After training at RWJBarnabas Health Red Bulls Performance Center in Morris Township, N.J. on Thursday, Head Coach Dominik Wohlert and defender Connor Faello spoke with the media prior to New York’s MLS NEXT Pro regular season away match against New England Revolution II on Sunday.
News and Notes
• Red Bull New York (7-3-3, 25 pts.) travels to take on New England Revolution II (6-2-4, 25 pts.) at Beirne Stadium on Sunday, June 14. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET with coverage available on OneFootball and MLSNEXTPRO.com.
• New York sits in third in the Eastern Conference after suffering a 4-0 loss at Chattanooga FC on Saturday, June 6.
• This will be the club’s tenth meeting against New England. In their most recent matchup on April 12, the Red Bulls secured a 2-1 away victory.
• Red Bulls II defender Connor Faello has started four straight matches.
Red Bull New York Head Coach Dominik Wohlert
On the last game and the professional debuts of those players…
The last stretch was just, yeah, a special one for us, because first team players were off, we had a lot of academy or youth national players went with the with the teams were not available, we had the playoffs for the under 18 the one another week ago, so there was just a lot things going on, and we were missing a lot of players, and that was definitely also one of the reasons why so many players had the chance to get the first minutes with the second team, so I think that was a stretch where we really needed the bodies, actually, and normally we always want to reward performances, and I'm not saying that these guys didn't perform, but perhaps the one or other received his first game a little bit earlier than expected, and that had to do with injuries and with all the situations I mentioned already, but again, now we look forward, now we are excited that I think in the next couple of weeks we get the bodies back
On the key to getting back on track against New England…
I think the big goal has to be defending our goal in a better way, how we did the last couple of weeks, as I said, we just considered too many goals, and I think that was better in in the big stretch of the to start the season, where we were successful, but now when I look back on the results, it's just too many goals, and the goals, when I look back, they are just too easy, you know, it's not that like you concede some goals in the season where you just say it's also difficult to defend, like the opponent is that, so they come out with a clear idea, they train every day, they, they also get paid to play the game, so there has to be a moment, or there will be moments where you just stand on the sideline, or you rewatch the game, and then you say, oh, you have to give the opponents credit, but I feel like the last goals we conceded, there are too many situations where it's just too easy
On the academy pathway and young players stepping up…
Our group in general, we are so young, so we talk about Castro now, and he's like just 15, but we have a bunch of guys who are just 17, so they are not that far away from each other, so they know each other since many, many years, and there was no time for Castro to settle into that group, because they know each other. Yeah, they have already a connection, that's the nice part about our pathway, about our connection with the academy. So I feel like it was really easy for him to get into the group, and it was not a situation where you really get a call up and you come in the locker room where 20 new guys are in. I think it was directly from the first day, from the first session. It felt good. I saw him interacting and communicating with everyone... and I think that's also his character, like he's a young boy, a young man, but still I think his football mind and his level of being mature, I think that's pretty impressive.
Red Bull Defender Connor Faello
On mindset during a tough stretch…
These past few trainings we were super hard, like grown a lot of intensity, like a lot of energy. Obviously, the results these past few games haven't been good, but training has been really good, you know, just keeping the same intensity, keeping the energy high .
On his transition from the bench to being a starter…
Dom and the whole staff is really high on me. They pushed me so much to become a better player. At the beginning of the season, I'm coming off the bench, preseason, not even making the roster, so them pushing me really helped me. Also, them just trusting me, even though the game wasn't going well, still kept me in the whole game.
On replicating the win against New England from earlier this season…
We definitely need to just bring the energy right from the first minute of the game. Trainings have been really good with energy, but we need to bring that energy to the game, not just in training. It needs to be from minute one to the end of the game.
