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NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 14, 2017

Chris Armas

Harrison, New Jersey

New York Red Bulls - 1, New York City FC - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Chris.

Q. (Question about Jesse's suspension.)
CHRIS ARMAS: When I found out, to be honest, it was business as usual. I had a specific role to help prepare the team with scouting (indiscernible), prepare the guys, be the secondary voice. That's what it was.

For me, not sure how this will be taken, but I (indiscernible) look at it as this big opportunity. I know it's not about me. It's about the guys tonight.

Q. What changed at halftime that allowed you guys to overpower them in the second half?
CHRIS ARMAS: Well, it's the halftime talk (smiling).

No, there wasn't a whole lot said at halftime. Listen, taking off (indiscernible) maybe helps us in terms of them not being able to find the game a little bit more.

I think beyond that, it was a real will to come out in our team. We talk about the New York Red Bulls, what makes us us, I think we saw that in the second half to the highest level.

So you credit the guys. Again, we're in a single-elimination tournament here. How bad do you want this? It comes down to that oftentimes, and I think we saw that. It was dominant in the second half. For whatever reason, yeah, the guys get credit for that.

Q. Last year's win at Yankee Stadium put the Red Bulls in the right path for the rest of the season. This is a 1-0 victory, but how will this result help put the Red Bulls on the right path?
CHRIS ARMAS: Sometimes there's defining moments in a season, certain games that help you get kick-started. We're hoping that is one of them.

It's hard to know if it is, right? We'll have to wait. But there's always self-doubt, things like that, that can creep into teams. Teams know about us more, they make it harder on us knowing what we're going to do.

Tonight in the game we know what they're trying to do, they know what we're trying to do. I think we took that personal a little bit to say, How good can we be? It's our way, you know, our way.

Could this propel us forward? Listen, our group really hasn't wavered that much. The way they show up every day, compete, train, look after each other. The spirit has been good.

I said after I was hoping Jesse was watching upstairs, proud of the work that he does. Hopefully I'm sure the second half he's probably watching that tonight. That's his team.

Q. (Question about switch in lineup.)
CHRIS ARMAS: Danny has been starting for us all year. Probably second in team goals, right? Four, now he's got five. What a goal he scored.

But it wasn't an easy decision to not start him either. It's not just him or Mike. We have three or four guys, Veron included, obviously.

But, listen, nights like this, I think the tendency to let it go longer, 15 more minutes. Again, you got to win the game. So we have another starter on the bench. We thought, Yes, it would make sense, especially knowing the form Danny has been in.

I think that we got what we were hoping for. Just the energy, the life, I think we could all see that. I think he was a part of that second half turnaround.

Q. Chris, this is the first time there's been that single-elimination match in this building rivalry. What do you think this match here tonight does to help fuel that? The two teams play in another week and a half's time. Do you think it adds to the rivalry?
CHRIS ARMAS: I think it does. I mean, I don't think there's any two ways about it. There's no way escaping that. We're red, they're blue. The whole thing is going. It's been tremendous for our league and for New York and New Jersey, our area, for any soccer fan.

I mean, look, typically first round, you wouldn't see energy like that. Their fans, our fans. Listen, we love that we get to host the game, play in front of our fans. We typically are very good, come out on top.

Again, the more games we play, the bigger the rivalry grows.

Q. (Question regarder Tyler Adams.)
CHRIS ARMAS: I said to him after the game, he's so much fun to watch. I played that position on the field. I think I know what goes into it, how demanding it is. I think he's way better than I was.

Watching him play, the way he can cover ground, at such a young age be that fearless. He can just clog up the middle, shut things down. Second half, you can see one of the recovery runs he made down the left channel. It's incredible to watch.

I think we all have to take notice and enjoy that as much as we're going to have him here. In terms of, might he follow along? I think with his mentality, aspirations, I'm sure that he could play in a different league someday.

As long as we have him, I don't know the discussions behind the scenes, but Tyler is ours, I hope we keep him for a long time. When it comes time for him to go, we would be wishing him well. We want to see him do great things. (Indiscernible) on our national team. I think he's tremendous.

Q. I know the past 24 hours have been kind of a whirlwind. Were you able to enjoy anything from the match, the rivalry, the intensity?
CHRIS ARMAS: I enjoyed the whole day today. Game day for me is my favorite day of the week. It's almost like when I leave the office on the night before, I feel like work is done. Like, Jesse, we call him the madman. He's incredible how he works. The demands he puts on himself, then us.

Yesterday evening, it starts the enjoyment like I can't wait for game day. Then to have a little bit of a different role today. Again, my role didn't change that much. Pregame talk, halftime talk, just try to let it breathe a little bit, then the guys take it over, as we hope that the guys can do.

I enjoyed the game tonight. I really did. One, we move on in the tournament, right? Mission accomplished there. Two, probably mostly important, I think we're most proud of the coaching staff. When we see us being us, we do at the highest level, tested today. I mean, they're a great team. To watch what they do...

Again, it's my job these days to watch how they can dismantle teams, pull them apart. Knowing what they're going to do, knowing what we're going to do, very conflicting. To see our guys come out ahead, moving on is good, moving on in the tournament is good. Especially that second half, I thought we had a good grasp on it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Chris.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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