RBNY Training Report – Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Following Tuesday’s training at Red Bulls Training Facility in Whippany, New Jersey, head coach Chris Armas, Luis Robles and Kaku spoke with the media before their SCCL Round of 16 Leg 2 match against Club Atletico Pantoja.
Audio of the full interviews is attached, with select quotes, team news and notes below.
News and Notes
• Following a 2-0 victory at Felix Sanchez Stadium in Leg 1, the Red Bulls return to Red Bull Arena for their first home match of 2019 for Leg 2. Since Red Bull Arena was constructed in 2010, New York has an eight-match unbeaten SCCL streak at RBA (5-0-3). The Red Bulls improved to 6-2-5 in SCCL play during their three-straight tournament appearances.
• New York heads back to RBA for the first time in 2019 with a chance to close out the Round of 16 and advance to the quarterfinals. The Red Bulls either won or drew all three of their SCCL Leg 2 matches in 2018 at RBA and currently haven’t allowed a goal across all competitions at RBA in seven matches, which spans 667 minutes.
• New York captain and goalkeeper Luis Robles posted his fourth shutout in the last seven SCCL matches and his sixth overall in Leg 1 against Pantoja. Daniel Royer recorded his second SCCL goal of his career, while Kaku tallied his first career SCCL assist in Leg 1.
Chris Armas
What the plan going into the second leg of the CCL against Atlético Pantoja is?
Coming into the Champions League specifically against Pantoja, we had a lot of respect for them. Based on what we knew about them about the coaching staff, some of the key players. And after playing them, we have more respect and understanding of how they can hurt us and why they're difficult to break down. They defend with numbers, and they attack with numbers, they are hard to break down there they're fast all around the field. And they play with passion, much of what we thought. But going into this next leg will have to be very intelligent and have a good mentality again, like we did in leg one.
Was there anything from leg one that you saw that stood out to you that you might make some adjustments for?
Well, it'll be interesting to see how they go about the game. You know what was interesting is at different moments they put five guys on our back line which was tricky. Anytime we lost the ball are in transition, they have speed and numbers on our back line. So, look like you know I was like an overload with three centrally, width as well at different moments. The transition, their defense to attack transitions, is pretty impressive. And they're dangerous in all moments. So, this becomes an issue all the time so we have to be intelligent.
Luis Robles
What are you looking for from the match tomorrow with it going to be a little cold? (0:16 – 0:51)
Little bit cold? I can't imagine our friends from the Dominican would describe tomorrow as little cold. It's a big game for both of us. It’s a big game for our organization because this tournament gives us an opportunity to show our region, what we're all about.
I know last year we went on a nice run and fell a little short. So for us, we want to maintain that same level of success and push it even further this year.
Talk about were some things are different this year going into it knowing how deep you guys ran last year, and what's changed to kind of finish it out. (1:01 – 1:48)
I think one thing that works to our advantage is the amount of guys that were part of last year's team that are returning because that experience from last year, allows us to be familiar with the tournament but understanding some of the adversity and setbacks that can pop up when you're playing against teams that you're not familiar with, or that you may not have the most scouting on. And it's a challenge but these games are fun. And the guys within that locker room know that is a big opportunity for us to not only show our league, but this part of the of the world, what we're all about. Also, who wouldn't want to play in the Club World Cup, here's an opportunity for us to be the first MLS team. And that's a challenge that we willingly accept.
Kaku
How do you see the game tomorrow, will you implement any strategic changes being that you guys are up by two goals?
We’re going about it the same we have been. We have a lead and we want to continue to grow that lead by scoring goals to try and finish off the series and then think about what comes next.
What would be the significance of winning this tournament, for you as a player and also for the team?
Yes, of course we want to win it. We want to advance as far as possible, and we have to try and be our best selves, continue to play within the system and philosophy that we played with last season, which I think went well for us. But we just need to pay a little more attention to the details to not have what happened last year against Chivas.
Chris Armas(Armas_0226.mp3)
• What the plan going into the second leg of the CCL against Atlético Pantoja is? (1:02 – 1:47)
• Was there anything from leg one that you saw that stood out to you that you might make some adjustments for? (1:53 – 2:33)
• What have you seen from the team after last year’s tough loses? (2:47 – 4:05)
• How do you feel about your team core staying together when other teams are dealing with high level departures? (4:27 – 6:48)
• How it feels to have Kaku still around the team (7:01 – 8:40)
• What's the goal that you have for the team? (9:01 – 10:52)
Luis Robles(Robles_0226.mp3)
• What are you looking for from the match tomorrow with it going to be a little cold? (0:16 – 0:51)
• Talk about were some things are different this year going into it knowing how deep you guys ran last year, and what's changed to kind of finish it out. (1:01 – 1:48)
• What is your outlook that you have for the 2019 season? (2:03 – 2:41)
• What would you say you guys learn from last year where you went, almost to the end right line? (2:49 – 3:20)
• How crucial will it be to have Kaku remain with the team? (3:32 – 4:13)
Kaku (Audio in Spanish) (kaku_0226.mp3)
• How do you see the game tomorrow, will you implement any strategic changes being that you guys are up by two goals?
• What would be the significance of winning this tournament, for you as a player and also for the team?
• On the upcoming MLS season
• The benefit of having the same team from last season return.
• On dealing with the transfer rumors during the preseason and how happy he is still being with the Red Bulls.
• If this is the year for the Red Bulls finally win MLS Cup
