	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 13, 2016

Jesse Marsch

Harrison, New Jersey

Red Bulls - 2

Orlando - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Jesse, it seemed like before Connor scored, there were some frustration out on the field, trying to get inside the box, get a shot going. Tell the guys to keep on going, you'll find the shot soon enough?
COACH MARSCH: Well, I think they came out and had a really good start. They kept things tight. It wasn't easy to break them down. We knew that they would have a good start and we were prepared to be on top of the game as well.

Then obviously over time space starts to open up a little bit, we're able to probe, find little advantages. We get a goal on two set pieces again, which we've been good on on the year.

Overall I thought that as much as maybe they were a little bit frustrated, that the chances weren't coming earlier. We also weren't giving anything away.

Another game at home where we can help ourselves by being a little bit more potent in the attack, but where the game is pretty much under control. That part has been good.

Q. Felipe has played attacking midfield for you in MontrÃ©al and similar stops in Europe. What went into the decision to get him into to role tonight?
COACH MARSCH: One, I think we're trying to give Sacha and Brad breaks at different times. The goal was for Brad to only go 60. When Felipe gets the goal it makes it easier to take him off. At 1-0, I wasn't sure.

Felipe, yeah, he has played for me at that number 10 role. He's very good at it. He's technical and good in tight spots. He's good at slipping a final ball to help lead to goals.

To be fair, Felipe reminded me of that a couple weeks ago, which I knew, but he's done such a good job in the deeper role, he and Dax have formed such a great relationship, I haven't really thought about visiting it too much. I thought overall Felipe was pretty good today and helped us gain some advantages in the attacking part of the field.

Q. Can you talk about the defensive performance of your team tonight. I don't think Orlando had a shot until late in the second half.
COACH MARSCH: I mean, the Cyle Larin chance was too easy, right, too easy for them to get a break. I'll have to take a look again at how our back line came apart.

When I say that I felt the game was really in hand, I really felt that way. It was a matter of how many times we could break down Orlando and how many times we could put it in the goal.

We've got a shutout string at home. That's pretty good right now. I feel like the more that we are defensively sound at home, and that's been a little bit of a shift we've made this year, I think last year we kind of almost attacked all out trying to find a way to get goals. This year we've been a little bit more cautious to protect ourselves from the counter.

It means we've managed to give up fewer goals. We always have faith that the goal will come for us. We have enough quality in the attacking part of the field that if we can get shutouts, we feel like we'll get wins.

Q. Chris and Connor, how does it help you to have guys who can come in off the back line and give you an offensive punch?
COACH MARSCH: I thought Chris' goal, from my angle, I thought it was going in. It was good timing for him. He was up the field in a way that we like him to be. He was able to help defend and also be available that if a ball comes loose, he can attack. He struck the ball well and Bendik makes a great save.

Connor's goal is really good. He just slows down a little bit. It's something we've been talking about, our outside backs, something that we've been talking to our outside backs about, is in the attacking part of the field slowing down a little, having a little bit more poise, coming up with more quality and final plays.

On the day I thought Connor and Chris did a better job with that. Obviously the goal was a really good one.

Q. We talked about your defense before going into the international break. You just mentioned it now. The number I have is 627 minutes scoreless streak at home. Robles 23 saves over that against six very good teams. This back line, you had to do a lot of patchwork with it. What do you have to say about the resiliency with your defense, then the leadership of Luis Robles?
COACH MARSCH: I would say in general this year has required resiliency. It has not been easy. We've demanded a lot out of ourselves in tough moments to figure out ways to get results.

The last four games I think in the league we weren't able to get a win. But there were a lot of good moments in those games. We've managed not to give much away.

So we're close. I really feel like that. We're really close to turning a corner and now starting to have results pile up for us. It's just a matter of executing a little bit more on the field and having a few more good performances, making big plays in each box.

It's coming. It's coming.

Q. I would like to know what your take is on Gonzalo's performance tonight?
COACH MARSCH: He came in. I thought he was a threat to get behind. Ideally he maybe gets a goal or two. Still trying to have some of his plays add up to more. But I thought it was exactly what we needed at the moment, to have a guy like Gonzalo pushing when they know he can threaten their back line.

If he gets a goal, we would all be saying it's a really good performance. Just finding a way to get himself on the scoring sheet.

Q. With the shutout streak and the injury to Gideon Baah, how comfortable are you going forward with the current crop of defenders you have?
COACH MARSCH: We like our defensive crew. You can tell that by the fact that we rotate them so much. A lot of times it's out of necessity, unfortunately, but other times it's out of having fresh legs on the field.

Tonight we made the decision to go with Chris Duvall. Sal was perfectly healthy, but we felt like having fresh legs was important. We trust Chris on a big level. We knew taking care of Brek Shea was a big job for the day.

Now that Damien is back, that gives us flexibility and depth at the center back position. We all feel for Gideon, it's a very unfortunate injury. We feel strongly he'll be back next year in big way.

We've done all this without Kemar as well. Kemar should be back in a couple weeks and getting ready to start playing games then. I think that only strengthens our back line.

Q. I know you talked about Connor's goal. What do you think about his overall performance? First career MLS goal.
COACH MARSCH: I mean, that's his first career goal, MLS, really? That's surprising.

Q. (No microphone.)
COACH MARSCH: Yeah, that's surprising, because Connor is actually quite good around the goal. He can strike a ball. I didn't know that was his first MLS goal. That's great.

Connor is awesome. Every time I get a question about Connor, I love gushing about Connor because he's just the kind of guy that every coach loves to have. He'll do whatever it takes. He'll fight for his teammates. He'll play any position. He'll win his battle.

I said he saved our season earlier in the year where he had some of these moments, cut up on his eye, wearing some kind of Rambo headband. That's who Connor is and we're very fortunate to have him.

Q. (No microphone.)
COACH MARSCH: Yeah, maybe he does. There's also a lot of teams that call and inquire about him. There's enough people that respect him and know that he's a quality guy and a very reliable outside back.

Nobody's getting him from us. We're keeping him (smiling).

Q. We see in training how much you work on set pieces. How rewarding is it to another two of them come off tonight?
COACH MARSCH: Yeah, Felipe has been lethal, right? We built in different deception for different plays so it keeps the keeper guessing. He doesn't know where the ball is coming from. That means when a guy steps up to hit it, if he hits it well, it can go in.

In the corner kicks, we're always trying to come up with creative ways to unbalance teams and create matchups. Overall the set piece portion of this season has been very good, probably our biggest bright spot.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297