HANOVER, N.J. — Tim Parker graduated from Hicksville High School in 2011 and St. John’s University four years later.
Little did the central defender know that when he joined the New York Red Bulls in a preseason trade with the Vancouver Whitecaps that he’d be going back to school.
Every day when Parker drives through the gates of the Red Bulls training facility, before he steps onto the pitch, he and his teammates go into what they know as the “classroom” and the lesson begins.
The subject matter depends on the day of the week, ranging from individual, team performances and situational play from the last game to the upcoming opponent’s tendencies.
Coach Chris Armas calls it “pregame and postgame” analysis, and all of it is vital. Video work isn’t unique to the Red Bulls among Major League Soccer teams. It’s the amount that perhaps sets them apart.
“At my old club, we did video, but not nearly the same as we do here,” Parker told Pro Soccer USA. “Sometimes it’s crazy. Sometimes [the media is] waiting for us for hours. We do a lot of research into teams that we play, and we look at things we do as a team as well and analyze that as well. It all goes hand in hand as to maybe why we’re doing so well this year.”
The Red Bulls enter the final two games of the regular season one point off the pace set by Atlanta United in the Supporters’ Shield race. They’ve already set a franchise record for wins and tied it for clean sheets.
Yes, on the field they are famous for pressing and counter pressing, stout defense, Kaku’s playmaking brilliance, Sean Davis’ and Tyler Adams’ work rate in on both sides of the ball in the midfield and Bradley Wright-Phillips’ record-breaking consistent strike rate. But what maybe goes unnoticed is how prepared the team is each game. And the extra work in the video room, err, classroom, is a big reason why.
“We go into games pretty prepared for what we’re going to see and in terms of what’s expected of us,” winger Alex Muyl told Pro Soccer USA. “That’s where it helps you, more than anything else, and we do a lot of it.”
Jesse Marsch was infamous for lengthy video sessions, and that attention to detail continues with Armas, who said it’s simply part of the Red Bulls’ culture.
“It’s a learning tool. It’s how to get on the same page, and oftentimes words can’t do that justice,” Armas said. “There’s so many little things that go into how we play, why we do things and what we expect around here, the video just shows it clearly.”
Sometimes Armas said it’s as minute as what they want to do on throw-ins or set pieces, on a counter-pressing moment or “the way you deliver a pass the right way.”
“The culture here for years is they get in that room — we call it the classroom — they’re there to learn, no one feels attacked,” Armas said. “It’s been a great tool for us, for the USL, and our academy kids are looking at video, too.”
Armas said he spends hours scouring video, a process some might consider tedious, but it’s the way he thinks the Red Bulls can get an edge. The responsibility is divided up among his coaching staff, with assistants Preston Burpo, CJ Brown and Bradley Carnell all involved in the process. It doesn’t stop with the first team, either. Armas said they also cut up every Red Bulls II game.
“Each of those guys will spend a lot of time scouting the opponent, and it’s alternating these days where they can each take some games,” Armas said. “As one prepares for the next opponent, the next guy is doing something in that prep or helping me with some of the postgame.”
The majority of the Red Bulls roster is either homegrown talent or players from overseas who are on their first MLS team. They know no other way than the detailed work in the classroom. For Parker and veteran central defender Aurelien Collin, exceptions to that rule, there was a steep learning curve.
“I remember after the first couple of video sessions, Jesse caught me yawning in the back because they were an hour-something long,” Parker said. “I was never used to that. I was used to maybe a 20-minute video once in a while, not three times a week probably now.”
While some players view the daily sessions, which usually now run about 45 minutes before training starts, a necessary evil, Collin is a big fan.
“I’m a protagonist and 100 percent for the video,” he said. “It’s like looking in the mirror. You see where you’ve been good and you see where you’ve been bad. When you look at the video, you see where you’ve made mistakes.”
Collin said its not dissimilar to the process with Peter Vermes at Sporting Kansas City, where he played from 2011-14, but video was used less when he was at Orlando City SC under then-coach Adrian Heath.
“Every coach has his way and every coach has his philosophy,” Collin said. “I think I’m 100 percent for the video. Looking at yourself in the mirror and trying to get better is the right way to do it, but there are coaches who don’t use it that much.”
Parker joked that the players have put the idea of shorter video sessions “in the suggestion box,” but nothing has come from that yet.
Armas said he’d like to put something in the suggestion box, as well.
“Like, just do your job. Play better, and OK, then today no video. Good news,” Armas said sarcastically. “If you leave it up to the players, no video. Let’s not even train. I know how these guys operate.”
Joking aside, Armas said they have cut down on the time in the classroom, especially late in the regular season. In fact, there was no class on Wednesday, largely because six regulars were away on international duty.
Muyl studied video at Georgetown, but said it was focused more on individual analysis than team or game-plan oriented as it is with the Red Bulls. As for the complaints from teammates, he chalks it up to internal trash talking. While he admits sitting in the classroom, especially in the summer, was a grind, if it’s a means to an end, Muyl is all for it.
“At the end of day, we all just want to win, and we do value that,” Muyl said. “If you ask anyone in here if we had to watch four hours of video a day to win the league, we’d all watch four hours of video a day. Sure, sometimes it can get a little frustrating, but when you think about the goals you have and how it can help you, we do anything to get an edge.”