Alfredo Morales says the New York City squad must remain calm, composed and focused as Nick Cushing’s side look to rekindle their form.
The Boys in Blue have endured a challenging few months, picking up just two points in their last seven league games, and are looking to bounce back in Saturday’s trip to Real Salt Lake.
However, Morales, who made a welcome return to the starting XI on Saturday having missed four games through injury, asserts there is no cause for panic with the team looking to build on the weekend’s draw against New England Revolution.
“It’s very important to stay calm and have composure, and push through those tough moments, and see the joy in suffering sometimes when it’s not going for us,” the midfielder reflected.
“The way we want to play demands a lot of risk and a lot of courage, especially in times like the last couple of weeks where we have faced a lot of adversity.
“We demand from ourselves that we have to win every single game. We have the talent, potential, and quality to win every single game... but it’s always like this in soccer where you have to push through those phases where you don’t get rewarded for the effort that you bring to the pitch.
“It’s just how it works, that’s just how it is, but most importantly it depends on how you respond to those situations, and I think we’re doing very good.
“We just deserve more and we know it. I think [Saturday] was a very good game – we had a lot of chances and created a lot, but we couldn’t score at the end of the day. That’s sad for us and we’re disappointed, but I’m sure it’s a good step in the right direction.
“We have to kill those games, I think we dominated the whole game – maybe at the end you can argue about that – but we created so much, and we have to score because if we score in the first half, I’m pretty sure we win two or three to zero. That's the thing.
“It’s tough especially for this young group, but I’m pretty sure we will get there.”
Echoing the sentiments, fellow midfielder Keaton Parks insists ‘the tide will turn’ for the team, if they continue to work hard, follow the gameplan and strive for continuous improvement both as individuals and as a collective.
“We all just look back and rely on our preparation,” he added, asked of how the team are staying motivated during the difficult spell.
“We put in all the work we need to day in, day out – everybody's working hard so we're all prepared for the next game, no matter if we lost the last eight or last twelve.
“It’s good to remind everybody to keep doing the same thing, keep doing the preparation. We’ll fix the small problems on the field, and eventually, the tide has to turn.
“It can’t continue like this forever. It's just about reminding everybody of the preparation.”
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