TUCSON, Ariz. (February 4, 2017) – The New York Red Bulls’ first camp in Tucson, Ariz., came to a close with their third and final Desert Friendly against New England Revolution on Friday.
As the team heads back east, head coach Jesse Marsch reflected on the first camp in Arizona.
“The energy and the work ethic has been great,” Marsch said. “It’s been a little difficult because we’re missing some key guys and to get ready for our big match, we’re going to have to crunch some things in pretty quickly and get guys up to speed, but I think it was important to have this group together.”
Bradley Wright-Phillips missed the first camp due to the birth of his child and stayed home. Sacha Kljestan missed the camp for the same reason, in addition to joining the U.S. Men’s National Team January camp alongside Luis Robles.
Damien Perrinelle will also join the club for their next preseason camp, after re-signing with the club on Jan. 25.
Despite missing four veterans, Marsch identified the importance of playing some the club’s young players, and looked ahead to final preparations ahead of their CONCACAF Champions League clash on Feb. 22.
“It’s a lot of younger guys and kind of continue to challenge them and integrate them into what we do,” Marsch said. “Now, when we get home, and then to Sacramento and back here again, we’ll have two weeks to really ramp ourselves up to get ready for Champions League.”
