NEW YORK RED BULLS MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 26, 2023

Troy Lesesne

Press Conference

Inter Miami 2, New York Red Bulls 0

TROY LESESNE: We had one good chance where drew plays Omir but other than that I don't think we created enough.

That said, in the second half, I was really happy with the group, proud of the group. I thought we responded in a really good way and we were pushing for the goal. We were being ourselves. I think we were making it really difficult for them. They couldn't get out of their half and we don't get the game time goal. If you leave it like that, and then it becomes a little bit of space and time, and Inter Miami brings on who they bring on, then they are going to find a second.

Q. You'll probably get a lot of questions about Messi but just more on a macro view, Miami is another team that's chasing the playoff line. How disappointing was it to lose at home against a potential playoff rival?

TROY LESESNE: That was our main focus the whole week was this was a three-point opportunity that we had a job to do; that we wanted to stay laser focused on that. We didn't want to get too involved in the spectacle of what the night to be.

Now I would say we have to turn the page really quickly because we go to New England, and that's a really difficult place to go and get three points. But I think we can do it and we have to keep believing in ourselves to go chase our goal of making the playoffs.

Q. You sort of mentioned the spectacle of Messi coming in. When he took the field, how were you trying to keep your team composed so they stayed focused and not get caught up in the spectacle of what was going on around them?

TROY LESESNE: Yeah, I was trying to push tempo and I was trying to get us to continue to do what we were doing. Clearly you could hear that there was a change that was going to be made, and I don't think I've ever heard any type of level of noise and excitement for a substitute that's coming into the game.

But my reaction was I think that he was coming up to the touch line to come on into the game, and there was a ball that went out for a throw, and I was trying to get the ball back in play as quickly as possible so we could push the tempo.

Yeah, it was definitely something I've never experienced before.

Q. Obviously Messi and Busquets didn't start tonight but Miami did roll out with their three U-22 signings. Between their team and your team, a lot of youth on the field. How do you think that affected the match and what does it show for the league just to have so much talented young players on the field on both sides?

TROY LESESNE: Yeah, that's a great observation. This is something that I tried to communicate all the week long to the group, as well as something we were well aware of in general that they have a lot of quality that they have added to their roster, and we respect that quality.

The guys that were already there that we played before this year, Josef Martinez, Taylor, Campana is a very good player, Deandre, Callender. But then they added these U-22 players, and they are top players, and they showed that in the first half. They made it very difficult for us.

But I think it also says that this is the type of model that we typically have, right. So there's seven players on the field for us tonight that are 23 and under, not to mention the guys that came on in Peter Stroud and Carmona that are just as young if not younger.

So our model is a little bit different. I'm proud of what we showed in the second half, and I wish we would have showed that a little bit more in the course of the whole game.

Q. Is there any relief that this is over now and you can sort of maybe put your focus on the rest of the season, as much as you guys did kind of keep your eyes on the task at hand?

TROY LESESNE: I can't say that. No relief necessarily. I think this is such a wonderful opportunity, and you only get one shot.

Q. Record crowd, 26,000 plus. You commented on how passionate the support was last week against D.C. United. Is there any message you would like to say to the fans after this one coming in in such big numbers?

TROY LESESNE: Yeah, a hundred percent. What a great question, and I'd love to use the opportunity to say that anyone that was new to the stadium tonight hopefully got to have a great experience, and I hope that they comeback, and they also got to see so many young players from our club get opportunities.

Our club promotes young players to give them an opportunity to try to get to the stage, to the level of someone like Jordi Alba. That's what John Michael Tolkin is trying to do right now and our club provides that opportunity. Daniel Edelman is trying to get to the level of Sergio Busquets. They have close to a hundreds games under their belt, and that's a special thing to watch.

They competed tonight and they competed in a really positive way. There's newcomers, I hope they comeback and support the young players. For the supporters that have been with us the entire year that were with us last week, I loved the way they tried to combat the noise of the night, the Messi chant. It's tough to combat, but our supporters were right there with us, pushing us, and we are going to need them to push us this final stretch of the season.

Q. You've got one road win under your belt right now, and you're going to play against a very tough opponent in New England. This is done, and you're done with Miami. But with the margin of error slim at this point, what are you telling your team from this point onward, because at this point, you're really chasing two teams, but you have an opportunity to make up points but now you have to do this on the road when you only have one, so what do you tell your team at this point?

TROY LESESNE: This is an important message after the game, right after the game I wanted them to turn their focus to New England, make sure that we recover in the right way both physically and mentally from this match tonight. And I think we can go on the road and gets points, I really do.

We have two tough opponents in New England and Philadelphia, but I do think we have to pick up points. We know that going into this international break, to give ourselves a chance to really push for a playoff spot.