With fourteen games in the books, it’s felt somewhat like a tale of two seasons in 2016.
Struggling out of the gates with a 1-6-0 record, questions were tough questions rightfully posed within and outside of the locker room. But after recovering with a 5-1-1 run over their last seven matches, New York is heading into the Copa America break in top form.
Whether or not that’s a good thing is very much up for debate.
“It’s a little bit of a blessing and a curse,” defender Connor Lade told NewYorkRedBulls.com. “You enjoy the break to recharge the batteries and nurse any knocks that you have. But at the same time, we’ve been in good form lately so it would have been nice to squeak a few more games in there and try to get a couple of more results.”
Since a snow covered defeat in Colorado, the Red Bulls have seemed to reclaim the form that powered them to the 2015 Supporters’ Shield, as both the attack and defense have been in top form.
Aside from a forgettable performance against D.C. United, New York has managed to string together one solid result after another, including an impressive 11-0 goal differential over their last three matches.
But despite their torrid form, the team remains confident that the time away from the pitch will do them some good as they get set to compete on three different fronts.
“The few days that we’ve had off have been good,” midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. “A bunch of us got to get away, rest our legs, spend some time with our families, which always means a lot.
“When we get back, we have a ton of games with the U.S. Open Cup starting as well as [CONCACAF] Champions League. Any break we can get will do well for us in the long run. Then when we get back, the good thing is that we’ll be playing at home so we can keep that momentum going.”
While the Red Bulls won’t have an official match until their Open Cup match on either June 15 or 16, head coach Jesse Marsch is taking the necessary steps to ensure his side can keep the ball rolling as they look to remain in top form.
“We train hard because we want our training sessions to mimic what games are like,” he told reporters after Wednesday’s training session. “Often the training sessions are harder than games, and that’s by design. I think that’s the way that we stay fit and sharp. There’s a friendly we have against Ecuador where we’ll build in some different things to make sure that we keep ourselves sharp.”
Staying sharp and avoiding rust while recuperating from a physically demanding season is a tough line to toe, but the Red Bulls coaching staff have taken measures to ensure a healthy balance between the two.
“We have good momentum going for sure, but I also know that our guys needed some rest,” Marsch added. “To get that good momentum we really had to push hard. When we were 1-6, we all knew that we had to dig deep and these guys did that; now we’ve managed to get out of that hole. I think the rest will be good for us mentally and physically. I know when we pick up again for the Open Cup and Seattle that we’ll have a group that will be healthy and ready to go.”
Of course, Lade and the guys will always be looking to stay at their best in some unconventional ways, as well.
“We’ll probably get a couple more pool dunks in,” he joked. “Gotta make sure we take care of our bodies.”
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