From RBNY:
Post-match transcriptions from New York Red Bulls Head Coach Sandro Schwarz and Defender Sean Nealis following New York Red Bulls 2-1 loss against Atlanta United
New York Red Bulls Head Coach Sandro Schwarz
On formation changes…
Yeah, because we also have to handle the load of Emil [Forsberg] after this injury. And this is also the decision that we must take to protect him, and not that he's directly able to start on turf 60-70 minutes. Then we decided to play with three center backs with wing backs more in a higher position. And I think we didn't control the game, also not in the first half, but we had a lot of situations, especially after transitions, and also then two.. three chances. But it was not like so dominant for sure, with Emil [Forsberg] on the field, and then we changed the structure in the second half, and yes, and then the red card penalty situation. But we tried every time we tried. Two unlucky moments with Elias Manoel the offside decision, but we are disappointed about the result for sure but the behavior to try every day, every time, especially at the end with 10 players, was good for me was good.
Overall thoughts on match…
Yeah, we tried everything. We tried everything. So, we had the penalty situation then, and we scored two times. And yeah, but for me, the behavior after that was good, the behavior that we are fighting together, that we have the energy, but we need this energy at the beginning, directly in the game. And the red card was, I haven't seen it on the screen. This is what I must analyze later, for sure, in these moments, and this is then important. What I said directly in the locker room, in detail, makes the difference. In these moments and some duels, the duels in our box, in our passing, and this is what we have to improve, especially for the players, because against good teams, you have to make the difference in detail.
Thoughts moving forward…
Yeah, now we have recovery days, first of all, because it was a tough week and then our preparation is then clear for Columbus, and I think what we have to improve. What I mentioned is in detail, some moments where we can make our decisions, where we can bring the game to our side in creating chances, and in defending. And this is, this is the main part for the next two weeks and for preparation for Columbus, and then this Decision Day, the last game against Columbus but after that starts the playoff. And then we have to be ready. We must be ready for all these duels. We have to be ready in our principles. It's nothing now that we have to learn some new principles or something like that. This is clear, to be honest. It's clear how we want to play and how we want also to create our behavior on the field, with our mentality, with our energy but we have to find every time, every moment, every situation this level, especially in the last game, and then also in the playoffs.
New York Red Bulls Defender Sean Nealis
On formation and style of play…
I think it's a new formation. We're trying to try out something new, and I think there were some positives in that. We didn't really give too much away, and I think we looked dangerous in transition moments. I think we had the better chances in the first half. We had two big chances. One was offsides, but I think we had some really good moments in that formation, and I think that's another tool in our arsenal to have going into playoffs.
On contributing to overall team mindset…
Just verbally in practice and before the games to kind of get the guys going, get their mindset right, and kind of give them little keys to focus and in the game, and kind of keep their mindset positive. I think there's, there's been some tough moments this year, but we've learned and then grown through them together, and I think we'll continue to do that. And even though it's a negative result today, we're feeling good going into the playoffs.
On facing Columbus….
That's what you want as a player, as a competitor, you want to go up against the best. And they're defending champs. They had a great year last year. They had some great games this year, earlier in the year, they beat us, so we want to kind of avenge that at home. And I think if we end up playing them, we're looking forward to that. They're a great team. Their coach has done a great job in the last two years, but we're confident in ourselves, and we'll be ready for the challenge when the time comes.