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NEW YORK CITY FC MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 24, 2017

Patrick Vieira

Harrison, New Jersey

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

Q. Patrick, congratulations on the win. You would take, I'm sure, the three points anyway it would come, but considering kind of the way that the team played that it was here, the first win at this stadium, how sweet is this victory for you?
PATRICK VIEIRA: Victory is not more sweeter than the last win in Seattle. I think it was a game that we were during the week we came over with a good game plan, and I'm really satisfied. I'm really satisfied because of course we managed to win the game, we took the three points and I think we played really well. We created a few chances, we scored, and it was a really good team performance.

So it's good, yeah because it is here it makes it more special, but at the end of the day, it's the three points and that's what's the most important thing for me today.

Q. It's one thing to have a game plan to stop the leading goal scorer of the other team, it's another thing to have the players go out and follow your orders and literally stop Bradley Wright-Phillips from doing any damage. Can you talk about what they did on the field to stop him?
PATRICK VIEIRA: No, I think we didn't put our concentration and focus only on one player. We know how Phillips is. He's a talented player. You give him the space and he's going to score. I think Alex and Maxime defended really well. They played very well. We didn't give him space to express his talent. But I think in the midfield as well, we work hard.

And when you look at the quality of the players, the way that we played and winning the games here, we needed everybody to work really hard from Sean in goal, to David up front, we worked hard, and that is the reason why we won the game.

Q. Earlier in the week you mentioned how important it was to cut off the supply line. What did you think? Were your guys able to do that? Secondly, what did you take away from the loss in The Open Cup? How did that game prepare you for this game?
PATRICK VIEIRA: I think, yeah, we were trying to stop the supply from Sacha to Phillips because we understood the good relationship that they had. And I think the distances between our No. 9 and our back forwards was tight and we didn't give them so much space. I think ring, and Tommy, and Yangel work hard, but work really well. And that gave them the space for them to express their talent.

And of course, the Cup games that we lost, we're looking at the first half that we played, the chances that we created, and we knew that there would be a space for us to use and try to win the game and today we created the chances and we scored those chances. Then when you score your chances, you allowed yourself more chance of winning the game. It was a really good team performance. Really good team performance.

Q. Over the year between the last game and now this team has been able to improve defensively and this organization and staying compact like you just mentioned. What's been so vital to the improvement, and how have Alex and Yangel been able to contribute to that front?
PATRICK VIEIRA: Yeah, I think I always talk about being solid defensively is not just about the back forward or the center backs. It's about the team, because when you can see chances that from up front we didn't work well or we didn't work hard enough, and today when you look at the way that David and Jack worked in the first half, then we became a team, a solid team, a hot team to beat.

When we work well up front, we make it more easy for our back four. So I think that's why this performance showed that when we are working well together as a team, we're going to give ourselves more chance of winning football matches.

Q. Playing against a team that presses and does a lot of running at you, you've really had strong performances from Herrera and Harris, and they've done a lot of running and hard work as well as chipping in on the score sheet. Can you comment on their impact on this game, and the game plan?
PATRICK VIEIRA: We played against a team that went for 90 minutes and pressing really high. Making it difficult for the opposing team. So, again, if we wanted to give ourselves chances to take the three points, we needed to match how our competitiveness, our desire, and how they compete during the game. And I think we did it really well today. We make it really difficult for them. We forced them to play long ball. We were presenting (inaudible), and I think that's one of the reasons as well we managed to win the game is we matched the desire and competitiveness.

Q. You guys came out a lot more aggressive and more physical than I've seen in the past. Was that part of the game plan going in? Because usually it's them being more physical against you guys. You guys played aggressive and brought the fight to them today. Was that a lot of preparation during the week?
PATRICK VIEIRA: Yeah, of course, because when you look at all the games that we've played against the Red Bulls previously in the year, they always wanted it more than us. And I believe if you want to win football matches, you have to match the competitive of the opposing team. And I think today we did it brilliantly. I think if you look at the way that (Indiscernible) came off, and you look at Tommy, you look at David, they worked really hard for the team. They sacrificed for the team. That allowed us to stay in the game and then after the quality of the players made the difference. But we can't win these type of games if we are not competing.

Q. He made reference in regards to the competitiveness as you have. But you pressed really high, which in the past you have wanted to build from the back. Did you take something from the Red Bulls previous standard procedures to press high to turn the tables on them?
PATRICK VIEIRA: Yeah, we wanted to make them play long ball and to press really high. But I think today our game plan and the way we wanted to press didn't change from the last game. I think players just wanted to win this game so much that they put a really hard work today. They pressed really high and that's what I was mentioning before. When we work like that from up front, we make it easy for our back four.

Q. Couple questions about (inaudible). The biggest question was (inaudible) both of those really worked out in your favor. What was your thought process in making those decisions and what were your thoughts on that?
PATRICK VIEIRA: Yeah, I think today it worked. It didn't work last week. I think this is part of the game and what is the beauty of our game is that the games can be different from one game to the other one.

Today I made the right decision, but maybe next week it will be the other side. But I think when you look at Ben the way he's been playing the last few months or few weeks, he's been really good. RG, I think had a silly game today, and Tommy in the midfield worked really hard, and every time he got the ball on his feet he made the right decision.

So you're not coming to this place knowing the team that you're going to face and having one or two players not be at their best, because that would be really difficult for us.

What was really pleasing today was I saw a team who compete at a high level, players who really wanted to win the game, and we showed some character and we showed some quality as well because I think we played really well. So to take these three points, we needed everybody to be at their best, and today they were at the best.

Q. You touched on how you (inaudible) space on their attack. But a lot of their attack comes from the on side of the field. How did you guys avoid those turnovers (inaudible)?
PATRICK VIEIRA: I think we make some really good decisions. What I was really pleased about, especially our back four with Alex. We managed the danger quite really well. We weren't afraid to go long when we needed to. I believe that when we were in position on half, we made the right decision. Because when you make a mistake against them, you get punished. And I think when you look at the games we played against them in the last few years, we've been punished because of the mistakes that we've been making.

I believe today, especially in the back in position, we made so many good decisions and not be afraid to go long.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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