Quote Sheet: Marsch, Robles, Kljestan and BWP on #NYvTOR

Post-Game Quote Sheet
New York Red Bulls 1, Toronto FC 1
Friday, May 19, 2017

Q. On the formation
JESSE MARSCH: It's probably the first time we called that, I would call that a 4-1-3-2. I altered it a little bit in possession than when we were pressing. You know, I thought there were some good things about it. I thought there were some things that we were struggling to deal with.

We got the lead, which was good. But then we made a tactical switch at halftime just to help find a little bit more balance so that we didn't open up our midfield so much.

It meant that their back line, they would start to get the ball a little bit more. But, you know, I mean, they made some tactical switches. Overall I thought that was a really good game, two teams that really went after it. Toronto is a good team, a good team.

I said on TV that it's a little bit hard to swallow because we've kind of been that team in the East the last couple years, and now you look at Toronto, and they're a good team. So you have to give them credit.

Now, I think we can, you know, get better and better and start to become more of an elite team. But right now we're fighting through some certain things. The key is to keep confidence high and keep pushing every day to grow and get better.

But overall, you know, I'm really pleased with the response after the L.A. game because that looked like us, that felt like us. It was a great game. Great game from both sides.

Q. You said the last time you weren't happy with the effort. They were diving, stretching for balls. Offensively they seemed a little tentative at taking shots.
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, I mean, you can hear the crowd yelling, Shoot. I felt like I was one of them, too.

Not sure why we're hesitant, right? You'd like to see Brad, when he creates some of these advantages, to just pick a spot. Yeah, not really quite sure why on the attacking part of the field we are aren't more decisive.

Keep working on that. Keep encouraging them to go after the game. Yeah, I mean, guys put a lot into it. On a hot day, both teams were chasing, running, tackling. I mean, I was pleased that we looked like us. Could have gone either way. I think a draw is fair.

Q. The penalty saved by Luis, obviously a big momentum helper for your team. Did you think that could spark more from your side going forward?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, I think so. I think the game can, I think that play can. It's a shame because I think the referee could just have solved the problem by calling the foul on Long that got Ricketts in. Whatever. He compounded it by calling a penalty.

But huge play from Luis. Huge play. One we needed. Sometimes when you think of big plays, you think of big goals and important moments like that. But it can often be a massive save. So obviously for us, the difference between a draw and the energy of the game, and a loss, is huge.

I mean, it's these little things in a season, little things in a game, little moments. So we've got to continue to capture those and push forward.

Q. What was the information given to you for the (indiscernible) goal?
JESSE MARSCH: They said that Luis was impaired by an off-side player when the shot was taken, which I do believe happened. Like Luis hesitated for a second because I think... Yeah, that's what I got.

Q. It looked like you were pretty animated about Michael Bradley after the match. Afterwards you spoke to him.
JESSE MARSCH: I couldn't believe the ref stopped for him to tie his shoes. That's ridiculous. Am I alone in that? Is that ridiculous? Like I asked him if he needed water, if there was anything else that we could provide Michael so that he was prepared to play. I thought that was ridiculous (smiling).

Q. (No microphone.)
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, I mean, the key with Jozy is, he's so strong that if you try to muscle with him all the time, you often will lose the battle. So you have to be more clever. You have to know when to bump him, when to lay off, when to step in front of him. So he never knows where you're at.

If you just hold on to him, he knows where you're at. He can roll you, he can feel you. It's a little bit like if you're a center in basketball, how you now mix things up so they can't just post you up.

At times we did okay with that. At times I thought Damien allowed them to back in, and Jozy played to his strengths.

Jozy is a good player, he's having a great year. They've got a great team. Not easy.

Q. Talk about their depth, so many options.
JESSE MARSCH: I want to see their salary cap (laughter).

Q. You mentioned some of the fouls were or weren't called, then also the small moments in the game, the little moments. What was your vantage point on Murillo's foul? Did you say anything afterwards?
JESSE MARSCH: Well, yeah, listen, you're right. I thought Zavaleta had fouled an awful lot in the game, and hadn't received a yellow. Then, you know, (indiscernible) has one foul, and a foul like that where he grabs him a little bit, tangled. They were doing that to Brad all game. So whatever.

I mean, we could have done better on the set piece. They actually rotated some things out, we actually lost men in the box. We continued to struggle.

If you really want to pinpoint one thing that has been a struggle for us this year, it's defensive set pieces. We've been so good at them the last two years. We've got to find a way to do better in all these situations because ultimately there are many games that we've lost or the momentum's changed based on that. So got to do better.

Q. With the new formation, the 4-1-3-2, do you see this as something moving forward you can go to?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, we thought about it in different times. We think it can be good. But we also thought that the matchup against the three in the back was important to find a way to get them to think about two more, Sacha in position to deal with Bradley, then Sacha in position to also help the two strikers. You know, it made for an interesting, very interesting, first half in terms of the some of the tactical rotations and use of players.

