As the New York Red Bulls play for their first Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title on Wednesday, their coaching staff enters with an extensive amount of experience.
Head coach Jesse Marsch and assistant Chris Armas, former teammates at the Chicago Fire, and Red Bulls Sporting Director Denis Hamlett, former assistant coach for the Fire, have won four Open Cup championships, including three all together in Chicago.
“That was a competition that we took seriously from the very start of the tournament and that we thought there were only two trophies out there and that was going to be one that we pushed hard at,” Armas said. “The players, coaching staff and the fans took it seriously from the beginning and made some big runs.”
Since starting with the Red Bulls in 2015, Marsch has fielded strong lineups in Open Cup with the goal of reaching the final.
According to Armas, this philosophy was gained from their mentality at the Fire.
“If there’s something to play for, I wanted to be playing for it,” Armas said. “You still see jumbled lineups in different teams, but you can see here that Jesse has brought a mentality that we’ve always known: from the start we want to push hard.”
Among their Open Cup successes, both were members of the 2003 Fire team that defeated the MetroStars in the club’s only prior appearance in the U.S. Open Cup Final.
As Marsch said following training on Monday, the 2003 Chicago Fire were the first MLS team to win Open Cup on the road in the MLS era, a feat they hope to repeat in Kansas City.
“That game was really tight and it came down to one play,” Marsch said. “I remember in the late stages of that game just hanging on for dear life and that’s a little bit what it’s like because there’s no looking back. Team’s are going to throw everything they have at each other. That’s what makes the game fun.”
Both Armas and Marsch know an Open Cup title would ‘mean a lot’ to the fanbase, and fully intend to bring home the club’s first Open Cup silverware on Wednesday.
“I know the Supporters’ Shield has been ours a couple times and we’ve made some runs in tournaments, but to reward the fans would mean a lot to me and the organization here.” Armas said. “The support that they give us through thick and thin through all the years…for the fans, for the organization, the guys who have come through the academy, players like Bradley Wright-Phillips and Sacha [Kljestan] – it’s my wish that they can have it and that I can be a part of that too.
“It’ll really hit some emotion here if we can do this.”
