HARRISON, N.J. – Ever since head coach Jesse Marsch took the reigns at the start of the 2015 season, the New York Red Bulls have been largely defined by their unique style of play.
Whether the system is earning plaudits, drawing comparisons, or being tossed aside as stale, New York’s tactical setup continues to be a major talking point amongst fans and pundits alike.
Their up-tempo, high pressing tactics have been discussed at length and broken down from just about every conceivable vantage point; and after two straight losses, much of the attention remained focused on the X’s and O’s.
But in their first win of the season on Saturday night, the whiteboard may as well have been tossed out the window.
“So much of the talk about our team winds up being about—and some of it comes from me too—the high-press system and the tactics and how we do things,” Marsch told reporters in his postgame press conference. “But I've always said that's only a piece of the puzzle.”
Down 2-1 at halftime to the Houston Dynamo, Marsch issued a challenge to his men that had little to do with their pressing scheme or retention lines. Instead, the team was asked to dig deep and find a way to reclaim the same mentality that saw them lift the Supporters’ Shield a season ago.
“He told us that we can’t fall back and play with pressure or play with fear, we need to be fearless on the field,” Mike Grella said. “We stopped thinking that everything was so important,” Grella added. “We just went out there and said, ‘Let’s play. Let’s fight. Let’s play with no fear.’ That was the key.
“We’ve been trying to be too perfect with the way we want to play this year. I think we forgot that we needed to go out there and actually play and fight.”
Fight is exactly what the Red Bulls did in the second half of Saturday’s win. It certainly wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing match, but the rallying cry hit home as the team was able to get the job done thanks to their “never say die” approach.
“It’s necessary not only to maintain that fighting spirit, but build on it,” goalkeeper Luis Robles said. “Because for the next 31 games, sometimes it’s not going to come down to who plays better tactically or who has more quality on the field, it’s about who’s willing to fight, who’s willing to commit to winning second balls and tackles and force the other team to make a mistake. If we can play like that for the rest of the season, we’re going to find quite a bit of success.”
For as important as New York’s tactical set up has been to their success in the past year, matches are still won by the characters on the pitch.
If Saturday’s second half performance is any indication, don’t expect that grit to fade into the background any time soon.
“What I think makes us [who we are] is a real strong mentality and commitment for each other and commitment to play for each other and then doing it at big moments,” Marsch added. “Hopefully, and I believe this, tonight will be a reminder of that. You can throw everything else in the second half out the window. It wasn't even really a soccer game; it was like a brawl. It was who is going to survive? Who is going to emerge? In the end, I'm proud of our guys for stepping up in that moment.”
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