But I do think, yes, it's also a way that we can utilize that more in the future and it can be something that's good for us.

Q. (Question regarding Fredrik.)
JESSE MARSCH: No, Fredrik is fine. I felt bad taking him off. I took him off purely for a tactical adjustment. And he was playing fine. But I just felt like it was important to make the shift that we made, so yeah.

Q. (Question regarding Danny.)
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, I mean, we decided to go with Mike instead of Danny, mostly because of how we were using the midfield a little bit. I think Danny has had a great year this year. He's been an important guy, he brings some energy. He has some attacking vision and clarity. I think he'll continue to be an important guy. I thought he did really well coming off the bench.

Q. How do you look at the 60 minutes you gave Mike?
JESSE MARSCH: Mike, he's looking more and more like himself. It's great to have him back. He's such a clever player. He brings a lot of things that we don't have, especially around the goal.

We weren't able to get him involved enough around the goal where he can really make a difference. But overall I think he played well.

Q. Going back to the play that set up the goal. In a game like this, is there maybe going forward an emphasis on talking to your guys about keeping their cool, not allowing situations like that to get the better of them?
JESSE MARSCH: I don't think the situation got the better of us. I think guys were standing up for each other. It was that kind of game.

I thought our mentality was great. I thought our commitment to the game, our commitment to each other. I thought the life we had.

Listen, I'm really happy with that game and that performance and our team. I think it's going to be -- I mean, even some of the games we've won at home, I think the energy and focus we had in game was better than a lot of those.

So I'm really, really happy with this performance. And now we just got to keep building from here.

"I don't know why. I am going to tell you that wasn't a foul. The thing that actually had me going was when Murillo made that tackle on Raheem [Edwards] it was the sort of tackle that sort of ignites a fire in a team and you can see it wasn't just me it was everyone and we saw the way that he went in and at that moment we felt we were getting the result and so it was one of those plays that everyone feeds off of and of course during the penalty all your thinking of is just not letting my guard down. I can make this save, we are going to find a way to win this game."

On calming himself before the penalty kick:

"That's a good question. I guess focus just comes in. You do everything you can beforehand to just try and sway the referee, it never works but you do it anyway but it felt great. It was a tough call but we haven't seen it and like I said, I'm always going to be biased, that's never a penalty but again, it was one of those plays where when I'm preparing, I just told myself 'don't let your guard down, don't let your team down."

On the penalty save:

"I wanted to be confident with whatever side I picked. The last two have gone in the opposite direction so I felt... ok, if he goes down the middle, what can I do? Whichever direction I go, I'm going to go strong and it worked out."

On the energy at the end of the match:

"I knew after the penalty save that this wasn't the last great opportunity because of the way the adrenaline had fired up both sides.  Both teams really wanted to come away with a result. Toronto is a really good team, the way they played, the way they showed their quality, they're going out for the East [we] got to catch up."

" I think we looked a lot like us, the last game (versus LA) Jesse was asking us, I know it doesn't seem to make sense just listening from the outside, he asked us to just look like ourselves. Today, we tried to do that and we almost came away with a win."

On his goal:

 "No, I never plan to bike...I just tried to get something on the second ball, I'm not very big, I'm not very strong, I never really win the first ball so I try to let the distraction be the first ball and just try and get on the second and Freddy well with a great header back across goal so I just tried to just be there really."

On Red Bulls-Toronto always feeling like a big match:

 "Yeah, I don't know. It's a lot of good players on the pitch. I think Toronto are a very good team. I know right now they're the best in the East and their results are showing that. We knew today we'd have to fight and be up for the game."

Yes and no, I think we could feel pretty good about maybe the type of game that we were in and that we stuck around. We also should maybe feel good that we played the best team in the league and that was a pretty even match so that shows pretty well for the future for us, hopefully. Still disappointed that we don't get three points at home and in the end it's probably a very fair result considering the back and forth of the last fifteen minutes of the game.

On the teams performance:

Yeah, I think we felt good. I think every guy on the field was fighting for each other, I still wish we could be better with the ball because there was so much time and space to play tonight. On a hot night they were dead, I think we were getting tired but they were dead so if we could've just capitalized a little more on being better with the ball, but overall the mentality y of the group tonight with determination was pretty good.

After Luis' [Robles] save on Jozy [Altidore] did you guys feel an extra boost out there to find a way for a second goal?

"Yeah, not only because he made the save, but because of the crowd's reaction as well. It was the liveliest I've felt Red Bull Arena in a while. That really gave us a boost, I almost got goose bumps and when you fell the crowd like that behind you pushing you on, and you see Jesse on the sideline screaming "Push for the second goal, go for the win," I think that we were all pretty pumped up. That was a huge moment for Luis."