With efforts being made to keep players out of the Orlando Summer heat, kickoff times in the MLS is Back Tournament range from 9:00 a.m. ET to 10:30 p.m. While the Red Bulls have avoided any morning starts in Group E play, Thursday night’s late kickoff against Columbus Crew SC will present a unique challenge to players and staff.
Days after the group stage schedule was announced, the Red Bulls held an intra-squad scrimmage at Red Bull Arena with a 10:30 kickoff. Head Coach Chris Armas emphasized getting players familiar with the late kick, but also not disrupting their body schedule too often.
“We've had some sessions at night in the last month,” Armas told reporters on Tuesday. ”We've had a walkthrough of a 90-minute scrimmage at night to create a certain comfort. We were trying to stay on a schedule that makes sense for sleep, though too, so our normal rhythm of waking up at a certain time and going to bed at a certain time, we're trying not to just bounce back and forth preparing for an eight o'clock game to a 10:30 game and back to the eight o'clock game.”
Armas says his team is prepared for all the wrinkles a World Cup-style tournament presents, including varied kickoff times and conditions.
“We're ready for the not-so-perfect situation. To answer your question, we are preparing mentally for all that comes our way and changing the way we look at things, and then we think the things that we look at change. We're excited for it, it's a big game and can helps us advance to the next round with lots on the line here so we'll focus on the things that get us excited.”
Red Bulls midfielder Danny Royer, who played 89 minutes in the opener against Atlanta, echoed Armas’ comments and said the team will find ways to work with the extra hours on Thursday.
“When we were back in New Jersey, we had one training session as a intra-squad scrimmage at 10:30, to prepare for Columbus,” said Royer. “So that everybody knew how that will feel playing at that time. I think we still looked very sharp but obviously this is a very long day before the game. But, you know, sleep in. Get some good food and relax. We will probably have a meeting to go through all the tactics and set pieces and just spend the day in a good way, so you're ready for the night.”
Goalkeeper David Jensen said the team is prepared, and that the drop in temperature may aide the Red Bulls on the field.
“It’s a little late, but no worries at all,” said Jensen. “We can do that for sure. It’s going to be a long day of course, but as I said before, the good thing here is that temperature will drop a little bit, which is very, very good, important. So, we can maybe perform at a higher level, you know our pressing game and stuff like that. I think it will help us in the end. It’s at 10:30, but it doesn’t really matter for us.”
The Red Bulls and Columbus Crew SC kickoff at 10:30 p.m. ET on Thursday night, with coverage on FS1 and TUDN, and Red Bulls Radio. The Red Bulls will host a special Prematch Show from 7-8 p.m. ET, presented by SNHU, on the Red Bulls YouTube page.
