The New York Red Bulls have reinitiated their 2020 season after returning to training on Monday. After their first day of individual training sessions at Red Bulls Training Facility, Head Coach Chris Armas and Captain Sean Davis shared their observations on the first day’s events.
“The New York Red Bulls put together a really, really good protocol that when we got the green light from Governor Murphy, that we’d be ready to go. It really ran smoothly, but the point from the beginning was always going to be to set the team up, set everyone up for safety and create this environment, this safe haven,” said Armas. “We're coming up with masks on, we’re all stuck to it, but it went really, really smoothly, Day One. And that was made clear over and over again from Marc de Grandpré, the leadership of our team, the leadership of our sporting department, that no matter what we would ensure a safe environment.”
Davis enjoyed seeing his teammates and although they’re holding individual sessions in different quadrants, he enjoyed working the same drills as they did.
“No offense to the staff, but I think that, my favorite part of the day was seeing the boys again, you know, going through the session on the field. Again, we have our own quadrant, but at the same time, we're doing the same drills. We're suffering together,” said Davis. “We're working hard together. And I think, you know, that was my favorite takeaway of the day. At the same time, I think the staff, like I said, has done an excellent job. They've designed great sessions. It's very streamlined. It's one thing to the next, you’re getting touches, but you're also getting fitness work in.”
The Red Bulls Head Coach made note that this isn’t another preseason, but an opportunity to get the players back into reality.
“There's a few things in mind you know, as we prepare for the season, getting the players to think it’s not really Day One of preseason, they've been through a preseason already and then had to shut it down, and we never really shut it down altogether,” he said. “To get the guys moving again, to get them changing direction, to get them on safer fields were a big part of what we did today. Okay, offering them a safe gorgeous field to use, but then so they can see each other too, start getting guys back slowly, back into reality, back into society. It takes a toll, it affects everybody differently, but you start getting comfortable just being at home with that schedule. So now, I think one nice thing about waking up, you have something to do, real purpose, go to work, going back to work, you know, and create this mentality that we're going back to work.”
Davis believes that the most important thing for everyone right now is to remain healthy as they work on elevating their fitness levels. When the opportunity to return to games comes their way, Davis feels that the team will be inspired by all the heroics in the area.
“When I think about that [return of games], whether that's a couple weeks away, a month away, who knows, we don't know what the timeline right now. But whenever that might be, I think that all the players are really, you know, inspired by all the heroics in our area,” he said. “Our area has been hit pretty hard, but I think to see how hard people are working to take care of our communities is motivating for us.
“And when we do get on the field, we want to put in inspired performances, so I think all the guys are working really hard day to day, you know, we're working hard long before these individual sessions. You know whether that's running outside, trying to find field space in a field or a park. The guys have been very disciplined. They've been working very hard. And, you know, I think the common goal is just to work hard and be sharp and put in the best performances we possibly can when games get going because again, we want to win and we want to make our fans proud.”
