Sporting Kansas City will look to write another glorious chapter in club history on Wednesday when the New York Red Bulls visit Children’s Mercy Park for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, slated for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
In our 21-day Countdown to Cup, SportingKC.com is highlighting the most relevant storylines, historical narratives and statistical trends surrounding the Open Cup Final, U.S. Soccer’s National Championship.
With little more than 48 hours until the 2017 U.S. Open Cup Final kicks off at Children's Mercy Park, Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes and New York Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch participated in a conference call with national media on Monday afternoon. Below are the most compelling excerpts from both coaches as they prepare their respective teams for Wednesday night.
Marsch on taking the U.S. Open Cup seriously…
"When I first came to Red Bulls, I was aware of the fact that this organization and many of the manager that had coached here didn’t take (the Open Cup) seriously. When you’ve won this tournament as a player or a coach, you understand the value it has and you appreciate what it means. When I came here, this was going to be something that we emphasized. We’ve played a lot of good lineups in my three years here in the Open Cup tournament, and this year we managed to survive four tough games and put ourselves into a final."
Vermes on Tim Melia’s origins with Sporting KC and his improvement as a goalkeeper…
"In 2014 we suffered a bunch of injuries to all of our goalkeepers. So we needed to bring in the League Pool goalkeeper, who was Tim at the time. He wound up staying with us for a two-week period. During that time, you could see he had some really good qualities as a goalkeeper — very powerful, good on his line and a good shot stopper.
"As the 2014 season wore on, he was with D.C. United in the playoffs. When they got knocked out, we had Tim fly to Oklahoma City to train with Jimmy Nielsen. He was supposed to train there for five days, and two and a half days in, Jimmy calls me and he says, “Listen, there’s no doubt this guy can play. I think you should sign him.
"Obviously Jimmy’s evaluation was fantastic. The one thing I love about Tim is that when he got his first opportunity (in 2015), he took it and he never looked back. Then 2016 was a growth year for him, and now he knows he’s the guy. He’s really taken on to understand that he’s the No. 1, and our guys have an amazing amount of confidence in him."
Marsch on the status of New York Red Bulls winger Daniel Royer, who suffered a knee injury in early August and hasn’t played since then…
"When we lost Danny, it was unfortunate because he was playing quite well. He was coming off being (MLS) Player of the Month and scoring a lot of goals. And then when he was injured, we created a timeframe that we thought would line up with the Open Cup Final. He’s in full training and we’ll have to make a decision. I don’t think he’s ready to start, but he’s in consideration for the 18.
"We just have to evaluate how he feels physically and then look at our international restrictions — you’re only allowed five (international players) in this tournament. The only way we can put Danny on the roster is if we feel he’s 100 percent and ready to go, and I think he’s close. That’ll be a decision that gets made in the next day."
Vermes on his decision to field strong lineups throughout the Open Cup competition…
"We’ve only played MLS teams, so we knew that the matches were going to be very tough. We needed to be prepared for them. Everybody goes into this competition with everything they have. The games are very difficult, and I also think our players need to be able to get to a place where they can play three games in a week. Your main guys need to be able to play on a regular basis."
Marsch on his decision to field strong lineups throughout the Open Cup competition…
"In this age, you see more teams playing their regular lineups. Every MLS team we played (this season) played their regular MLS lineup. It made for some really difficult games and some really good games. But teams understand that this is a real trophy. This isn’t a throw-out tournament. It’s helped us solidify what we’re doing this season, and our success in the Open Cup has given our team confidence and belief that they can win in big games."
Vermes on the challenge of playing the New York Red Bulls…
"They have great energy and are very courageous to get forward. They have very technical guys who are great in combination play. It’s easy to see when you watch their games, you know what’s coming and it’s very hard to stop. They also have some very hungry players in their team, and they play at a very high tempo. It’ll be a very good game, and we have upmost respect for what they’ve done and how they play. We know it’s going to be a battle."
