New York Red Bulls are looking to focus on the small details on Saturday against San Jose Earthquakes as they look for just their second road win of 2025. Head coach Sandro Schwarz won’t be available for the club on the sidelines due to a red card but knows what his club needs to do in order to correct their recent run of form.
“We have to defend very well all together,” said Schwarz in pre-game media availability. “Especially in the small details, we need to defend very well against the strikers, against the wingers and against their wing backs with their runs.”
San Jose has been a club reborn under new head coach Bruce Arena. The legendary MLS coach has turned around the fortunes of clubs in the past, including LA Galaxy and New England Revolution. His history speaks for itself as he is the winner of three out of the first four MLS Cups. This season, the Earthquakes are in sixth place with only one loss in their last 10 games.
Most recently San Jose has taken points from LA, Portland and Dallas, scoring freely in each of those games. The club hasn’t gone scoreless since May against New England.
On the flipside, Red Bulls are still searching for consistency. Coming into June, New York had won three games in a row but faltered in Atlanta and could only manage a draw against both Toronto and Minnesota. These fixtures leave the club in seventh place in the Eastern Conference but it is their road form that is the most worrying. Six of their seven losses have come away from SI Stadium, adding pressure to the game in California.
“Red Bull football is all about intensity,” said forward Serge Ngoma. “Then control in the moments that we need control. I think that’s one of the things that we’re focused on, knowing when to be intense, when we give 100 percent and then giving 100 percent in another way.”
Red Bull will travel to San Jose to play Earthquakes on Saturday night at Avaya Stadium.
photo by Matt Kremkau