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NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 5, 2018

Jesse Marsch

Harrison, New Jersey

NY Red Bulls - 4, NYC FC - 0

Q. You guys got off to a 2-0 start in four minutes. Did that pretty much decide the game there? Obviously made it very difficult for them to come back, and just on Kaku, he looked good last week and he was making progress tactically in terms of his fitness, as well, and then today again?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, so obviously a really, really good start. And then, you know, when you get a 2-0 lead -- even when you get a 1-0 lead, the easy thing to do is sit back and take pressure and now the other team has nothing to lose so they go after it.

But our guys were on top of the game. The whole first half was very good. So you know, and then obviously getting the goal at the end of the half was good and then not making it 3-1 right at the end, but that was the part that was the best is that the concentration to still stick to the game plan and see out the game the way we wanted to was great.

And then, yeah, Kaku, I think -- I've been trying to say that he's growing every day, and he's determined every day to figure out how to fit in better and better and how to integrate and how to make sure that he honors this team with his progress and performance and commitment and mentality, and so he's been a lot of fun to have here. He's been a lot of fun to have here.

Again, I keep saying this about him, but he's only getting better. He's obviously adjusting quite well, and you know, he'll continue to be very important for us.

Q. When you look at did a which he is numbers, no shots on goal and then Morales having to drop back almost to the back line to get the ball. Were they as bottled up as you envisioned? Was this the most disruptive you have been in their build up, at least in the past year?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, we designed a specific tactical pressuring scheme to try to limit those two guys. That being said, you know, with Morales, he's very nifty and he's very clever at finding little pockets.

So it was sometimes going to be Tyler around him, but it was also going to require whoever was in the vicinity to be aware of where he was and to close down his space. And then I think you saw a touch day for David Villa based on the performances of Tim Parker and Aaron Long.

So you know, if we can continue to get really good defensive performances and continue to tactically be on top of games, then the potential for this team is good.

Now, second half, they make some adjustments; it forces us to make some adjustments. We weren't quite as clear on some of our pressing and some of the tactical responsibility, so then the game started to slip a little bit more, but it's natural at 3-0, they are going to throw a lot at you. And then in there, I feel like we could manage possession better, so when we do turn them over, if we can be a bit cleaner on the ball and a little bit sharper, then we could have I think taken the game more and created more chances.

All that being said, those are picky things, right. Overall, the mentality of the group, the commitment to go after the game, the fearlessness at which our team played in a big game against a really good team, at this point in the season says a lot about who we are, so proud of our guys.

Q. The Red Bull press and approach is pretty well known. What made City so susceptible to it today?
JESSE MARSCH: Well, I think, again, every time we play them, we have to come up with schemes of how we want to do things and game plans, and if you're not good on the day at what -- at pressing, then they are very good at breaking you down.

So you know, often what the games look like are us going after them, us finding ways to pick off a ball. You know, like the play that even broad -- that Sean Johnson saves it on Brad around the 35th minute, they have to survive some of those moments, and if they are sharp on the day to break some of our pressure down, then they can be dangerous when they get in and around our goal and they can create chances.

The one thing that's a little bit different about this team than years past is even when there are breakdowns in our pressure, our back line is our best we've ever had. So they can defend 1V1 (ph) and they can physically handle moments and they are really good defenders.

So that's what gives this team I think a high potential in terms of what we can become, and listen, my message to the team afterwards was great job but we still have a long way to go to be the team that I think we can be, and there's a lot of improvement out there, still. So we'll keep working through things, but the eagerness of us to continue to improve is going to be really important.

Q. In the buildup to this game, you talked about the battle at midfield and how important it would be, and Kaku, Adams, Davis, they just squeezed the life out of that kid. Did they exceed what you might have hoped for and Tyler's monster game?
JESSE MARSCH: Tyler covered a lot of game. It was hard taking him out of the middle of the field but we had to adjust once they played three in the back. Yeah, I think we won the battle of the midfield. I think we picked up more second balls. I think we pressed them better. We picked them off in possession more, and Tyler covered a ton of ground and he made a bunch of plays to break them up to make it hard on Morales.

Even when he didn't take the ball from Morales, he made him alter everything he did and often play backwards and the more that you can now put him in situations where he's got to find ways to wiggle out of and not be in open space, it's obviously much more difficult for him.

