HARRISON, N.J. –The Portland Timbers won't be the only MLS champions with a target on their back this season.
The New York Red Bulls somewhat surprisingly took home their second Supporters’ Shield trophy in three years, assuring they won’t be overlooked – such as they could have easily been last season after a coaching change and loss of a handful of star players – heading into 2016.
It presents a unique challenge for head coach Jesse Marsch heading into his second year after roster turnover led to lowered expectations and an environment driven on hunger and hard work throughout 2015. Bottom line: the Red Bulls' place as a league underdog is no longer.
“We're our biggest limitation," Marsch said, after practice on Monday. "If we want to have a mentality that we had a really good year last year and we feel good about it and we want to think about that, then we could be complacent and get ourselves in trouble. Now, if we want to take the taste of success we had last year and now really turn it into true hunger to be dominant and really champions that is our other choice.
"That is the approach I am taking," Marsch continued. "And I feel like we have a group that wants more, that isn't satisfied with the success that we have and that is really hungry for more, that had a taste of it and wants to get a taste of it at a bigger level."
Marsch is relying on his incoming veterans to set the tone for the rest of the club. In particular, he named players like Ronald Zubar, Gonzalo Veron and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who saw their seasons interrupted throughout 2015, to step up as leaders both on and off the field.
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"For those three guys specifically, it will be really important that they get a good level of fitness and some reps and time with the first group," Marsch said. "We are counting on those three guys to have a major impact with the first team this year, and I thought all three of those guys had a good day today."
Marsch is also concentrating on getting his young players to understand the Red Bulls’ press – another area where he will rely on veterans to impart their knowledge.
"You need balance," Wright-Phillips said. "You can’t just have veterans and no young blood around, so I think it's a nice balance.
"With the seniors here, the kids will learn a lot as long as they want to."
The Red Bulls will depart Monday for their preseason camp in Orlando.
"We will go through a series of video sessions to get these guys up to speed tactically in the way we do things," Marsch explained. "We will have certain days in Florida where the second session for the older, established group will be very light, almost technical work, and the session for our younger group will be more about our training methods and pushing the session and making sure they get up to speed with the pure speed of play.
"We have a number of different objectives for this trip. "One of them will be getting the younger players up to speed as soon as possible."
