HANOVER, N.J. — A season that started with competitions on three fronts now has one, common goal for the New York Red Bulls as they enter the second half of the MLS season.
The have lofty aspirations — the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup — and they’re not afraid to admit that.
“We’re not going to hide away from the fact those are our objectives,” Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said. “We think now we’ll have a lot of games where we’ll have a full roster and a full squad. And we’ll really be able to go after every game to the best of our abilities. That’s really exciting and I think this group knows that.”
Marsch has had to balance his squad early in the season, with their run to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals coinciding with the start of the MLS season, and again recently as league contests and U.S. Open Cup matches resulted in a stretch of five matches in 15 days
That concluded with a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union in the Open Cup Round of 16 Saturday at Talen Energy Stadium.
Following three needed days off, the Red Bulls returned to training refreshed and refocused on the remainder of the MLS season.
“As much as we’re out of the Open Cup right now, I think it really creates clarity in our season as to what the objectives are and where we need to go from here,” Marsch said. “I think that clarity has put the players in a position right now where the focus, concentration and energy is to get better every day and find a way to really go after the Supporters Shield this year and in the end go after MLS Cup.”
The Red Bulls (8-4-2) emerged relatively unscathed from that stretch of games, with the exception of knee injuries to midfielder Vincent Bezecourt and goalkeeper Ryan Meara.
They’ll have a full squad on Saturday and they’ll need it to face an FC Dallas side that also got knocked out of the CCL and USOC.
In league play, though, FC Dallas (8-1-5) has excelled, quietly so according to Marsch. Their lone defeat came to NYCFC at Yankee Stadium on April 29.
They come to Red Bull Arena tied on points with Sporting Kansas City atop the Western Conference and riding a seven-match unbeaten streak with four consecutive victories.
“It’s a team that loves their coach, a team that now has added more tactical sophistication, they’ve added some really good pieces, they’ve gotten younger, they’re even more explosive and any time Mauro Diaz is healthy, it’s always going to help them out,” Marsch said. “Right now, I think they’re not getting enough attention for how good their team has been at the beginning of the year.”