The New York Red Bulls are in a good way.
With their win over FC Cincinnati, New York is 5-1-1 in their last seven matches and have climbed to third in the Eastern Conference.
"That locker room is really energized right now," Head Coach Chris Armas said. "I think part of it is that we win on the road. Part of it is that we continue the momentum. Part of it is that there are a lot of different players contributing. Part of it the guys feel like they are growing in all these moments."
Kaku and Omir Fernandez came off the bench on Saturday night to score and lead the Red Bulls to their first MLS win in the Queen City.
"If you can pull the right strings at times and maybe you can benefit," Armas said. "We know what we are looking at but when we bring in Kaku, for sure. He plays two of the three games this week. We wanted to manage him the right way going into the match. We thought we would get him involved in some way. Omir Fernandez was the third sub. So, we had to be mindful of not to burn it too early, but we know in the final third he is so clever."
New York now has 15 different goal scorers in 14 games.
"Listen, we said in there that the starters come in to a night with 28,000 people, this team, they’re grinding for results," Armas said. "It is going to be difficult. It’s hot. It’s turf. It’s aerial duels all night. They showed up with courage, our guys. The reserves come in, do their part, it is a total team effort. So, it is great to see these guys rewarded.”
The win capped off a seven-point week, with New York going 2-0-1 in the span of seven days.
“Well, what that locker has done is amazing," Armas said. "You know, it comes with a little bit of criticism and they responded to that, we all did. So, to see the guys stick together, and again I said it in the Atlanta game when it was referenced, it’s not a starting point. The Atlanta wasn’t a starting point. That was the results from a strong foundation. Guys sticking together. Coaches preparing the right way, all of it. So yeah, 5-1-1, it’s great, but I’ll tell you what, they’ll reset it. That’s what the key is, to reset it, to come back to work with humble approach, but with our growing confidence and growing togetherness is probably the best it’s been."