Tyler I thought a really good day. Sean Davis, really good day. Kaku, obviously, very good day, and Flo, very good day, too. Yeah, we like our midfield. We like our ability to run. We like our ability to think, you know, to understand the tactics. So yeah, it's a good group.

Q. On Bradley, that's his 11th goal in ten league games and 11 in all competitions against this team. What amazes you more, the streak, or to have that dominance over New York City FC?
JESSE MARSCH: This winds up being the talking point a lot in these games. He loves the Derby. He grew up in Derbies. Every morning when he comes, like when he came to the game today this morning and I saw him, he had a glow about him, like he wanted to play. He wanted to, again, show and compete and do everything it took to now find a way to win.

It's something that he is eager to prove, I think every time. That's always the joy of being around Brad is there's no jadedness. There's no ego. There's no selfishness. It's all about the group and all about the next moment, and being there for everyone. So we're very lucky to have him.

Q. And talk about organizational-wise, obviously Valot, he got a goal today and he also sets up Derrick. To see those two growing the way they have, how proud are you of those guys that they have stepped up in a major match like this?
JESSE MARSCH: You know, I get chances, I try to take every opportunity that I can to talk about our club, because it's very special. What's been created here is very special, and I think we are at the forefront of player development in this country. We invest in players.

The USL team now is a very good team. I'm a big fan of what John's doing with that group right now and that's a whole new crop of players coming through. We signed Ethan Cutler this week, so another guy that we bring up from the second team.

And then a bunch of these guys that were on the roster tonight are excited to go play tomorrow in the Red Bull two game. I mean, it's what we do here and it's who we are, and it requires everyone to believe in it and everyone here does. This is our identity. This is what we do. This is what we're about and we do it well. We do it really well.

So yeah, it's a proud moment for the club when you can see those guys that are growing up before your eyes and taking on bigger and bigger roles.

Q. It was the first Derby game for Tim Parker, Valot and Kaku, you talked about the other two, but in general, how do you think they did in a very important match?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, I think they all did great. They all were very good. Parker was fantastic. So was Flo, and then obviously Kaku. You know, Kaku, we watched him play in Derbies against San Lorenzo and Washington, excited for big moments, and that's something about the character of Kaku. He is one of the nicest kids. Like if you guys see him, he'll have a smile on his face, he'll shake your hand. He doesn't even know English quite yet but his personality, it's so -- he's just such a genuine, nice kid.

But he has this edge to him that he wants to prove how good he can be and how good he is, and that blend of something was something we picked up early on when we met him.

So you know, it's amazing to have a personality that's like that, that's incredibly soft and genuine but razor sharp when it needs to be, and I think that will continue to help him grow into a really, really good player here.

Q. Talking about all these kids from the USL, most of them, they were really dominant today. How different is it to play this type of game for them?
JESSE MARSCH: Yeah, the stakes rise, right. This game, we all knew it was a big week. We respect New York City. They have had a really good season so far. But we also wanted to go in and be confident and brave and know that we can play our way.

And that was really the emphasis was play our way. Like make sure that the game looks like the kind of game that we want. Make sure that we are playing in their end. Make sure that we are making them deal with some of our pace and some of our transition, and then win a lot of the duels and match-ups, and overall we did that.

Again the benefit of the USL team is these guys get to put this to practice. Flow had to put his time in. Two years he spent with USL, right. And we knew he was a talent, but he just needed to continue to develop and fully understand what we're doing. And then once you started to see it, I think in preseason this year, he's had great moments with USL but preseason this year you really saw him to come alive and start to gather confidence, and now you can see a pretty darned good player that has very few flaws.

That's our goal. That's what we are trying to do here, like with every guy that we put in the system is how many guys can we create and can we build up and give them a chance to be great pros.

Q. Emotionally, is it --
JESSE MARSCH: There's moments in the second half I know that because we have a young team, we are not dealing with certain things that well, and it's hard. It's hard sitting on the bench and watching some mistakes that seem so simple, but it's part of it.

We have to as a coaching staff, we have to have patience with these guys and continue to provide them with information on how to handle moments and how to get better.

Emotionally, yeah, it's really satisfying. It's really satisfying, yeah, especially in these games, but what's -- truly being the coach here and the teacher is I have to allow for moments to fail, and then there are learning moments and then we have to grow from them and figure out how to get better.

Q. Rob Stone today named a short list of potential candidates for U.S. Men's National Team and you were on the list. Have you spoken to anyone from U.S. soccer?
JESSE MARSCH: No.

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