Opening Statements
New York Red Bulls Sporting Director Ali Curtis
First and foremost I want to thank all of you for being here, and also thank everyone for watching. Today is a great day, we have the ability to add two very exciting players, two very good individuals off the field as well. This season has been an interesting season. When you look at the offseason, we value that there is a correlation between consistency and success. So, one of the philosophies and one of the approaches that we took going into this season is, how can we keep this very talented group of players together? In order for us to achieve our goals this year and to have success, that's what we did, and we were able to keep the group together and continue along. We had a difficult start to this season but we rebounded. We feel that we have a very strong team, we feel that we are in a very good place, but we always have our eyes out for opportunities in the market where we can improve the group. These two players that we are adding we feel are going to help us. We feel that they can help us this year and they can help us moving forward.
That's very exciting, we're all very happy and we're looking forward to these guys getting on the field, training as well as playing games. Today is a great day for the club, it's a great day for these young men, and we look forward to our next game against Montreal this weekend.
New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch
From my perspective with Omer and Danny, we're getting two players who we know are very talented, who fit the way we play, who I think will fit into the mentality of who we are as a group. We're really excited about both of them being here with the group. They've trained once with the first team, and I thought they looked seamless within the group. They fit in, they were combining with guys like Bradley and Sacha, and already it seemed like those guys had known each other for years. We're all really excited about the possibilities; we want to get them fit, get them going, get them integrated into the team as quickly as possible, and we're excited. From my perspective, now we've got a real good group, with these two additions, a real good group of players to move forward and really make a run at this. Really excited.
New York Red Bulls Forward Omer Damari
Hello, everybody. Thank you for coming. I'm really excited to be here and join a big club like Red Bull New York. I can't wait to be, again, on the pitch, and to be with the team, to be part of the team and to succeed.
New York Red Bulls midfielder Daniel Royer
Hello everybody, from my side as well, thank you very much for coming. Like I said a few days ago, I'm really happy to be here now. It took a while, but that's how it is in this business. I'm looking forward to being able to play, to be allowed to play, and to be on the pitch.
Questions
On the timeline of the signings
Ali Curtis: The first time that we had a chance to see Omer was when Jesse and I were in Qatar, in January of last year, that was during preseason for Leipzig. Jesse and I, we observed the training sessions for both Salzburg and Leipzig. That was right when Omer had signed with the club, and we had a chance to see him play. That was the first time we were kind of introduced to him.
We stay on top of a lot of the other clubs that we're associated, that we're in the same family with. We watch their games, and occasionally we're over in Europe and we watch them live. We've had a chance to really follow Omer, and his career, and the various clubs for some time. And then with all the different technology, in terms of scouting technology, you really get a feel for the player. Having him be a part of the family, so to speak, really helped us to determine that he would be a good fit from an off-field perspective.
With Danny, the identification process was more recent. He was a guy that came on our radar, while it was before the window, we didn't know him nearly as long as we knew Omer. With that being said, when you look at, we look at all the video, we talked to a number of people that could attest to his character as a young man, we felt that he'd be a great fit. When you see the way he trains, and the way he plays, he fits into our style of play. It's going to be our job to really get these guys going, and let them learn all the nuances of the different tactics for them to add value as quick as possible.
With Omer, he comes from a club that plays very similar to the way we play. So we think, tactically, we felt for a guy that you bring a guy in on loan, there's a lot of value there, because you're not having to go through the traditional process of education of how you play with Omer, relative to a player outside of the family.
On the qualities these players bring
Jesse Marsch: In terms of integrating two talented players, it's exciting. We have a lot of good attacking options, but we also felt that given the schedule, and where we were and what we have coming up, that adding two talented players was only going to make us better.
Now, individually, Omer is like a second striker, he can play up high as a lone striker, but he's best when he plays underneath. So we think the possibility of the relationship between him and Bradley can be really good. He's a really smart soccer player, he's very intelligent and smooth with how he moves around. He sees the game really quickly, he's able to set up plays really well, and he's good around the goal. He's a good goal scorer. They actually both played with the USL team on Sunday against the [U.S.] U-20s and in that game I don't think Omer lost the ball, and he helped put together a bunch of really good attacking plays. He's going to fit into the group very well, as Ali said, because of his intelligence but also because he's very aware of our tactics and our style of play.
