Michael Bradley’s youthful Red Bull New York squad are up for a massive test on Saturday night when they face reigning MLS Cup champions Inter Miami.
Through six matches played, Inter Miami ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference, having collected 11 points with a plus-one goal differential.
“It’s a very good team, a very good team with a lot of very good players,” Bradley said during his pre-match press conference. “So we’re really, really looking forward to the challenge of going down there, playing in their new stadium, and testing ourselves against the defending champions.
“[I’m] really excited for the challenge of going there to try to test our football.”
Red Bulls Aware of Messi’s Ability To Change Games Instantly
Bradley is relishing the opportunity to unleash his young Red Bulls against the masterful Messi and his highly skilled band of teammates.
“Anybody who loves football and loves the game and anybody who has watched him so closely over the last 20 years, you see, for me, the best player of all time,” Bradley stated.
“You see a player with so much quality, skill, ease to just do anything that he needs to on the field. In certain moments how he can almost lull you to sleep, and he can appear at certain times, almost distant, disinterested, or almost like he’s taken a little bit of a rest. Then, all of a sudden, the switch flips, and he’s on and alive – and ready to take a play and turn it into a goal.”
Through five regular-season games, the Argentine ace has scored five goals. Bradley and his players are aware that Messi can drift into different roles throughout a match and combine with Tadeo Allende, Mateo Silvetti, Germán Berterame and Luis Suárez to devastating effect.
“The interesting thing always with Messi, and this is really in any team that he plays in, is the part of how they use him,” Bradley pondered.
“Are they going to use him as a little bit more of a false nine, where they have two wingers that now give a little bit of the reference out wide? Or are they going to use him a little bit more from the right, where then he can move inside? The dynamic of how they play tilts a little bit more that way. So those are some of the things that we watch, and we’re looking at. As I said, no matter what, we’re going to have a group that is ready when that whistle blows to understand what the game is going to be all about, really try to push things and go after the game.”
Julian Hall Steps Onto Big Stage Against MLS Champions
Red Bull New York has an in-form forward of their own in teenager Julian Hall, who has started the new campaign in spectacular fashion by netting five goals through six league matches.
“For me, he’s the best player of all-time,” Hall said of Messi. “It will never get old seeing someone like that in person, even on TV. We’re definitely going to be ready, and we’re going to go out and work.”
Young forward Tanner Rosborough was inspired by Messi’s mazing runs and remarkable ball control.
“I would say probably the person that I modeled my game after the most – obviously I don’t play exactly like him,” Rosborough said. “Messi, I just always loved the way that he was a tight dribbler and he wasn’t a big do skill moves and stuff like that. That’s just the way that I like to play as well. So I kind of model my game in that way.”
But the seventh-placed Red Bulls aren’t going to be overawed by facing Messi or the raucous atmosphere inside Miami’s recently opened Nu Stadium. They are focused on executing Bradley’s high-energy, front-footed game plan.
Nealis on Facing Messi and Inter Miami: ‘We’re All Up for It’
Veteran defender Dylan Nealis believes that if he and his teammates stick to their identity, they could play spoilers in South Beach.
speaks with the press. (Photo courtesy of Red Bull New York)
“It looks like a beautiful stadium,” Nealis said. “Hopefully, it’s a good atmosphere. I think we’re all up for it, we’re all super excited for it, but nothing new changes on our end. It’ll be the same principle, same ideas for us, whether it’s playing against whoever, and a new stadium and whatnot, but just excited to get down there this weekend and stick to our ideas and principles.
“Especially against good, good opponents and good talents, it’s going to be difficult at moments. So just that ability to grind out games, whether it’s home or away, and keeping that mentality strong.”
Saturday’s match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. If the Red Bulls can gain a positive result against the defending champions, it could go a long way in creating a confidence that could drive them toward greater things.
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