New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch
(No Microphone) ...during the week about the referees and that they were impacted greatly by your comments and that it wasn't fair and that he told you so at one point. Is there any --
COACH MARSCH: I mean, he never said anything to me. That's all I can say. He didn't want to shake my hand in the hallway. But I've seen this from him after the game before. So it's not a problem.
I'm going to focus on us, which I think the game was decided by the players, and in every way our players put a big imprint on the game. And I thought that, from the first minute that they were, even on a hot day, very alert, very tuned in, stuck to our game plan, and deservedly got the result.
Q. How were you able to adjust the high press coming from the July 3rd match? They seemed to handle it pretty well. It seemed like they really had a lot of difficulty this time around with their buildup play out of the back and that impacted a couple of performances.
COACH MARSCH: Yeah, I think the weather had something to do with that. It was hot, and so they weren't able to really get a rhythm. But our pressure was very organized. We knew it had to be. We worked on it extensively this week and talked about it. And I thought that the players executed, again, the game plan according to the pressure, according to the ball movement, according to the tactics with the ball.
So, again, I think that it was a well-executed game for 90 minutes, which we've still -- at home we've been able to do that a lot better than on the road. Now can we take this kind of mentality and approach and make sure that on the road we can manage it the same way?
Q. Jesse, another two goals for Brad in this one. It seems like he -- every time he plays against NYC FC, he has a big impact. What is it about him that allows him to rise to the occasion in these big Derby matches?
COACH MARSCH: I think, more than anything, when Brad has had rest, when Sacha has had rest and they've been able to recover, they've been able to produce quality in big moments.
So first full week of training that we've had in a while where we can actually rest a little bit, work on some things, get sharp in training, design a game plan, execute it, and then allow our players to play the game. So I think more than anything -- okay, Brad's a big game player. Sacha's a big game player. There's no question about that. But the more that we can, I think, control how much -- how many minutes they're putting in and what their workloads are, I think the better that they'll be.
Now, that requires partly that the guys who are behind them to be able to step up when necessary. So it's both sides. We need to continue to call on the depth of our team, and we need Brad and Sacha to keep themselves sharp and going.
Q. Along those lines, early on, Bradley and Sacha, you could tell they were on. Coming into the week, did you have a sense that they were -- this was coming from those two guys? And specifically, NYC, it seems like Bradley just gets up for them even more than other opponents. Do you see that?
COACH MARSCH: Yeah, he does. There's no doubt. Even when I took him off, he didn't want to come off. He wanted to get the third.
With the way that they pressure, we felt like we could do certain things to gain advantages in certain parts of the field, which would then lead Sacha to find gaps in their team. And then whenever Sacha is catching balls in important spots, he knows that his first option is Brad. So his ability to sort of move and see things and then slip a ball to Brad the right way that sets him up to execute around the goal, that's what makes their relationship special, and that's what makes each one of them good. I think they really work off of each other to make each other better.
Q. Coach, one of your defining attributes since you've taken over has been one is master of motivation, mental games, things of that nature. This week you weren't prompted to talk about the referees; you said what you felt about the referees. Was that mind games, or did you really feel that at the time?
COACH MARSCH: I would say that I've tried to always be respectful, and I've tried to communicate with the league and with the officials in a respectful way. They -- I guess they interpreted this latest opinion that I had or way of voicing my opinion as disrespectful. So then I, according to league policy, I get fined.
But I look at it as I ask my players to fight for every inch, every inch. Every day on the field, I ask them to do everything they can to gain advantages and to win battles. So for me, I felt that my job this week was to voice certain things, and I felt that it was important with where we were in the season and where we were in the schedule and everything else to make sure that I was standing up for our guys and our club.
Q. (No microphone)?
COACH MARSCH: I thought Geiger was fantastic, and that's not just because we won and not just because I said something in the press. I think he had a very good clean game, where there really weren't many mystery calls or doubts or where things were going. There was one that maybe deflected out for a corner or maybe a foul, a little ticky tack foul here and there, but it's hard to argue with that performance. I think it's maybe the best that we've seen of the year.
Listen, I know Mark's taken a lot of heat, and for him, I think, in a big game and one that he knew there were a lot of eyes on to be very poised and call the game the way he did, I thought he did a very good job.
Q. You and your team this week said that you took issue with the way that NYC FC celebrated in the last game in the Instagram post. Today how did it feel to put four up on NYC FC and get the victory in front of Red Bulls fans?
