Gerhard Struber is preparing his squad for the upcoming season -- and is not scared off by the sheer number of games the team could potentially play.
In fact, he's looking forward to it.
"I love it, that we have super chances to play many, many games," Struber said in his first media availability of the year. "I think this is a big chance to grow. I am not the coach crying with too much games, I'm completely on the opposite. I love to play many, many games."
The New York Red Bulls will participate in at least 37 matches this season, with Major League Soccer, Leagues Cup and the US Open Cup all on the docket. Playoffs and advancing in either of the latter tournaments could raise that number significantly.
Struber relishes the opportunity for so many matches, especially for the chances it could give to younger players to sharpen their skills -- or even break through into the choice starting group.
"This is one of the most important thing to develop -- it's not the artificial training time -- it's game time, and game time is the biggest leverage to develop," Struber said. "We have, in this season, a very, very good chance to bring players in many, many games and I like that."
The Head Coach said he'd be relying on veterans like Sean Nealis, Cristian Casseres Jr., Lewis Morgan and Carlos Coronel to provide leadership and take the necessary steps forward to help guide the team in the right direction.
"We have a very, very interesting group of young, talented players," Struber said. "They've realized, in the last two years, many, many games on the MLS level, I think right now, it's the time they take more and more responsibility in this direction. I can see, especially in the last week, and also today in the training, a highly-motivated group of players."
As for naming the next captain, he's not concerned.
"More players are ready to take responsibility and push the whole group in a successful direction," Struber said. "In the end, I have no stress. We don't need a decision now. What we need, every day, is responsibility and the duty to do everything in the training and in this direction. I can see a big, big group of players that are ready for more."
Struber and RBNY know their home record last season was not up to club standards. The goals this season are the correct that -- and strive for more.
"The expectation is high that we grow in in every direction," Struber said. "The goals are high. We want to grow, and especially we want to defend our supporters in our home games, more stable results and better performance than the last season. It was not always sexy in this direction."
The third-year head coach said the coaching staff will "prepare the boys to find a successful setup in our home games, that our fans and our supporters are happy when they see my boys play."
Improvements will come all over the field, but with a specific focus on improving the scoring chances for the club.
"We realize we need to create better chances, create our setup in the opponent's box, and also, that we have in the right areas, many more crossed balls, many more one-on-one moments, many more overload moments to create the chances, in the end, on a higher level," Struber said.
Struber is excited by the roster that's been retained and the additions that have come in, pointing to Peter Stroud as one of the examples of a player who could make an impact in the increased number of matches.
"He has a very good abilities, he has good skills," Struber said. "In our world of football, he can play with a high intensity. His mindset is very 'critical thinking,' and in this direction, I'm very excited to see him in training. He's one of the players this season that can create the game plan, but the competition is high in this area. This makes everyone, in the end, better."
And that's the goal: make everyone around you better -- because there will be lots of challenges and lots of games.
"For the team, it's it's a big boost when we have a high competition," Struber said.
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