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Daryl Shore leaned against the wall in the tunnel below Rio Tinto Stadium explaining as best he could how Real Salt Lake has handled the seismic move made Monday afternoon when coach Jeff Cassar was fired.
"It's a business, and the message to [the players] was obviously they're upset, but they have a job to do," said Shore, the 47-year-old interim coach at RSL. "The Red Bulls aren't going to feel sorry for them and neither is anybody else in the league."
Shore already joked with former Chicago Fire colleague Denis Halmett, now the sporting director for the New York Red Bulls, saying that the only way RSL plans on counter-attacking New York's signature relentless press-first approach is by employing a defense with only two defenders that just will lump the ball into the other half.
"We know what their mentality is like and the deal for us is to go there and manage that," Shore said. "Also I would say that nobody expects us to go in and get a result. But there's going to be 18 guys on that trip that expect to get some sort of result."
RSL's now left to pick up the pieces after Monday's shocking firing of Cassar, who led the team as coach since 2014 and was part of the organization since 2007.
And Shore's not wrong: The Red Bulls won't be forgiving. They'll see an emotionally drained RSL team minus two starters to national team duty in Nick Rimando and Albert Rusnák, without its captain in Kyle Beckerman (suspension) and down as many six more players due to injury.
"We're very poor health-wise right now," Shore said. "Not going to sugarcoat it."
Striker Yura Movsisyan said he hopes the team can utilize an underdog mentality to its benefit Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena.
"We've got to do it for us," Movsisyan said. "It's time for people to wake up and it's time for people to realize that our actions have bad reactions for other people."
RSL's 0-2-1 start has all but one point — and one goal in three games — to show for it, but Shore said the message to the team this week has been that RSL hasn't been played off the pitch in any of its three outings.
"It's not like teams have come out and blown us out of the water or anything like that," Shore said. "I think more [Cassar's firing is] a rallying call to see that is about results, and unfortunately Jeff had to take the fall for it so early in the season, but it means that this club is serious about moving forward, whether we're going through a youth movement, whether we're bringing in new players. None of that really matters."
Down as many as seven potential starters will demand RSL stick to the tactical blueprint, whatever it is Shore and the remaining RSL coaches choose to implement as tweaks on the road at the Red Bulls.
Earlier in the week, Shore referenced RSL's 2-1 win at Sporting Kansas City last year with several second-string players making starts as a potential reference point for what RSL could look like this weekend.
"It's a tough week," Shore said, "but it's also a chance for us to prove to people that we're not a bad team."
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Real Salt Lake at New York Red Bulls
At Red Bull Arena, Harrison, N.J.
Kickoff • 2 p.m. MT Saturday
TV • KMYU/UniMas
Radio • 700 AM
Records • RSL 0-2-1, New York 2-1-0
Last meeting • RSL won 2-1 (June 22, 2016 at Rio Tinto Stadium)
About RSL • Goalkeeper Nick Rimando (U.S.) and midfielder Albert Rusnák (Slovakia) are gone on national team duty. … Captain Kyle Beckerman (suspension) will miss the match due to being sent off in last week's 2-1 home loss to L.A. … Justen Glad (knee) remains out indefinitely. … David Horst (knee), Joao Plata (hip), Chad Barrett (soreness) and Jordan Allen (quad) are doubtful to make the trip. … RSL fired coach Jeff Cassar on Monday, bringing an end to an 11-year coaching career at thewithclub.
About New York • Red Bulls will be without playmaker Sacha Kljestan (U.S.), who was called up for national team duty. … Defender Michael Murillo (Panama) and Derrick St. Etienne Jr. (Haiti) also were summoned for national team games. … The Red Bulls were eliminated in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal round by fellow MLS club Vancouver Whitecaps. … New York started 2017 with back-to-back wins over Atlanta United and Colorado. … The Red Bulls suffered their first loss of the year last Sunday in Seattle 3-1.