COACH MARSCH: We are focused on us, and we are focused on our season. We had a lot of big challenges this year. We dug a huge hole for ourselves. The last 15 games were 8-3-4. It's not the best record in the league in that stretch, but it's a very, very good record.
So I think for us, we feel like we've dug ourselves out, and it's not been easy, man. We've had our backs against the wall in a lot of different weeks. We've let games slip. We haven't been as good as we'd like to be on the road. But I feel like now we're starting to really show -- not that we're turning the corner, but that we've turned the corner.
And the key for us now is to keep our foot on the gas and to keep going after games, to stay concentrated and focused on what it's going to take night in and night out and to now make sure that we're getting a good performance from as many players as we possibly can.
Q. You're two years, six games into this rivalry. What's your opinion how it's grown in this time?
COACH MARSCH: It has grown, but it's been there since day one. I think that's what's been pretty awesome about it. I think, from the fan bases to the organizations to the players, I think that there's been a lot of energy and a lot of pride from both sides.
Now that we're starting to build history and you're starting to see hatred, that's going to add to it for the next -- the upcoming games in years to come. So that's what makes rivalries. That's what makes Derby matches. It's there. It's there.
Q. Jesse, last week was also a rivalry game, more from Philadelphia's side than our side, but they were able to take advantage of the pressing late in the game because that's what you continued to do. But NY FC did not seem able to do that. Was that more about adjustments you made, the weather? From just last week to this week, what was the changes you made there?
COACH MARSCH: Well, I think last week there was a big issue with heavy legs, having to play a midweek and then a team that's fresh. So we're demanding a lot of our guys and asking them to produce quality performances time and time again. So we're always trying to get that balance right.
But it was on the road. Their crowd got into the game. And to be fair, we hung on. We weren't happy that we didn't walk out of there with three points, but to still hang on and get a point and move ourselves forward, there's still momentum, right?
So I think we maybe have five games where we haven't lost. So we're starting to get ourselves going, and we know we could be better off than where we're at, but we've just got to keep focused on moving forward and getting stronger.
Q. Jess, can you talk about the corner kicks this year and how successful you've been. And also Sacha's game today, how he kind of controlled the game for you.
COACH MARSCH: Yeah, with what we do on our set pieces, we try to build in a lot of creativity and a lot of different options and ways of unbalancing a team. But that also means that, when we get direct service and we get good runs, they're still trying to calculate what might be next, and if it's just a simple ball and a service and a run and we bury the header, then that means we've done our job by also creating a lot of questions for what might come next.
So it still comes down to all the guys embracing what we do on set pieces and then executing and sticking to the game plan and knowing their roles, right?
Then Sacha on the day, again, I think because Sacha's just now a little bit fresher and a little bit -- has his legs and he's clear and we have -- we create options for him from how we play in the back and put him in a lot of positions and put him in situations to succeed and make final plays, you see the best of Sacha. So he's had a great year. He's had a great year, and he's going to get better.
Q. Jack Harrison's played a key role for NYC FC since he's been integrated in their lineup. How important was it, do you think, for Connor to get into him early on to throw off his game?
COACH MARSCH: Jack made two big plays last time we played in New York City, but they were both when Connor wasn't around him. I think that we really like that matchup. We like Connor; he's our best one v. one defender. It's partly his low center of gravity, but it's partly he takes so much pride in it. He wills himself to win some of these battles.
So I encouraged him coming into this week and said he did a really good job with Harrison last game and that he's a tricky guy, but that we were going to call on him again, and a lot of times it was going to be in one v. one situations, and I think he won that battle today.
Q. Jesse, all things considered, you mentioned before you're 8-3-4 and that you're a different team at home as opposed to being on the road. You're at Chicago next week. The next two or three games are on the road. How do you avoid that complacency and falling into the same trap that many other Eastern Conference teams, where you guys have been very good, even though, as you said, 8-3-4 is not great, but you've got a much better leg up on everybody with some games in hand as well?
COACH MARSCH: The complacency part was a talking point earlier this season, but the hole we dug and the challenges we've been through this year have meant that is no longer a factor. There's not complacency, and there's only drive to get better.
And the key is now just to go on the road and have a little bit more confidence. Be a little bit sharper. Be a little bit more focused and concentration on what the game plan is, how to establish things, and then if we get leads, which we've managed to do a lot on the road, manage the game properly.
So we'll get better for these moments, we will, and we'll figure out ways to get more results on the road.
