The New York Red Bulls discovered Thursday that the club will face the Philadelphia Union in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the third time in as many seasons.
The draw also means the Red Bulls will face both NYCFC and Philadelphia twice in the span of two weeks.
“It’s not ideal, but it makes for a very emotionally charged month, which I think may be what we need,” Marsch said. “Hopefully that can actually help build confidence in our group and build fight and energy and help us now really get to be the team that we want to be.
“We’ll use it as a positive and make sure that we’re up for the challenge.”
New York has had varying results against New York City and the Union.
The Red Bulls are 6-1-0 all-time against NYCFC, including their midweek U.S. Open Cup win, while Philadelphia has managed to eliminate New York from the Open Cup in back-to-back seasons.
Despite the difficult run of fixtures, Marsch said the team would take it one match at a time while becoming very familiar with their rivals.
“We play Philly so much, we play New York City so much…it’s what makes it fun,” Marsch said. “To get to the later stages of the Open Cup you have to beat the teams in your region that are often rivalry matches so we’ll be ready for that.
“We’ll have to take it one stage at a time, but certainly by the end of these [two] weeks, we’ll know Philly and New York City pretty well.”
