Last night’s 1-0 over Orlando City wasn’t a statement victory, nor did it come easy for New York Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz and his players, but one that reinforced the notion that they are a good side, one to be reckoned with as the season progresses.
The gaffer shared his views shortly after the final whistle regarding multiple goal matches and not losing many matches:
“We analyzed the Miami game, especially the second half. In the first half, Miami was also very well. Then, after Miami, we had a good game against New England. Very good fighting against D.C. United, but it was not a good performance in the derby game in New York City. But now in this week, great, especially today, I think we were dominant in our ball position, and we found a lot of good moments in our buildup to come in the red zone, to come between the lines. The only thing is that we can make more deep runs in the first half and create more situations. But the first half was very dominant, and the second half was a great fight, great spirit from the whole team with the supporters here in our stadium. This is important for us, and we have a clean sheet, the first game with Aidan O’Connor this season. Great fight. Two injuries in our back four with Noah and JMI, but we will check them in the next few days. But yes, I’m very proud of the team. I’m very proud of the supporters here because it was a very good week for all of us.”
One key thing that the supporters and pundits noticed is that despite being relatively young, they have matured in key situations. Something that was missing last season:
“Yeah, what I said, we had some problems in the beginning, especially with behavior in half space, but they also have a lot of quality and a lot of good individual players with the ball. But I am proud that we have this fighting spirit, this mentality, and then a clean sheet for Carlos. This is also very important for us; that we can win with one free-kick situation, and this is good to see that. And to have this feeling, to create these moments, yeah, I’m very satisfied today.”
Finally, center-back Aiden O’Connor debuted with the first team. He came in at the 75th minute and was instrumental in shutting down Orlando City, as they pressed for the equalizer. The coach had some praise for his performance:
“Yeah, it was very simple, the decision, because it’s the only center back on the bench, and because Andrés was also out for today, this game. And yeah, he made big steps in his individual development since the first day when he was with us in our training session, and it was good to see. Then I think it was 20 minutes — 25, 20, 15 minutes, and he did it very well. The first couple of minutes when we played the back four as a right center back, and then later we changed to the three center backs, and he played very well.”
The Red Bulls have had a great week. Six points in two matches after the stinging 2-1 defeat to New York City FC. But now the focus will be on the New England Revolution, a team eager to get back in the swing of things in front of their home supporters. While the praise from the coach is well deserved, the team’s growing confidence is the major difference and the reason they are near the top spot of the Eastern Conference.