Michael Bradley stood before his players at halftime inside the home dressing room of Sports Illustrated Stadium and delivered a match-changing message that refocused and reenergized Red Bull New York toward a 4-2 victory over FC Cincinnati on Saturday night.
Red Bull New York had gained a 1-0 lead thanks to electrifying teenager Julian Hall’s opening goal in the 12th minute. FC Cincinnati responded quickly with an equalizer five minutes later with a sweetly struck strike from midfielder Pavel Bucha.
With the teams knotted at 1-1 at halftime, the match could have gone in either direction despite the Red Bulls owning 56 percent of possession and the home crowd willing them on.
Bradley’s Halftime Message Sets the Tone
Bradley knew that his squad was doing well through the first 45 minutes, but he recognized that they were capable of elevating their play in the second half. His team talk was simple, effective and built confidence in his players to push harder in the second half.
“We just came into halftime, and Michael basically just said, if we ramp up our level, if we ramp up our intensity, our football, our reactions, our counter press, we know we’ll win the game,” defender Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty recalled.
“I think we obviously know when we’re at our level, how good as a team we can be, and we believe in ourselves and we’re confident. So it’s just trying to stay at that level – and then obviously we pushed in the second.”
Red Bull New York Respond with Second-Half Surge
Three minutes into the second half, Red Bull New York captain Emil Forsberg grabbed back the lead with a sensationally taken free kick. Winger Cade Cowell twisted and turned through Cincinnati’s defense, resulting in an own goal that increased New York’s advantage to 3-1 in the 66th minute.
Though the visitors clawed the match back to a one-goal deficit, the Red Bulls would see out the match and forward Mohammed Sofo’s 93rd-minute goal put the finishing touches on the victory.
Bradley underlined the importance of how his team responds to pushback from the opposition.
“FC Cincinnati is a good team and they’re a physically strong team, so the part of being able to take our ideas and our football in the way that we want to play, make it count for as much as possible, put the game on our terms as often as we can over the course of 90 minutes, but still understand that it’s football, and there’s two teams and there’s going to be certain moments in the game that play out in the way that they want,” he explained.
“And are we ready to deal with that? Are we ready to really compete with them? Do we have ways that we can, even in those moments, still be the aggressor and go after things? So look, it’s a game where our good moments are really, really good, and there’ll be a few things to look at for sure, in terms of now being able to sustain it all a little bit more.”
A Challenging Stretch Begins with Messi and Inter Miami
Bradley is prepared to manage and rotate his squad with fixtures coming fast and furious, with three matches across a stretch of 12 days.
First comes a challenging away trip to face Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami at the brand new Nu Stadium on Saturday, followed by a Round 32 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup clash with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at Sports Illustrated Stadium next Wednesday and a visit to Saputo Stadium to face CF Montréal on April 18.
“We’re going to continue to push, training every day and we’re going to continue to try to improve every single guy, and look, I think we’re shown that we’re not afraid to use everybody,” Bradley stated.
“When guys train well, when guys show that they are picking up ideas and good form, and are physically at their best, then they are going to get opportunities. Obviously, you guys have heard me say this a lot, but we are also going to take games, take things one at a time, with an idea of what is to come. Obviously, that’s my responsibility, to make sure of the bigger picture of the schedule, the games, and how we manage that part. But we’re one game at a time, every game.”
It could be a defining period for the Red Bulls and Bradley is keeping his team focused on building day-to-day habits and ensuring that the squad is ready to handle the rigors of the 34-match MLS schedule while competing in the U.S. Open Cup.
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