Q. Jesse, the action on the field besides the goals, a lot of chippiness out there, a lot of pushing, a lot of shoving. Mike thought he got fouled in the area, thought he got a penalty, then wasn't awarded, then was bumping against his defender. Like you said, it's already becoming now a big rivalry. Are we going to see all of a sudden it's going to break out into maybe fisticuffs one day?
COACH MARSCH: I think our team has enough discipline to understand to stick to the game, but a big part of playing in big games is what your competitive will is and not backing down and physically winning battles and managing to, on the day, make sure that in all ways, you're going to be the team that establishes itself. Right? And that's tactically, that's with the ball, but certainly that's in 50-50s, in aerials, in tackles. Setting the tone in that manner becomes as important as anything in a Derby match.
Our ability to do that this time was at a high level. If I were to look back at what we -- one thing we talked about after being in New York City was we felt that they established an edge better than we did on that day, and they were awarded with the win.
Q. Just to pick up on that, you said that New York City established an edge today, but did you see anything from New York City when they first came out today which led to why they were so far pinned back in their own half and they seemed like they couldn't even relieve any pressure that was sustained by your team?
COACH MARSCH: Well, we wanted to press them. We wanted to go after them. We didn't want to sit back. We wanted to tempt them to play through us. They've shown that that's what they're sticking to, and we were going to make sure that in all ways, that they were going to be on top of the game.
And we knew that they like to pass in their own end and we like to pass in our opponent's end. So that meant that a lot of the game was going to be played in that end of the field. But the key was, when there were breakdowns, not to let ourselves be exposed behind us.
And, again, I think on the day we did a really good job with that.
New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips
On his first goal of the game:
I wanted to get my... just get back on the scoring sheet. And yeah, it was good, great move from Sacha, man. Yeah, I didn't have to do much.
On stepping up in derby matches:
I don't know, man. It's just...if I had to put it on anything, I don't feel like I'm doing anything different but if I had to put it on anything, I've grown up, you know, watching derbies and you know I get nervous before them, it's a different feeling. And I said it before the first time we ever played them, I want to be the first to score in this game. To me it means, it's, I don't do it on purpose it just means so much more to me when I'm out there. I want it, I want to get goals and I want to be remembered in the derby.
On building momentum before the All-Star game
It's way more. Obviously for the fans this is great and for us, you know, after the game it's nice, it's almost a party feeling. But, obviously more than that it's the three points. We need to stay in touching distance of that team because you got to give it to them they've done very well this season and they're a good team and we needed to stay in arm's length.
On seeing the rivalry develop
Yeah, yeah for sure. It's definitely the real deal but I do think, you know, I hope it doesn't but playing them three times a season could almost wear, you know, the novelty, I hope it doesn't but the novelty could almost wear off, you know, it's too much. Everywhere around the world you play a team twice and each occasion is massive but so far every occasion has been big and we play our part in that.
New York Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty
On adjustments since the last meeting:
Yeah, yeah we did. Obviously we knew they liked to play out of the back so we wanted to invite them to do that. Tried to tilt it a little more towards them playing out their right side, so our left side and then you know we know with Connor (Lade) we wanted to hold him back a little bit to deal with (Jack) Harrison. We know he just likes to camp out, out wide, and if he gets the ball in space he's pretty dangerous so its good that we held Connor a little bit we know Alex Muyl has a fantastic work rate he could go between the right back and center back and that was a good adjustment by the coaching staff. I felt like we picked off a lot of balls in our attacking half and that led to a lot of chances for us so we know that they are a stubborn team and they want to play out of the back no matter what, so we respect the fact that they're very good at what they do but we on the day were better at what we tried to do and I think that was the difference.
On the conditions on the pitch:
Honestly we knew it was going to be hot and it was. It wasn't fun to be out there but its just a matter of will power you know it's a matter of blocking out the heat, blocking out the fatigue, making sure you prepare for the game the right way, drinking a lot of fluids and then going out there and just knowing that on the day we are going to be the fitter team and were going to be the team that runs more and at the end I think that's, that the difference in mentalities you know they wanted to sit off of us a little bit and they let us have the ball.
On if the high press frustrated NYC FC:
Yeah I'm mean obviously once we get a couple goals we know that the mentality from us has to be to stay strong in the back and not concede any but you know the mentality from them has to be you know they have got to come out a little bit more, they have got to attack us a little bit more and maybe there is a little bit of frustration that gets built in for them because obviously its hot and they get tired quickly and its something that you know we just want to make sure that every time we step on the field we don't come up with excuses.
