With the current 2020 MLS season on pause, the New York Red Bulls’ coaches, staff and players have no choice but to train from home. This will be a time for them to try new things, but to also stay active and ready for when everything returns to normalcy.
Striker Brian White shared with us what he has been up to in recent months:
When you return to the pitch, what’s the first thing you plan on doing?
“First thing, hopefully just get to play games. I’ll probably be way too excited to even think about it and just go out there and play again. It’s been way too long and seeing the Bundesliga start playing again, the fire is burning. You just want to get out there as soon as possible.”
With the time available, what were the things that you specifically worked on?
“It’s obviously been difficult. At first, I was in my apartment in Jersey City, so there wasn’t a lot of room for me to be able to get outside, whether it was a yard or driveway somewhere, so it was difficult at first, and then I came home, I have a pretty big basement, I have a backyard and a driveway, so I’ve been able to do a lot of stuff with the ball at my feet, more dribbling, moves and tricks. I’ve been improving that facet of my game, and I think it was important for me to work on.”
Has there been like a blooper moment with all these video sessions that you guys have had?
“I don’t know, it’s funny seeing like the nicknames people give each other when you log in to the video chat, you can put your username or whatever. Seeing some of those names pop up are kind of funny. There was one, I don’t remember, there’s some beef sometimes between Tim and ALo going on with their usernames, but besides that I can’t remember exactly.”
Favorite book that you read during quarantine?
“I just finished this one called Beneath a Scarlet Sky. I thought it was really good. It’s based on a true story. It’s about an Italian kid growing up in World War II, and he ends up being a driver for one of the Nazis in Italy, then ends up being a spy for the resistance in Italy, while he was driving for this Nazi official. It was really interesting seeing the stories that he went through, his life because it was all true. He also went through trying to sneak Jewish people from a mountain top church in Italy, across the mountains into Switzerland. It was really interesting, I really enjoyed that one.”
Message to the supporters:
“If I say anything to the supporters, it would be to stay home, stay safe. We hope everything is going okay at home with you guys. We just can’t wait to see you out there on the field again. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we’re ready whenever we get the chance, so hope you continue to support us. We’ll try to bring the product to the field that you guys are searching for.”
