New York City Football Club host Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
For this edition of 'The Away End' presented by Berkeley College & Rennert International, we spoke to Eric Friedlander, a blogger covering the Red Bulls.
Hi Eric, thanks for speaking with us. How long have you been covering the Red Bulls?
I started covering the Red Bulls in 2018 but have been following the team from around 2001 and been tweeting and getting involved in the message boards and facebook groups from around 2014-2015
What has been your highlight during that time?
When I first started covering the Red Bulls I really focused in on Red Bull II and the Academy so for me to see guys like John Tolkin and Omir Fernandez go from kids I would watch at the training facility to the first team has been really cool. In a way I had the chance to tell people about them before anyone really knew who they were.
How would you evaluate the team's 2023 season?
It has been a rough year for the Red Bulls. Between a poor start, lackluster efforts in the summer window and a poor recent run of form, morale is low. Right now they are on the outside looking in of the playoffs which is well below expectations.
What are your hopes for what remains of the campaign?
Perfect world the hope is they sneak into the playoffs and do something crazy to win it all but I’m also not a fool who would expect such a thing. So realistically I’m just hoping to be entertained and see the players show a little pride and really fight and lay it all out there as they have nothing to lose. That all being said my eyes are on the offseason already and hoping for some major changes to the roster construction strategy from a first team perspective
What do you think will be the deciding factor in Saturday's derby?
These games are almost always tight, except that one, of course. So the key is really who can get the goal first. Both teams need to win and only one goal has separated them in the last two games so getting that first could easily be the decider. Think the other one will be set pieces. Red Bulls have been pretty good on attacking set pieces and pretty poor on defending them especially when the ball recycles. That will play a big role.
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