New York Red Bulls Midfielder Sacha Kljestan
On the Red Bulls' fifth derby win:
Yeah, obviously the game meant a lot to us in many different ways. We lost the last one, so we wanted to, you know, make sure we won the season series while also moving ourselves up in the standings. That was the most important thing for me in the end. So now - look, we have to know that NYC is still ahead of us and we've got a lot of work to do. They've been very good on the road this season, they've shown to be a very good team, so we have a lot of respect for them. But for us, it was all about us tonight.
On him and Bradley Wright-Phillips performing well in big games:
I don't know. It's not like I prepare any differently. I think this week though, just going into the game, I tried to make sure that my mentality was at an all-time high and that I wasn't going to let little things bother me, I wasn't going to let the ref bother me, I wasn't going to let the heat be a factor for me. And I just think back to, you know, when I played, Chivas played Galaxy, Landon Donovan always seemed to show up for those games, he always seemed to score, assist, or make a difference and for the most part Galaxy kicked our butts while I was there and a big factor was Landon Donovan. So in this series I think Brad and I have just played a high level, we've been up for every game, we haven't had very many bad games and our mentality has just been good.
On Bradley's first goal:
Well I think the best part of that play is my first touch because typically I look to play the ball to Brad every time, but both of them almost shifted towards Brad as I took my first touch and I was able to create some space for myself. So in order to calm myself down and create some space, and then they started to come back to me and Brad was wide open, I think he did a really good job with running the line and not being offside.
New York City FC head coach Patrick Vieira
In the second half, it looked like your team lost it with a number of yellow cards. Did you think the emotions got to your team too much as the game went on?
I think there's two ways of seeing it. Yes, it can be the emotion. It can be the comment from Jesse during the week that influenced the referee. And I think everybody has to analyze the situation.
I think, when you put in a question mark on the referee's credibility before it begins, that can have an impact, and I think you will agree it had an impact on the referee's performance today. And I feel sorry because we came here to play a good game and to play a Derby game, and Derby game sometimes, yes, the tackle is late, but I don't think the referee -- the referee, I believe, got influenced by the comment during the week.
Patrick, Bradley Wright-Phillips, in these two years of this rivalry, has had a lot of success. What's made it so tough for you guys to deal with Bradley Wright-Phillips and also Sacha today.
I think we didn't defend well as a team. I think, as a team, we give them too much space. I believe, as a block, the way we planned to defend, we didn't respect it.
It was really too easy for them to penetrate centrally, and Andoni was sometimes exposed against two players. I believe that from the front players, we didn't work hard enough to make it more difficult for them.
Question inaudible
Bradley is a good player, and I think like any other players in the league, when you give them space, he can express his talent. And we knew how good he is, and he confirmed the quality that he has.
What do you think the Red Bulls did differently today in this game compared to the previous match in terms of controlling the match and getting your side kind of pinned back in your own half?
Influencing the referee during the week, I think that has a message part of the game. Certainly, they wanted it, I think, more than us. I think we didn't show enough to take back something at home. I think, when we had the ball, I was quite happy with the way that we played, but I'm really unhappy with the way that we work as a team without the ball, and I think this is how we let ourselves down and we make it a little bit more easy for them.
July 3rd [last meeting] your team handled the press very well. What was different about how they were pressing this game that made it a little more difficult for you?
I think the comment from Jesse during the week had a massive impact on the referees, and of course, that had an impact of the way we play them. But when you take in doubt the credibility of the referee, it happened that the referee sometimes making the wrong decision. I think today he make more decision in favor of the Red Bulls because the manager had been crying all the week. In the end, he gets what he wanted to.
On the other side, we knew about the way they were pressing, and I believe that even under the press, we managed to get the ball from the back the way we wanted to. Of course, at 3-1 with Tommy's chances, if he go to the back of the net, 3-2, that could be a completely different game.
Patrick, Jesse's talked about the refs a lot this year, not favoring his side. Do you think that has influenced other matches as well this year, or do you think in particular this one alone really influenced it?
I think you watched the game the same way I watch it. I think we all have to make our own opinion. I think it didn't just happen like that. This is a plan. This is a way, I think, he wanted to go for, and he get fined for it. So that means he did some things wrong. You wanted to accept it or not, but that had an impact on the referee's decision, as simple as that.
Patrick, there always seems to be some kind of tension or animosity between you and Jesse since the beginning of the year with this rivalry. Is there anything that that stems from?
