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NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 17, 2019

Chris Armas

Harrison, New Jersey

NY Red Bulls - 1, New England Revolution - 1

CHRIS ARMAS: Yeah, it we could play 34 games and take 22 shots and go up six, I think it's going to be a good year. Yeah, I'm not sure that game plan was just to sit back tonight. You know, I thought the first half we had a real grasp on the game and we could have scored a few goals.
There's a lot of positives for us to take tonight and we'll also look hard as we do and keep getting a better understanding of what it's going to take to win the LAFC game, tonight, when it's right there.
Tonight, of course, we liked some performances and the team effort and the way we worked two strikers but we are not happy we left two points on the table.

Q. Two things. One, is there any update on Brian? And this is the longest that Brad has played since returning from injury. How do you think he did?
CHRIS ARMAS: It was great that Brad got the extended minutes and we pushed him in the extended scrimmage we had, was solely designed for him. He held up great and recovered really well.
It's important that Brad is getting these minutes. He's the guy that we've relied on so much over the years to get us goals, and his presence is a winner, so it's pretty obvious that it's good that he's out there and his presence is needed. And listen, how he did, he worked hard as he always does and found himself in a number of good spots. Almost helped us set up the game winner.
Yeah, there's a lot of happy people in that locker room that are seeing him back out there. The sharpness will keep coming. We know that he knows when he gets in good spots, he likes seeing the ball hit the back of the net, and even look at the early on where he shakes by and gets the left foot, he was sharp on the play. This is all normal. He'll be there for us.

Q. What was the most frustrating aspect of the game from your end? Did you get that sense that you were tired in the second half? And seeing that goal, just unable to get that second goal, despite all the chances, what was the frustrating part for you?
CHRIS ARMAS: Oh, it's frustrating to against -- even though we haven't had as much of the ball, or New England came to life a little bit more in the second half; it's frustrating to give up a goal in that manner. Just a couple of passes, they slice through. Frustrated that we see a lot of fouls against us. So why would I say that?
Just when you win -- when you win the ball in good spots, and then it's -- I'm not saying it's a tactic but it seems to break up plays, break up plays -- not one yellow card, not so concerned with the yellow cards but that's frustrating to see promising attacks just get stopped. I mean, we fouled five times tonight, six times, maybe 15 or 16 the other way. It's not like fouls not in good spots for us. So that's a little frustrating.
But not many things frustrate me, so I'm not too bothered by it much, if anything, but would have loved the three points.

Q. On Rece, what's gone into the decision to play him, bring him up from the second team and play him and start him over Mario, one of your key players? And Brad, to get these minutes, he got these minutes because of an injury, why haven't we seen more of Brad in the recent few weeks prior to today?
CHRIS ARMAS: Bradley Wright-Phillips.

Q. Yeah.
CHRIS ARMAS: Let's start with that one. Brian White, I think he's leading the league with American strikers with goals scored. So I think Brian is -- that speaks for itself. The team has done fairly well in the last what, ten, 15 games in terms of results, points; there's been a lot accumulated and he's producing.
Brad has had an injury and we're methodically getting him back to where he can be a part of it. Maybe two strikers is part of that thinking, but it's not necessarily against Brad and nothing -- over what we talk about Brian, he's played great. Every game he seems to score a goal or be involved in a goal.
With Rece Buckmaster, I mean, none of you probably know who is Rece Buckmaster, but for three games now, you'd probably say, we probably should have won tonight, we beat Toronto in his MLS debut and LAFC we were pretty good, and he probably outplayed Ressy (ph) one of the best wingers in the League.
So on another night, yeah, I'm glad we're talking about Rece because he might have been our best player tonight on the field. I'm not sure.

Q. Why him over Mario?
CHRIS ARMAS: Well, they are both great players. Look at Mario when he came in. He did a nice job. We see that Mario is an attacking right back and he's a defensive right back, too, and he can attack and you can see that his ejection on the field at that moment, it actually helped us gain some attack. Right now Rece Buckmaster is the guy that's -- firstly, 22 shots to 6.
Again, that's a big plus with him on the field. We've got some big results with him on the field and we see him, Rece Buckmaster, lock down outside back. You just can't get by him, so why would I not play Rece, that's the question. Why wouldn't you play Rece all the time? I think that's what it should be.

Q. As you mentioned, on almost any other night it would seem you get the points that you probably deserve. When you look at the stretch, critical three-game stretch in the next like seven days, the only home game here tonight. You're a very positive person but does it feel like two points lost in a stretch where it's difficult to drop points?
CHRIS ARMAS: Yeah, look, you take game by game. Wanted nine points. We've won on the road. We've beaten Dallas on the road and we've had some good performances on the road. So we're looking forward to D.C. and we'll think about New York. But tonight it's over with, right. We got a point. Maybe that point's going to matter at some point in the last stretch. So we step on the field, especially at home, you want all three. Didn't get that.
So each game becomes the most important game now. So every game, it's like an Eastern Conference extravaganza to wrap it up, a West Coast trip, and they will all be difficult. Again, you can look at every game of the year. The Salt Lake game at home we run away with, there's a few games, but every game is difficult and everyone is fighting for the Playoffs and a chance at the title.
We are taking steps forward. Again, Toronto a few weeks ago in our building, 2-0, at LAFC we went toe-to-toe and tonight I think speaks for itself.

Q. Can you talk about the two-striker formation, is that something we'll see moving forward?
CHRIS ARMAS: Yeah, look, it's something we've talked about for a while. We've trained it in different stretches of the year and for the last few weeks we've worked on that. We think the two strikers putts a lot of guys in their best spots and tactically it helps us have control of the game with and without the ball. On a night we thought there would be a lot of second balls and combative and crowding in the midfield, that would be important, and it was.
We thought it was a structure that helps us manage counterattacks, and it puts Kaku in a really good spot with, let's call it three guys cradling him in many ways and gives Kaku more options, too, when we win the ball.
So I think we saw a lot of that. I think it was pretty fun to watch our guys embrace that new formation, and now it's another option for us. So it's fun to see. Yeah, we got a little bit stretched in the second half, maybe fatigue, I'm not sure. We knew we had to be disciplined to play that way, but we got a little stretched and switched to a 4-2-3-1 and we thought that was the right time to do that and we made a good push towards the end.

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