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NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 18, 2016

Jesse Marsch

Harrison, New Jersey

New York Red Bulls - 1, Chicago Fire - 0

Q. Jesse, especially after that 2-Nil loss in D.C., how nice is it to bounce back ahead the NYCFC game with the big three points here?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, we took the D.C. loss really hard. But to come back and respond, and listen, this game was never going to be wide open. It was never going to be a three, four, five-goal game. Chicago doesn't play in games like that. They keep things very tight. They make themselves very hard to break down, and they see if they can catch you on the counter.

So all those things we can be very susceptible to and we can give up goals. The fact that we got a shutout against some very dangerous attacking players on the counter I think was a big step for us, and to grind out a Game 1-0, right? We haven't done that all year. We haven't shown the ability in a tight game to come out as the victor.

So for me, that was a really important game for us, important for us to be in and important for us to get the result.

Q. You kind of addressed how you knew it was going to be tight. It seemed there were some points in the first half where guys were getting a little frustrated. How did you fight that and did you talk about that at the half a little bit?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, it's easy to get frustrated in a game like that because they're sitting back, and any ball you lose winds up in a 60, 70-yard sprint the other way, but we knew that going in. We tried to prepare them for it. I think overall actually the frustration level stayed fairly in check and the guys stayed focused on what it was going to take to win the game.

We knew this game was going to come down to being able to make a play, but more about our ability to stay totally concentrated on what the game was going to look like. Listen, the game played the way Chicago wanted it to. They sat back, they made it hard, and when we lost balls and they went on a counter and then they were a little dangerous at times. So those are the kind of games they play in. As much as you feel like you have a grasp on things, one little slip up and you could be down 1-0. So overall our concentration and mentality to deal with that kind of game was good.

Q. I know last year you wore the service pin for the Vance brothers. Can you talk about your armband tonight with the T.Y. initials on it?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, one of our most loyal fans has been through a lot lately. So we all just wanted to show solidarity and tell him that we're all behind him and make sure that he knows that we're thinking about him. And that three points tonight was for him.

So we're not going to talk about who it is, but it's somebody that's very close to us, and I was really proud of the guys to be able to go out tonight and get the win.

Q. Can you talk about the play that Sam makes to force the turnover to get the goal?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, I mean, we felt that the way to find the goal was most likely going to be through a turnover. As much possession as we had, we still felt that if we could find a way to press them. If we lost the ball to go and win it right back and then play balls forward and go at them that that was when they'd be most unbalanced. Because anytime we got the ball and started to just play backwards or sideways, they got numbers behind the ball and makes it very hard to break down.

Lloyd made a very good play, got it into Brad, and that whole combination that set Mike up was a very good play. So it was good to see us be rewarded for what we thought we could be rewarded for.

Q. The back line put in a great defensive performance tonight. Could you talk a little about that?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, obviously one of the things is getting a clean sheet, and we haven't done that much this year. Only one other time. There have been so many different contributors to the back line, and it's been hard to create any kind of a rhythm, and now we had another game where we have a different back line than we had last week.

So it's been really hard in that sense. It's been frustrating. We've had to grind through moments with different back lines and playing outside backs at center back and everything else. So the good news was Chris Duvall stepped up big tonight. And we thought it was going to be the kind of game that Chris would be effective in, a game that would involve counters and we'd need speed back there.

So overall I thought Chris did really well. AurÃ©lien competed and battled and did all the things we know he's about. And I thought Connor was our best player on the night. His ability to shut down really good attacking players. The heart he shows, the ability he shows, the ability to shut guys down and get right back and provide an option with the ball. What do you say about a guy like that? It's a pleasure to coach him. So overall I thought four good performances on the back line.

Q. After three straight results going into the D.C. match and then you had a little letdown. What is the message now that you have a win and you're going into a huge game against NYC C to keep momentum going?
JESSE MARSCH: The last thing we talked about is that we have a big game on Saturday. I looked at the lineup. New York City sat a lot of guys, so they got two good results on the road. They're going to come back home with a lot of confidence, as they should and they're a much-improved team. Patrick Vieira's done a great job with that team. We know we're in for a huge challenge. But I promise you that that will be something that we'll be up for. We can't wait and we're really excited for that match.

Q. Following up of Connor, he took a beating today. He got elbowed, got cut, someone jumped and landed on him and he just kept going and kept playing. Even though he doesn't get a lot of playing time, when he does play he always brings it. Who does he kind of remind you of? You've been around the league a long time. Is there anyone that kind of reminds you of former teammates or anyone that you've faced?
JESSE MARSCH: You know, he's different, but Chris Armas was a bit like that. Chris Armas was a guy who was up for every challenge, never backed down was a guy you could count on for every play, never took a play off. Was always battling through certain situations, winning his battles, winning almost every duel he was in. And they're not exactly the same because I think that as great an engine as Chris had that Connor's engine is probably even better.

But I mean that's obviously a great compliment to Connor to compare him to a guy like Chris Armas. But Connor's a guy we know we can count on at any time. I always try to remind myself, and I said this last year, not to take him for granted because it's easy to take a guy like that for granted because he's always in it for his team, and to help his teammates be up for the challenge.

But the reason I put him on the field tonight is I felt like we needed more of that on our team and we needed a performance like that, and he gave exactly what we thought he would.

The other one I didn't mention Kemar when I talked about the back line. But I thought Kemar did really well with the matchups. Did really well with making sure he was alert at all moments and nothing got away from him. Had great recovery runs, tackles, head balls in the box. Really great effort from the overall back line all together.

Q. After the 1-6 start, are you seeing light at the end of the tunnel or is there still more work to be done?
JESSE MARSCH: You know, I mean, this is -- it's not like all of a sudden we've become a bad team. I know it's still got all the makings of a good team. It's been challenged in a big way, right? And the key was to try to continue to force feed certain messages so that we could get ourselves over the hump.

Now I don't take anything for granted right now. We're going to have to grind out a lot of games this year, a lot more than we did last year. But even when I go through last year, there were a lot of moments where, yeah, we had some quality and scored some goals, but we had to battle and fight and claw our way through every week and that's what this league is.

So the more that we can grasp that, the more that we can understand that, and the more we can put it out there on the field like we did tonight, the more results we're going to get.

Q. I just wanted to get an update on Mike Grella's status, as well as Connor if you think he's going to be okay going forward?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, so Mike just felt some hamstring tightness. I think he did a wise thing. He said he didn't feel a pull, it just felt tight. So it could be anything from a cramp to a small little pull. So we'll be hopeful that it's in the cramp category and that we can put him recuperated and recovered and ready to go for Saturday. But we'll have to just wait and see.

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