to deal with defensive plays and now to put himself in a situation often physically to get an edge, but at other times reading a play so that now as things start to happen he's in the right spot at the right time so Damien did very well. Karl [Ouimette] did come off the bench and in a game like that and being a man down, not be afraid and compete and make almost no mistakes for a young center back that was a very good performance. You know there was a lot of talk about center back position at this club before I got here and actually I think Ronald [Zubar] who we think is one of our better ones hasn't even gotten himself going yet, but now we've seen that a lot of our center backs have stepped into tough moments and done well.
On the difficulty of taking off a player one goal short of a hat-trick:
I mean obviously not easy, but in the game you're just trying to make decisions that help the team. I think maybe the sub could've been made a little bit earlier and the discussion was a little bit on the front three which one to take off because we knew that all three are capable of making another play, but they were also all three tired because it was very demanding what we were asking of them so in the end we went with Bradley [Wright-Phillips], but it wasn't an easy decision.
On if it was the Red Bulls' strongest offensive outing of the year:
It was a different kind of game for us because we get the early lead, then we go down a man, and now a lot of the things that we've tried to accomplish tactically this year almost get changed a bit and we have to readjust. We've addressed it in training so we knew how to play a man down, but there was a lot of big defensive plays that were made by all the guys on the back line and Felipe and Dax [McCarty] and for that matter everyone on the field, but our back line continues to be a strength of this team. Kemar Lawrence and Chris Duvall put in so much hard work and covered so much ground and put out so many fires so and then when we put in Roy Miller, a third center back, we wanted to give them the freedom to try and go out because they were causing us trouble with their wide play so wanted Chris and Kemar to step out more and to start to close that down and I actually thought that that was a good move and those guys executed that very well.
Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips
Feeling to having this performance:
A lot of work that we put in and what we have been trying to achieve in training it showed when we went down to 10 men.
Experience of NY/NY derby compared to England:
Every derby is different they all have their own thing. This one is special because it is new and both teams are trying to get off to a best start and we did it, I am just happy we won. We can let history tell the story and in the future, for me it's not about that we got three points it is not about that we won the battle for our fans. I am just delighted.
On scoring against NYCFC:
It's a nice feeling you know. We are starting our own battle and we got our heads in front. It's good.
On emotions after scoring first goal:
I think we started well and I could feel a goal coming but didn't know who would score it. I was just happy to be on the end of it I didn't have to do much. I think Lloyd Sam did all of the work but it was a great feeling to score in the derby.
On tactics:
We didn't want to play counter-attack football. When teams come here we want to go at them. I just think the game called for it when we went down to ten men and we had to use our energy wisely, they were obviously trying to get a goal. We could use our pacey players with a good football brain to catch them on the break and it worked in the second half. I should have scored or passed the third one but it was good we were getting in still.
On if he should have passed on the third chance:
I wasn't thinking about it. As I was going through I was thinking if I passed it will he be offsides and do I waste the chance. By the time I got there I just didn't do a good enough job to get it past his feet.
On preparing to play with 10 men:
Yeah that sums up Jesse. We have done a few sessions playing against a man up so he leaves nothing to chance. Every little detail we know. What I was thinking on the pitch, I have played against ten men it is difficult. I think when you go into a game and you are the team with ten men, always remember it is very difficult to play with ten men. Obviously they struggled a bit.
On how important this was coming off of a loss:
It was always going to be a test for us. We lost down in New England and everyone was hurting. This was a game that we could win. Obviously with the magnitude of this game we knew it was important to get the win plus playing at home, despite the derby we want to win our home games and today was a great performance and bounce back.
On if this was a statement game, and if he's the biggest star in the area:
No, not at all I don't think I am a star. I say it all the time you know, people think I am not being serious. I am the kind of player that doesn't feel like they get people out of their seats. I try to get on the end of good plays, I don't want to be the star I just want a championship ring.
Red Bulls midfielder Dax MacCarty
On the atmosphere:
When you are running back and forth it felt like MLS cup to be honest. It was amazing. The only time I have ever seem Red Bull Stadium like that was, to be honest, maybe the Arsenal game. It was unbelievable, it truly was. I know it's a big ask to try and get the fans out every game like that, mid week games I will let slide but maybe every weekend game would be unbelievable. We had to win this game for the fans, there was no other option. I am glad they turned up and saw a pretty exciting game.
What is it about these types of games that are exhausting?
Part of the exhaustion comes from just the mental part of it. Preparing for a game like this all week, I must have done fifteen interviews and gone to ten different outlets. It is good for the game, it is good for the league but it is a little bit taxing. You get to the game and you go down a man and you are expending a ton of energy trying to defend. NYCFC keeps the ball very well. They make you move the ball side to side but they don't penetrate and they don't really attack the goal very much. It was tough running back and forth I thought we dealt with it very well. There were a lot of crosses coming in and I thought our center backs had pretty good games. But look, it's a team effort, we are all exhausted and we wanted to leave it all out on the field the second half. It is a hot day, so the mantra "All In" I mean you could see that today and it was definitely out there for everyone to see.
Jesse seemed more emotional than other games, did that surprise you a little bit?
No, no it showed what it meant to a lot of us. We tried to downplay the rivalry aspect of it but whenever a team comes and brings two thousand fans, and they are loud and you hear them, you always want to win and you always want to shut them up, that's obvious. No matter how much people want to try to say this isn't a rivalry, you could feel that it was a really big game and it was an important game that both teams wanted to win. I felt like we needed to win the game because we were at home, we are very good at home usually and we expect to win every game at home it doesn't matter who we play. You could feel the excitement all throughout the stadium. I looked up and you feel the fans were engaged, they were really into the game. I think the players feed off of that and I could see that Jessie was feeding off that. Him being a former player and now being a coach it is tough for coaches to be on the sideline when their team is fighting for every inch and trying to hold onto a lead. He wants to be out there battling with us, I am glad he's excited, we all are.
Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Kljestan
On NYCFC's traveling supporters:
They we're there from the warm-ups as well. Right when I came out. It's cool to see teams that have traveling support because the country is so big, you don't see that very often in MLS, but that's cool. I respect that very much. We had a full crowd and obviously NYCFC had some fans so it was cool.
On if it lived up to expectations:
The atmosphere was good. These types of games continue to be like that. I think the next game is going to be crazy as well. I think we play there next, we're probably going to have a packed house there. Probably going to be red cards again, fights, things like that. We're going to have to be prepared for that, but it was very fun.
On how important it was to win this game:
I said it all week, it's important to win every game, especially when you play at home. I don't know what else to say. It's awesome to win this game, it feels really good. You never want to lose against your rival and for it to end up like that and to walk off the field feeling good, that's a good moment.
On the comparison between this rivalry and Chivas v Galaxy:
This one felt good because the stadium was packed, the atmosphere was good, we showed good character, so it was all around a good win. Those games against the Galaxy were a lot of fun, those were packed houses too, those were some big games, there were big moments and things like that, but I hope this rivalry will continue to grow and turn into something great.
