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NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 4, 2019

Chris Armas

Harrison, New Jersey

Red Bulls - 3, LA Galaxy - 2

Q. It felt, at least from the outside looking in, that this was one of those games that was worth more than three points, the way you had to battle back, the quality of the Galaxy, did you get that feeling, as well, especially coming off winning at Cincinnati, building momentum.
CHRIS ARMAS: Momentum's important, as we've experienced one way, the momentum of it, when you lose a few. You know, sticking to it is the key. Believing what you're doing. Believing in the work. Guys sticking together. Staff working hard.

So yes, putting a couple of wins together, wins at home, rewards the players -- I wish it was worth more than three, but take the full three. Wasn't easy. We knew we were playing a good team. Many, many good attackers and we knew that it would look something like that. You can't draw the script beforehand, but it was full belief at halftime that our guys could not just battle back, but win the game.

Q. For the second straight game, the body language -- looks like a stronger commitment from the team. What's changed in the last week?
CHRIS ARMAS: I think it goes back further than that. I see other games where on the outside, of course, we're in the business of getting results and we need to get results. On the outside, when you don't get results, you know, you're open to some of the criticism or what has been said about our group.

Our guys have used that. It's propelled them to stick together because on the inside of our walls, again, we believe in what we're doing. If you look at the New England game, it's in the balance and it's there. Get some chances, two shots on goal and we don't get the result.

In Kansas City, we go down a goal and I saw a team stick together, come back, go ahead and with two minutes to go, have a corner kick.

So we've been seeing this come for a bit, and we've been sticking to it. So it's not that surprising to me. It's great. It is great, again, because it justifies the hard work the players are putting in and the long hours the staff is putting in. It's nice to get another victory here at home.

Q. How important was it for Derrick, even though he scored the match winner on Wednesday, and he gets the match winner today against the Galaxy?
CHRIS ARMAS: It's really important for the team. And for Derrick, it's another big step for him. He keeps growing and what folks don't get to see it he putts in a lot of work every day. He embraces the opportunities of the USL team and Red Bull II, which is an amazing situation with John Wolyniec and his staff and what they are doing.

But our supporting director shows up at those games, doesn't miss one. He tells our staff: Listen, I'll come back with the staff, go and watch those guys, we've got room for those guys, and it's not easy for John to manage that because we sometimes are giving him guys, late notice or whatever. But all those guys know that that's where Aaron Long started and we're watching and that's a platform.

So for Derrick, to see him take those games serious -- then it's not such a surprise. They are getting these real reps. And then just to see Derrick get rewarded with the work he's put in and a big goal, and we know he loves those moments, and he's built for those moments.

But before he went in, we talked quickly about real plays, things that are going to hold up in real games. This is the message and the icing on the cake is that goal for him.

Q. Speaking about Aaron -- took two shots today -- is he okay? Why did that happen from your vantage point, because it looked like -- well, obviously those were two terrible shots.
CHRIS ARMAS: Listen, you know, he takes a couple of shots to the head. We have VAR and not have to wonder about it. Actually looked at the plays, seemed like it was a case that it was a big guy when he goes up, the elbows are just higher than normal and not as tall of a guy. I mean, you're assuming that those players were fair, just a little unlucky. How he stuck it, wasn't too bad, and had a solid performance back there. It's a tough matchup. It's a tough matchup. Our guys held up and won the battle.

Q. You talk about your team feeding off the energy in the stadium. It was a very loud, passionate fans, both Red Bull fans and even the L.A. fans upstairs, very loud. What does that do to the team and how does that energize play on the field?
CHRIS ARMAS: It can go both ways, right. When the lights come on, there's people there and yeah, how do you show up in those moments? What does that do to you, and after you get through some nerves and energy. But I think we can see our guys used it to our advantage. We had a great start. We had control of the match. We scored a second goal, take it back, fair enough.

The momentum shifted in the first half, but I mean, look at -- it shows a lot about our team. You know, our energy in this building, it's loud. Our supporters, they come out, they are loud. They are supportive. It think it's a testament to the guys that we use the energy of the crowd, and we needed it in the second half. There was no doubt that our guys were going to put a lot into it and push it the right way.

Q. How do you use this to move on to MontrÃ©al?
CHRIS ARMAS: Yeah, we use every game as a chance to get out there and make progress. We have work to do. You know, we won't get too ahead of ourselves. It's a good win. It's a big win, and that means a lot to the guys, because you can't -- how can we give that to the guys without them feeling that and experiencing that, and they took it away from them. That's how you gain confidence and that's how you gain self-belief that you can battle the best and you can beat the best, right. That's how it goes.

Our guys, they are No. 1. Like they think that, you know, we walk around like we -- sure, we work like we're No. 2 but we have belief that we can go far.

So there's work to do. The guys even said in the huddle, there's work to do and we know it. There's so many areas you can get better. Against the ball, with the ball, can we keep it a little more, can we be aggressive still in what we do, moving the back line. There's so many details.

So we'll use this to help us gain some confidence and it's learning tools for the next one. We love that it's quick ones back-to-back. Let's keep it going.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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