The New York Red Bulls are set to face a revitalized Houston Dynamo team on Saturday. Despite a loss last weekend, Houston stands at 2-1-0 with home wins against Seattle and Columbus.
Following Wednesday’s training session, Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch expects his team to be “sharper” and “execute a little bit more” this weekend than in previous games.
“Houston’s got a good team this year,” Marsch said. “It’ll be an exciting challenge. It’ll be a good test of our tactics because they’re an explosive team in the counter-attack and they absorb pressure.”
Bradley Wright-Phillips also sang Houston’s praises, mentioning that he watched their home opener against Seattle and that they’ve “started off well.”
“They pass the ball well,” Wright-Phillips said. “They like to press high and that surprised me. So that’s going to be something for us to think about. But every away game in this league is tough and this will be no different.”
Wright-Phillips, who has racked up six goals and two assists in seven games against Houston, was asked about his history with the Dynamo and joked, “Don’t jinx it!”
“I’ve been lucky enough to have [scored] against them, but it’s a totally different game, different team and I’m sure it’ll be tough.”
The Red Bulls have had success against Houston in the past, posting a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 regular season games matchups. However, Danny Royer knows the team will need “a good team performance” for success this weekend.
“We are working really hard this week…we didn’t get three points out of the last game, which we expected to,” Royer said. “The focus is to put the game on our terms.”
