After training at Red Bulls Training Facility in Whippany, New Jersey, head coach Troy Lesesne and defender John Tolkin spoke with the media prior to Game 2 of the best-of-three series in Round One of the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs against FC Cincinnati on Saturday at Red Bull Arena.
News and Notes
• The Red Bulls have won back-to-back home matches and have posted an 11-5-7 mark across all competitions at home this season.
• Midfielder Luquinhas recorded four assists last month across all competitions, which is the most by a Red Bulls player in a single month this season.
• New York have posted a 13-2-3 mark when scoring the first goal of the match this season.
• Forward Elias Manoel has recorded four goals and three assists in his last five matches across all competitions.
New York Red Bulls Head Coach Troy Lesesne
On the week break following the last match against Cincinnati…
You want to ride the momentum whenever you create it, and you don't want to have too much time in between successful performances. But I think it was necessary after a performance where we didn't get the result in Cincinnati, for us to have some time to reflect and that reflection as I mentioned earlier allowed us to see that the match was 3-0, and that was not what we wanted. Again, Cincinnati got the better of us on the day but there was a lot in the game that we want to try to execute again in the same way going into the second game in the series. I see a lot of focus in the guys. I see a lot of confidence in the guys through this week just being able to take time to look at video and take time to look at some individual responsibilities that they want to try to fine tune going into this next match.
On describing the club in one word…
That's not an easy task. Resilient comes to mind, I would say that would be number one. And it's not one word, but I think what you're seeing in this group is there's absolutely no quit. They're not going to go away quietly and that's what I expect on Saturday.
On Serge Ngoma coming back from injury…
There are not many times that I've been correct probably in these press conferences. But one thing I was correct on is that I said Serge [Ngoma] is hopefully going to make an appearance in 2023, and he was able to do that. And I'm really proud of him for staying resilient and continuing to persevere through a lot of challenges. And he was able to get some good minutes the other day. He was pretty lively in a five-to-10-minute stretch. Probably the coolest thing was seeing that his parents were there after the game and just being able to go and see Serge with them and shake their hands. And you know, that's a big moment. Regardless of the injury, it's a big moment for a 17 year old to play in his second playoff game. He had a good week of training and we want to try to keep trying to increase those minutes as much as it makes sense for both him and his role on the team.
New York Red Bulls Defender John Tolkin
On what the club needs to correct coming off of the first match of the series…
First of all, we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. So, limiting mistakes, you know, there's not much room for error, especially in a playoff game. Especially in what is an elimination game for us now. So, limiting our mistakes and then just staying strong defensively. You know, I think we've done that really well all year. Obviously, they have a lot of firepower, but regardless of the formation or who's on the field, just staying strong in the back. If you don't give up any goals you give yourself the best chance, and worst case it goes to penalties and it's a crapshoot from there, but it's better than losing in regular time.
On his thoughts on his season as a whole…
For myself, I think it's been wild. It's been like the best year of my career so far, but also the lowest at the same time. I think in the beginning of the year it was kind of a mess, you know, with everything that happened. Then we kind of climbed back to the top with Decision Day and then the playoff game against Charlotte, and just contributing more to the attack, which is what I wanted to do at the beginning of the season. That was one of my goals. So, I think this year has been successful, but we're hungry for more, this is not going to be our last game. We want to be holding a cup for everybody at the end of the year. And that's just all I'm focused on right now.