Going to Danny, Danny is very mobile, is very aggressive, is good on the move, likes to combine, likes to run. He's another smart soccer player, good passer, good around the goal, so, when you start to add up all of those qualities you can start to see how, from a wide perspective, that can fit into the way we play. We're just trying to get him up to speed a little bit with what we expect out of that position, but he can play from the left, can play from the right, from both sides is very effective. I think, again, in terms of the soccer side of things, we have two guys that will fit in pretty seamlessly.
On the timetable to get these players involved
Jesse Marsch: No time like the present. I think Danny is ahead of Omer from a fitness perspective, but Omer is ahead of Danny from a visa perspective.We've got a week coming up where we've got three games in nine days, so, I think that there's a good chance that we start integrating them rather quickly. This weekend it will be up to Denis Hamlett to take those reigns, but for sure, it was great having them in training already, it was great having them in the USL game against the U-20s, and that we want to really accelerate the learning curve and the integration process.
On the transfer process
Omer Damari: I signed here for four months. I will try to do the best in these four months and show my quality, and then we will see what happens. I should go back to Leipzig after four months, but I will want to stay here and, we will see.
Ali Curtis: Right now, we have a loan agreement with the club, and it's until the end of the season. Hopefully we're going to do everything we can to give Omer an opportunity to succeed and to do really well, and for him and his family to get acclimated to the environment and the New York metropolitan area and we'll see, who knows what will happen at the end of the year, but right now we're focused one day at a time, they need to get acclimated, get through the work visa process, get to know their teammates, on step at a time. We'll take care of next season at the end of this season.
On how being with other RB clubs helps the transition
Omer Damari: I think when you play in Red Bull, you have to learn the system and how to play. You have to press all the time, and always press high. Like I said, when you play with Red Bull you have to know the system, and you learn every day what to do, and to show it in the game.
Jesse Marsch: For me, when we looked at him playing, and his... So much for me of adapting not just to our league but our team is the intelligence level and mentality of players, because it's not easy and there are big demands. When you watch Omer play, and you guys will see, the first thing that you will see is his intelligence. His understanding of the system and his understanding of how to play with the guys around him, how to make guys better and how to make plays around the goal. So, that part is exciting, it will be fun, and I think Danny shares a lot of those same characteristics. Even though he hasn't played in the Red Bull system, I think his approach to the way he plays and the way he thinks is the same as what we are. In that sense, we're excited.
On his understanding of the system and style of play
Danny Royer: First of all, I know the Red Bull system because I played a lot of games against Red Bull Salzburg when I played in Austria. Like Omer and Jesse said, the whole Red Bull family in Salzburg, Leipzig and New York, I think they try to follow the same philosophy and the same style of soccer. I knew what I can expect when I came here, and of course, I've seen a lot of games, but when I came here, in the first trainings, I had noticed that of course there are some things that I need to improve, or things which are new for me, and different to what I learned in my former clubs.
You know, it's nothing that you can't learn, I'm just looking forward to the next trainings, and the next weeks, to get used to it and to become a real part of the team.
Red Bull is power soccer. It's pressing, it's a lot of running, it's action.
On playing in New York and in Red Bull Arena
Danny Royer: That we are in New York, or New Jersey, however you want to take it, that's a really nice side effect, I would say. Especially for us, we are from far away; I am from Europe, from Austria. That is special for me, also my friends and family because it's not common that one of us can say that you've had a part of your life in New York. Of course, I try to enjoy that as well, but the most important thing is on the pitch, and that's what the focus is on.
Red Bull Arena is just amazing. I think it's a very nice stadium. If I compare it to all the others there are some nice ones, but I think that one is really the best. I can't wait to be in there, and I can't wait to have the games where a lot of Supporters are coming.
Omer Damari: Actually, I know this arena because it's really similar to the stadiums in Salzburg and in Leipzig. I'm just really excited to be here, and I can't wait to be on the pitch.
