The New York Red Bulls are rounding into form ahead of Saturday’s matchup at Orlando City SC, having won three of their last four games.
Interim head coach Bradley Carnell addressed what’s changed and powered two straight 4-1 wins before an Eastern Conference clash at Exploria Stadium (4:30 pm ET | FOX, FOX Deportes; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada).
“I think it’s cohesion with the front group and the back group,” Carnell said. “I think it’s players doing more for each other, players staying after. Sometimes we play a shooting game after training. Yesterday there was 13, 14 guys there. It was almost like another training session. The guys [are] willing to do the extra work, the guys [are] willing to put in the extra cross or the extra shot.”
That extra commitment has helped RBNY pick up the pieces after Chris Armas was dismissed as head coach Sept 4. They’ve since been linked extensively to Austrian head coach Gerhard Struber, who currently leads Championship side Barnsley, though Carnell’s at the helm for now.
Outside back Kyle Duncan also pinpointed what’s inspired this turnaround after an uncharacteristic dry spell during July and August from the 2018 Supporters’ Shield winners.
“I think it’s just about sealing up that hole, that hole of not believing we’d go on the field and do well,” Duncan said. “I feel like we just patched that up a little bit. Not that we didn’t have that before, but it’s about building intensity and just belief that when you go on the field you have to work. This is a job and if you don’t play well then you can’t continue doing this job.”
While the Red Bulls are trending up, Orlando have an eight-game unbeaten streak of their own. The Lions made the MLS is Back Tournament final this past summer, and are one of four clubs starting to separate themselves atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Carnell didn’t get into too many specifics, though there’s clearly a healthy respect for what head coach Oscar Pareja’s building in Orlando. It won’t be easy to crack, either.
“They’ve shown they’re very aggressive also against the ball, they’re very comfortable on the ball and they have some difference-makers in their team,” Carnell said. “So we expect a good fight, a good battle and it’s a quality team. Their weapon is also transition.
“We also have to be aware of the quick footwork of some of these guys, [Mauricio] Pereyra in the middle of the park, Nani out wide. They have some interesting rotations and we’re really excited for the matchup because we feel over the last couple of games we’ve been competing and we’ve been getting into some good spots. I think Oscar Pareja’s done an excellent job there, they’re exciting to watch and it was even fun doing the scouting. So we’re excited about the game."
