NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 13, 2023

Troy Lesesne

Press Conference

New York Red Bulls 1, New York City 0

TROY LESESNE: Yeah, I'd just like to express a lot of gratitude and appreciation and respect for three different parties. I think, No. 1, my coaching staff, all of the staff, whether it's the technical staff or the medical staff, our operations group, the front office, our scouts, our academy, our analysts; I've tried to meet with them this week, and everyone -- I feel like this has been a challenging week for everyone, so I would really like to say thank you to them.

Certainly, the players, the players have been incredible with how they have been able to on board some new information and on board new ideas and deal what challenging week.

Lastly, our supporters. I met with our supporters last night and I feel that they feel we are moving in a positive direction regardless of results. I think they have dealt with some challenging times, maybe not even in the course of just this year, but just over the last few years where they want to get reconnected with the club, and again, thank you. Thank you to these three parties.

Q. Congratulations on your first win here. It seems like you were using Dru Yearwood in a position that was unfamiliar to us as we were watching from the outside but it also seemed strategic how you used your substitutions. Is this something we'll see moving forward where Cory Burke and Manoel are going to be players used in a position late in games in order -- when the defensive legs are running?

TROY LESESNE: It's possible. I wouldn't say, though, that that's the strategy for each of those guys. I think both of those guys could absolutely be starters. For Dru, it's a good question. I like him up higher the field, No. 1.

Tonight, I agree with you, maybe a little out of position at times but he had something different whenever we get into the final third and he did that the other night, as well, whenever we played versus D.C. United.

Yeah, I think it's also predicated on who is available right now, right. We are down six, seven guys and I'm sure you're going to have questions on the other three that we'll miss for Wednesday.

Q. The sample size, admittedly small, but what have you seen from your team, 180 minutes, in terms of skill and creativity and possessing the ball a little bit more?

TROY LESESNE: I think the first thing beyond tactics is again, just a full commitment, right. You see the energy in the guys, they are fully committed to go and try to be brave and go for the gain, and I think we have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do against the ball. We have a lot of work to do with the ball.

I'm really happy to see somebody like Omir be such a bright spot and be so confident and score goals. You could say the same thing with Dru Yearwood, Tom Barlow, Cam Harper, Wikelman Carmona, these guys -- and I love the way that Edelman and Casseres are being brave to get on the ball and try to move the opponent a little bit.

Again, a lot of work to do, but some really bright spots.

Q. You're going to be ought three players the next game because of yellow cards. You're already down six players with injury. Tonight we saw someone called up on a short-term contract. Should fans expect to see more New York Red Bull II players come up?

TROY LESESNE: It's possible. I would say this is the next challenge in the first challenging week, and we'll have the second challenging week coming with a Wednesday, Saturday, and two more guys out. But it's possible. I'll get with Jochen and Denis on that, and we'll make the best decisions to prepare us for Wednesday and Saturday next week.

Q. With you coming on the team, basically not too long ago, and with challenges, with player personnel and everything else and with injuries and everything else, and yet your team is very composed the last couple games. Very little mistakes that we usually expected. When you came on board as the head coach, did you try to simplify things with the team in order to understand their roles and what they needed to do in the heat of battle? Just curious about that.

TROY LESESNE: Yeah, thanks for the question. I'd say that this is a group that there's -- we're a young group but at the same time, we have a lot of guys that have played a lot of games. John Tolkin is a good example. Chema (ph) has played close to, I don't know, 75 games now, something like that as a pro, so he's a veteran in a lot of ways. Sean Nealis, Andres, Cristian Casseres, they are not 30 years old, right, but they are 21, 24, 25.

And I wouldn't say it has anything to do with me. It has a lot to do with them being confident and being able to close out games and control games. It's their experience and that's part of it, though, is empowering them and they can then feel confident. It's their team.

Q. Whirlwind week for you, but once you do get your fingerprints on this team and it's carved out in your identity, how similar will the team in the future look to what we saw tonight and where do you want to see improvements in the short term?

TROY LESESNE: Yeah, I'd say against the ball, the Red Bull identity, we speak about it a lot but we really want to continue to see that. I think we saw that at times tonight but maybe not quite as aggressive as I'd like in certain moments, and then with the ball, New York City is so good at how they possess the ball, so you have to give them a lot of respect.

But I did think that there was some moments that we could look to where we said we were trying to break lines and we were trying to move the ball and we were trying to move the opponent and get the ball in dangerous situations.

So if we can couple these two things together, I would say that that would be the goal, the end goal.

Q. Two-part question. First of all, those first 25 to 30 minutes, you just mentioned how NYC FC loves to have the ball, and you guys had a lot of the ball and you were possessing the ball and the press was working. Do you feel like those are the best 25 to 30 minutes you've played this season, and Amir, I believe this is his third goal against NYC FC, and he's a native of the Bronx. What do you think it is about playing NYC FC that seems to bring out the best in him?

TROY LESESNE: To answer your first question, I can't say that it's our best 25, 30 minutes. I think there was moments within that 25, 30 minutes that may have looked different in some ways and I'm happy about that.

But I think we've had some really, really good spells over the course of the season, and we can all agree that maybe we just didn't capitalize on the moments, right.

Amir, he's a guy that of course he's from the Bronx, like you said, and this game means a little bit more for him. I just think that he is under valued in a lot of ways and almost like an underdog, and I don't under value him, and I think he can do big things, and he's proven that right now. I'm graduate to see him take these chances because he's got a lot of potential. I hope to see more moments like he's scoring in the last two games.

Q. I think we can all get the sense that what two wins like that can mean for the guys in the dressing room with what's been going on this year, but for you personally, what's it been like taking on the challenges of this week and ultimately achieving success? What's it been like for you and your family?

TROY LESESNE: It's been a lot. It's been a lot this week, and it will be a lot going forward. But that's what you hope for. Whenever you get an opportunity like this, you want to obviously make the most of it.

I'm at a great club and I've been given an opportunity that I want to try and maximize. And you know, when you play in a derby like this, you get a real sense of what it means to this club even more. This past weekend, I was in like a little -- it called Teamworks, is the app, I'm sure you guys have heard of it before.

But basically we have all of our first team schedule on there. But I also have the academy schedule as well and they played New York City this past weekend. And our 15s won 4-0, I want to say, and I have like access to the Teamworks 15s and I can see what it meant to them in that moment.

This is what you want to try to develop in a club like this is that it's special from our academy all the way to our second team tomorrow, which is a big game, ultimately to this atmosphere tonight. Not many clubs really have that connection.

So again, I want to try to maximize every single group that we have in our club and bring it all together.