The Red Bulls, mired in a three-game winless skid and yet another summer swoon, are preparing for tomorrow’s tilt against visiting DC (8 p.m., NBCS). Head coach Mike Petke and Designated Player Tim Cahill talk about the task facing archrival United, the importance of taking the full three points in Saturday’s derby game, and the former’s surprising practice field altercation with captain Thierry Henry.
Petke and Henry had to be seperated yesterday in training, with the latter returning to practice today.
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH MIKE PETKE
On Brandon Barklage:
Brandon had a little bit of an interesting feeling in his hip from the way he turned and kicked yesterday. I’m pretty positive he’ll be fine to play, but it was stupid to have him go through the things we’re doing, but it was important to have him out here to watch tactically what we’re trying to do. So, I believe he’s going to see the doctor and get some treatment and we’ll make a determination tomorrow.
On David Carney:
Well if Brandon doesn’t play it will force me to make some adjustments. In a perfect world – no I think Carney is ready to play. What I’ve seen all week, he’s a very intelligent soccer player, he has a good touch, he’s willing to play forward, his positioning is very good. I think that one more week acclimated with the team would be phenomenal for him, but I think he’s more than ready to step in and play tomorrow. Yeah, he’s got a very good left foot, very accurate not only with his crosses but his playing out of the back, whether it’s from the left side or he played a little bit of center back in some drills we had to do this week. He’s very precise with his passing and a very confident player.
On reported incident with Thierry Henry at Thursday’s practice:
What happened with me and Henry? Listen, Thierry Henry is one of the most passionate and fiery people I’ve ever been associated with. And unless you guys have been under a rock for the last 13 years, I’m pretty passionate and lose my head a lot too. Very normal stuff, there’s really nothing to report. Nothing to report. It happens all over the world. As you saw, Thierry and I talking fine today, we had a great conversation after practice yesterday, both on the same page, both ready to roll.
On Saturday’s match against D.C. United:
Yeah, very dangerous team. Extremely dangerous team. A team that’s going to be motivated, a team that’s going to want to prove something, a team that’s going to want to stake their claim playing in the [U.S.] Open Cup final that D.C. finds itself in, and players I’m sure that are staking a claim that they want to be a part of that team next year and have a contract and play. It’s a very dangerous team; I’ve been on those teams before. It takes a certain mindset to know that perhaps the playoffs are out of hand but there’s a lot more to play for personally. I’ve always been that guy, I’ve played with many people who are that type of person, I’ve always played with people who aren’t that type of person, and I look at their roster, I look at their recent play and I think they have all the guys that are on board with that so it’s a dangerous team.
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER TIM CAHILL
On D.C. United:
I think the transformation of D.C. has been different for them because they’re using more young lads, more intensity in their game and upping the pace. Tomorrow is going to be a tough battle because, for us, we need to change our intensity and take the game to them at home, the crowd’s going to be buzzing. A lot of boys have got a lot to prove because we sit in a great position in the table and everyone wants to play and now all the places up for competition and a few boys going to international duty, so you want to put in as good performance as you can, individually and collectively.
On the importance of getting the three points:
Yeah, it seems every week the three points are massive. It’s amazing this league that three points can take you to the top of the table or can take you fifth or sixth outside the playoffs. So, yeah every week it’s been that way for the last four months, which is crazy. So, this is why you play football, you try and handle the pressure as best you can and you know, last week was poor because we conceded three goals, but scored two, normally that’s enough to win a game. It’s up to us now to just basically take the game to them. The boys are going to be up for it and we’re really going to make sure that we give them a hard time because the points are so valuable to both teams.
On the parity of the league:
I think it’s fantastic the way it’s gone. Either way, the league is what it is and you have to put the same amount of effort. It just seems now that it’s all even-keel. You know, so many teams now, we’ve got eight games [remaining]. You have to really look six of them eight if you want to win this league and at the same time, if you want to stay in the playoffs, you have to win a minimum of five. I feel I’ve adjusted fine and the comparisons, there’s not much to it, except that now the points are worth more than anything. I like that feel because we’re playing for something every week and if we really want to finish first then that’s a big enough incentive in itself.
