HANOVER, N.J. – The New York Red Bulls and New York City FC are familiar foes, yet it’s derby matches such as these that can end up being the most unpredictable.
Facing off for the third time this season, the Red Bulls will finally get a crack at their cross town rivals from the friendly confines of Red Bull Arena after splitting the first two matches of the year at Yankee Stadium.
The venue switch will provide a different look not only in the stands, but on the pitch, as well. Compared to the bandbox in the Bronx, both teams will have a fair bit more real estate to work with on Sunday afternoon. And for as good as the Red Bulls have been at home, NYCFC has been equally impressive on the road, winning a league-high six matches away from home.
“You can almost throw the records out the window,” head coach Jesse Marsch said. “We know they’re a good road team. Part of the reason why they’re a good road team is that when they play on the road they play on bigger fields. They like to space, they like to pass, create advantages, and they’re very good at it. But our pressing is something that we pride ourselves on, so there’s a little bit of a contrast in establishing a style of play. We think it’ll be harder to play against them at Red Bull Arena than at Yankee Stadium.”
Adding to the intrigue, Sunday’s midday kickoff will add another layer to this already heated affair. Despite both team’s coming into this derby match with a full week of rest for the first time this season, the physical fitness from both sides will be put to the test, but the Red Bulls believe they will have the upper hand.
“We’ll alter certain things about our pressing so that we manage the heat and the elements the right way. But at the same time we want to challenge them to physically hold up in the heat,” Marsch added. “They have some older players, so that’s always a challenge. I know that as I got older, the heat became debilitating. We’re going to make the game fast, we’re going to go after them, and use the elements in our favor.”
Under Marsch’s direction, the team has put a premium on physical fitness, a necessity in order to properly execute their high pressing scheme. On a hot July afternoon, heavy legs will certainly be a factor as the match wears on, but captain Dax McCarty won’t be looking to change things up despite the conditions.
“We always push the tempo no matter who we’re playing against,” he told reporters on Friday afternoon. “It’s certainly a big focus for us. We’re going to try to do what we always do against them: suffocate them and make sure they don’t have time and space of the ball. If you give guys like [Frank] Lampard and [Andrea] Pirlo and [Andoni] Iraola time and space on the ball in the midfield, they’re going to kill you. It’s always a big focus of ours to have fast paced games. Certainly with them having older legs you want to see how they’ll deal with it going into the second half.”
The Red Bulls boast the younger roster, but that will mean little on the day without the quality to take advantage some tiring legs. It’s a reality that midfielder Sacha Kljestan wholly understands, and as is usually the case, his ability to run the show in the middle of the park could be the difference on the day.
“It’s all going to come down to how good we are on the ball and how much we can make them run without the ball,” he said. “Obviously the more possession we have, the more chances that we can string ten, twenty passes together to make them chase the game, then that will wear them down eventually.”
