DAVENPORT, Fla. – Slowly but surely, preseason camp marches on down here in Florida. And as the home opener draws ever closer, the squad continues to make preparations for the start of the upcoming campaign.
- TICKETS: Red Bulls Home Opener vs. Toronto FC, Sunday March 6
One last test against MLS competition awaits the squad, as the Red Bulls will head west to Clearwater, Florida to take on the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night.
The match will be streamed live on NewYorkRedBulls.com at 7 p.m. Fans can also listen in via Red Bulls Radio on TuneIn starting at 6:45 p.m.
“It should be a good test,” head coach Jesse Marsch said after Tuesday’s training session. “Philly always gives us a test. Last year they beat us pretty good in the last preseason game, so we know it’ll be a good game and it’ll get us one step closer to being ready for March 6.”
In a matchup with the Union, the Red Bulls should receive a stern test, as there is certainly a fair bit of history, and animosity, shared between both sides. It may be a friendly match, but don’t expect anything less than maximum effort from these two Eastern Conference foes.
“We’re going to go onto the field and be competitive,” Marsch told NewYorkRedBulls.com. “We’ll treat it with the gravity it needs at this moment. We know that Philly, being a rival and being a team that ended our U.S. Open Cup hopes last year, that there’s emotion to it. So I expect the game to be spirited and good on both sides. We know it’ll be a good test.”
Entering his fifth year with the club, midfielder Lloyd Sam expressed a similar sentiment.
“We’re looking forward to it,” he said. “And it’ll be an evening game which is similar to most games in our league. We’re definitely going to go out there, take it seriously and try to get a win.
Expect Marsch and his staff to use the match to get yet another look at various players in different positions throughout the pitch. For all they do on the training pitch, the true tests come on the pitch, and Wednesday night’s friendly should prove to serve the team well in that regard.
“We’ll be looking to work on different combinations from the start,” Marsch said. “It’ll probably be somewhere between 45 and 60 [minutes] for the entire group, which means some guys will obviously have to play 30, then. We’re trying to emphasize—as we get closer and closer—what we’re doing with our first group and looking at different guys in different spots.”
A win would be a nice feather in their caps, but the Red Bulls will still be looking to fine tune their tactics, first and foremost.
“We’re going to keep trying to work on our scheme and prepare for the start of the season,” Sam stated. “We need to try to work on the things that we’re going to implement this year.”