No, not at all. I think we are completely different as a person and as a character because he is acting one way, I'm acting a different way. But I think this is part of the Derby. He wants to win, I want to win, and sometimes there's tension. I think there is two different clubs acting in a different way, and this is a part of the Derby.
But, of course, I think you can see that, after his comment, as a football club, we decided not to respond because that isn't the way we want to do things. We have the full respect of the referee. We do understand that sometimes decision is really difficult to make from the referee. One day he's for us. One day he's against us. We understand it, and we respect it, and some people don't, and they prefer to cry openly, and it's good because it went for them this time.
When you talk about the impact that it had on the game, could you be more specific? Was it the penalty kick?
No, the penalty kick, it was a penalty kick. I saw that, and it was clear. You have to look at it. You watched the game, and I think you look at the first three or four offside that we had, there was no way that was offside. We wanted to know. Look at the way the referee make a decision on the field. You have the opinion, and some of you may think that I'm wrong, and I fully accept that, and this is my perception, the way I seen it.
And then after that is the fact, and the fact is that the referee has been influenced by the comment and put the credibility of the referee on the line, and this is really poor for the game.
But that's not the referee. That's the assistant referee you're talking about for the offside.
No, but you're talking about the offside, but the referee, they all have the same rules. They all read the papers like everybody else. So we're talking about the linesman, talking about the fourth -- the referee, we're talking about the referee, we're talking about all of them. You get influenced by what you read and what you hear.
I don't think it's appropriate to come out in the week that there's a Derby, and there's a reason why he came out.
Patrick, you came into -- this team came into the Derby in first place facing a team that needed the result. Do you see -- and this has happened before in your career, where you've probably had rivalry games against a team that's desperate, such as the Red Bulls. Was there a way you could, in hindsight, maybe protect your team from the possible extra influences from the opposition like this, from something like making the team aware the referee could be influenced by the coach?
You know, the only things you can control is our performance. That's the only thing. The referee's decision, you can't control it. We have to control our own performance, and I will do my own auto critic about the way we played. Yes, I maybe a little bit exposed the team. I would have to reflect on the team performance.
But the only thing I can control is our team and our players' performance. The referee is making a decision, and the referee making a decision with what's going on in the week.
New York City FC Midfielder Frank Lampard
On Jesse Marsch's pregame comments on last game's refereeing:
Um, maybe. I mean, it's the oldest trick in the book to complain pregame about the decisions. I don't know what he was talking about, but in the last game we played there were some bad tackles on David [Villa] and [Andrea] Pirlo - but I think it was probably tactical for him to speak like that. And no need, we kept quiet, we wanted to come here and play. Sometimes you have to hold your dignity and hold your tongue; you get beat, you get beat.
On NYCFC's improvement since last year:
Yeah yeah, no no, I think I'm levelheaded about it. I think we all are here. As I said, this is a difficult league to go on and win game after game. You know, tough place to go on and play away from home today in this heat. We didn't play our best, and we lose the game. But it's certainly, when you look at the standings and see we're top, the difference from last year when we were struggling all year really, you can take confidence in that. As I've said, we can't dwell on this in the negative way. We have to be positive. Personally I'm positive and I think we all are.
On NYCFC's performance:
Below par. I think we were off the mark slightly, we didn't defend well enough as a group, I think, from front to back, which meant we were chasing a bit too much and then when we had the ball we weren't as effective as we have been in recent weeks. Simple as that.
New York City FC midfielder Tommy McNamara
On if he believes that Jesse Marsch's comments about the referees had an effect on the game:
I did hear what Jesse Marsch said; I don't know what was going through the referee's mind.
On his goal:
We did a good job on that specifically to deal with the pressure and get the ball up the left hand side with RJ. He did a good job laying the ball off to me and I just took a touch or two and figured why not, let's just go for it and I hit it well and it went in.
On his confidence trying the same shot later in the game:
I don't think I really lacked the confidence in general.
On if he noticed a disconnect from the midfield to him:
I think the Red Bulls did a good job committing a lot of bodies to the ball side and making it very difficult to get out and I think we didn't do a good enough job getting the ball out of those spots and when we did, maybe the balls weren't hit as they should have been. They were short, long, maybe putting the player in not as advantageous of a position and they would like to be. I think that we didn't do well with that in the game.
On if the Red Bulls physicality and competitiveness overwhelmed New York City FC:
I don't think they overwhelmed us, that's their style and they committed to it. They're one of the best in the league at that, and you have to match that on the field with their desire and competitiveness. I think today we fell a bit short in comparison.
