"Refuse to lose."
It's turning into a little bit of a rallying cry for the New York Red Bulls so far in preseason.
"One of the things we talk about is it’s not just playing to win it’s hating to lose," Head Coach Jesse Marsch said following training. "Especially with some of the young guys, they have to understand what the competitive standards are, and then find ways to meet those demands."
The Red Bulls got competitive in training, going through a miniature "tournament day," where teams are formed and play each other throughout the majority of training. Things got heated.
"That’s really what we thrive off as a team, that competitiveness," Defender Connor Lade said. "Jesse’s trying to develop that mind set of, 'Not only do we want to win, but refusing to lose.' I think that was the big theme of our session today and just trying to be hard to play against."
Lade said the teammates are all friends and close off the field, but when they step foot on the pitch, it's a whole different ballgame.
"I know it’s only a week into preseason but it’s really important for everyone to understand when its time to compete what those standards are," Marsch said.
