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NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 24, 2017

Jesse Marsch

Harrison, New Jersey

New York Red Bulls - 0, New York City FC - 2

Q. Jesse, how do you explain the performance today, and NYC was clearly the better team; what didn't work for you guys?
JESSE MARSCH: Well, first you have to give them credit. They adjusted certain things that they do, and they physically put a lot more into the game, which meant that we weren't able to overrun them like we often do. Then, you know, I would say that we're, unfortunately, kind of what we've been all year, which is not very efficient or effective in the attacking part of the field, and in some ways anemic, again, giving up goals on set pieces.

So, you know, these are things that we're aware of, and things that we're trying to address within our team, but we still seem to be affecting ourselves in negative ways with the same problems. So, you know, the key is to -- it's a really bad feeling right now to have them celebrate on our home field. We're managing the series to command the games and often come out ahead and as the better team. Today's not the case.

So it's one where we feel terrible for our fans and for our club because we know how much this rivalry means to us. But we can't get too down, because we've just got to keep going, and grinding things out, and finding ways to improve.

You know, how do you do that? Well, there are little things that we can do within the group, and then I think that it's clear. We need to make a couple additions to get some help specifically in the attacking part of the field.

Q. Would you say that they won the midfield battle today? At the same time, this did they frustrate your guys enough to where they were making some poor decisions on passing the ball?
JESSE MARSCH: Let's be careful about how lopsided we think the game was because we had the ball often. We were now managing to control certain moments. It wasn't like we were we gave up a ton of chances. We gave up two, and those two cost us. But, you know, like I said it's important for us to take parts of the game and now convert that into real chances and into real moments in the attacking part of the field.

And possession doesn't mean anything unless you're creating something. So we don't value possession, but the game wasn't so lopsided. It was a matter of them making a couple more plays than we were able to make on the day, and then being a little bit more up for the challenge.

So, in some ways, you could say that we're close with certain things and we've managed to show some life recently. But in other ways you have to say we have a lot more to do.

Q. I know you have a lot of confidence in the coaching staff and the guys on the staff. But in hindsight, any thoughts about the Poland trip and the timing of it and the preparation?
JESSE MARSCH: I knew that one was coming. No, none at all. Total confidence in our coaching staff and in our players. I always think these are great opportunities for them to take more ownership. You know, listen, a big factor for me is that ten days ago we played a match, we wound up dominating that game, and now emerging in that game as the better team on the day, and they had some revenge. They felt like they wanted to prove to themselves and make a statement that that game wasn't who they are. So they put a lot into it. We then now came in second.

So we'll make sure that that personal part, the feeling we have right now, that we build that into the next time we play them, we build that into Wednesday, and we push forward in the right way.

Q. On the match, the attack looked like it was very much looking for the direct counter for most of the game. But the team didn't really have the speed to keep up with that. Just wondering if you could comment on that a little bit and why maybe why they go through the middle too much so much?
JESSE MARSCH: Are you saying New York was looking to catch us on the counter or we were? Well, again, yes and no. The way we're built, when we win the ball, we want to go to goal and we want to try to score as quick as we can. But it's hard to say it was counter attacking day when you have 60% possession.

Now, again, the issue is that in build up and in possession, we're not creative enough, we're not sharp enough to really set up the next play in order to create clear chances. But, we've got to find a way to fine tune some of these things and understand how to get better in some of the game best games, but not get too down, not lose confidence in who we are and make sure we keep pushing forward.

Like I said, it's the tale of the game, but it's the tale of the season. We've got to be honest with ourselves and find ways to push.

Q. Is it some frustration, because I've never heard you say we need some additions? Is that just now being honest?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, listen, the key is to to always be honest. You guys know me well enough. I don't sit here and lie. I sit here and try to be as straight as I can with how we do things and who we think we are, and what we do well, what we don't do well. The good news is we have room to make improvements, so we're working hard to try to get that done.

We can't use that as a crutch either because there are things internally with the group we have right now that we need to get better with. So, yeah, that's where we're at.

Q. You mentioned (Inaudible)?
JESSE MARSCH: No. The answer to that is no. Let be me be sure. Me being gone, honestly, had nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with it. So would I do it again? Yes. And do I have a high level of respect and confidence in our entire club? This is not about me, okay. This is not about me. This is about all of us and our ability to be the best version of ourselves.

I understand I'm the leader and I'm in charge, and on the day, I'll take blame. That's the way it works when you're the head coach. When things go well, you can spread the congratulations around, and when things don't go well, you've got to look straight at yourself, straight in the mirror, you've got to stand in front of people and say I've got to do better. I've got to find a way for us to be better. That's what this is, nothing more than that.

Q. Just to be clear, when you say we may need some additions here, you're talking about outside the organization, not within the current roster or the developmental?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Q. Why the decision this week to leave before this game? Why this week?
JESSE MARSCH: Well, it's not really a decision. There's a structure in courses that you get involved in. Two weeks from now I have to go to the U.S. course. I'm only in two courses right now. And that's not up to me. That's what the demands of the course are. They often match the international windows. They often match opportunities around the world for clubs that have gaps in the season. This one fell at, obviously, not the perfect time.

But there is no reason to make excuses. It's all about now using whatever time we have to get better every day. So there is no question that that happened without me here, okay. So, yeah.

Q. Just wanted to ask you about the high press. It seems teams have figured it out a little bit more this year. They're not playing it from the back. Patrick said right now that the team played long balls when they had to play long balls. You don't seem to have a plan B, a way to play a different style and that's hurting you guys, that's why you only have 17 goals, 17 games. How do you change that at this point in the season?
JESSE MARSCH: We're not changing that. We're not changing it. The question is how good can we be at what we do?

Listen, do we alter things based on our opponent and do we have game plans and are we specific with certain areas of our tactics so that we think we can manipulate areas that we can gain an advantage? Always. But if you're saying now are we going to change our counter pressing, our pressing, the way we play, ultimately, no. This is who we are, and we're proud of who we are. We like who we are.

Now the question is how good can we be at what we are? Right now, it's not great. But, in a lot of ways we had a handle on the game. We just weren't able to capitalize in situations. Okay? Again, if we're sharp on the attacking third, if we take some of our half van advantages and they're a little cleaner or create an advantage or go at a guy and set a guy up and find a way to get a lead. Then even with how physical the match is and how segmented it was with the referee and everything else, it could have been a different day. It wasn't.

We're not going to make excuses. We've got to get better at what we do, and we've got to find it game to game and in the season-long situation that we're in.

Q. You made it sound like this was a relatively close game, yet you had one shot from distance that Johnson (Inaudible) very well or very easy. And they had two shots that Robles had to come huge, one from the side and one was a breakaway. I'm just curious if you really think it was that close, because it seemed as though they had clear chances, two more than the goals they scored on, and you had one at least on goal.
JESSE MARSCH: I don't know if we need to get into semantics here. I said in the beginning you have to give them credit, and they were able to now put more physically into the game. They changed their game plan a little bit. They were able to gain an edge on the day. They won the game, okay? Good for them. All right.

But, I come in here and it's like doom and gloom. Like on the day we're not good enough. And we have to find ways to get better, and we're going to find ways to get better. I think that's pretty simple. I think that's pretty simple.

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