After falling 1-0 to the Chicago Fire on Saturday, the New York Red Bulls have done something that they haven’t done in two years, losing back-to-back games in the regular season for the first time since May of 2017.
Captain Luis Robles spoke with reporters after the match about how he wants the team to understand this season is a long one.
“Not getting any sort of result out of this is going to be frustrating and it will put even more urgency on what we are trying to do here,” Robles said. “But we also have to sort of take a step back and from a mile up look at what is going on and see that it's a long season. We are only four games in, and there are 30 more to go. We want to be peaking at the right time. But in order to peak at the right time, we have to go through the progression and right now we are in the middle of that.”
The lone goal on the afternoon was an own goal that ricocheted off of defender Tim Parker inside the box, which according to Aaron Long took a weird hop after he and Kemar Lawrence tried to clear it.
"Once it bounces, it takes a weird bounce and kind of skips up,” Long said. “We don't get a good clearance on it but it was a tough situation. It's kind of a weird one. I think if we can solve it early then there is no problem. Once we head it and they chip it and it hits the post, then it's all just a scramble there."
When answering questions about the frustration and urgency in the locker room to start winning games, Long mentioned how the team always wants to win but what's important is to start playing well first, and once they do, the results will come.
"We always want to win," Long said. "It's tough on the road, we know that. But more than anything we just want to play well. They had more shots on goal than us today, so it's less frustrating about the result, and more about playing better. It's still early in the season, there is no real like we have to start winning games, stuff like that. It's going to come. We will work things out."
The Red Bulls won’t dwell on the results too much, as they now look to turn the page and focus on snapping their two-game skid when they welcome Minnesota United FC to Red Bull Arena next Saturday.
"We have to take care of business,” Long said. “It's no secret we want a shut out, and our attackers have to put some goals in the net. That's all we are looking to do."
