The New York Red Bulls pushed their starters to go a full 90 in their 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night.
Head Coach Jesse Marsch said it was important most of the starters to stretch to a full game before heading into the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League match on February 22.
"Guys dug in. It wasn’t easy, the field was heavy, but really happy with how much the guys put into it," Marsch said. "I think from a fitness perspective, we’ll be closer and more ready to go for next week."
Bradley Wright-Phillips buried the Red Bulls' goal off a broken corner kick, collecting a bouncing ball and slotting it into the corner netting. For BWP, fitness in the match meant more than the goal.
"I don’t really look for goals in the preseason, I look for fitness," he said. "I think once you’re fit, the goals will come. It’s always nice to score a goal, but it’s definitely not on my mind in preseason."
The Red Bulls gave up a late goal in the second half, which Marsch said the team needs to work on before competitive games.
"A lot of little things that aren’t perfect, but right now it’s not going to be," Marsch said. "It’s going to be more about mentality, and making sure that we understand this is going to be about grinding out a result in Costa Rica, about committing to each other, about dealing with difficult moments and capitalizing on opportunities."
The game against Sporting Kansas City was a good matchup before taking on Club Deportivo Olimipia, according to Marsch.
"It was combative at times, but there was also some good football at times," the head coach said. "For sure, when us and Kansas City play each other, we both have very aggressive tactics and it makes for a combative game. That will be good preparation for us. I think that still for the most part it was still a clean game which was good, and I think we got closer to where we want to be based on what we experienced tonight."
Wright-Phillips said that the players will look to rest up now and begin to prepare for SCCL when they arrive in Houston.
"We have to get a few hard sessions in but you know we have to slow it down as we start nearing the game," BWP said. "I think we still need some hard sessions though, because it’s going to be difficult over there and we need to be even fitter."
