NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER CONNOR LADE

On feelings after retirement announcement...
It’s been an emotional couple days. It’s been in the works for a little while now for different reasons. It’s just my time. I think for a number of different reasons but for me, I couldn’t be more grateful to start and end my career with the Red Bulls. That was my goal going into it. I think it’s not that often guys can play for their hometown team for their whole career and that’s something I set out that’s exactly what I wanted to do. There’s nowhere else I’d want to play. There’s no other team that I want to represent than the Red Bulls. Obviously playing here, there’s very high demands both on the field, off the field and it’s taken its toll on my body. It’s tough getting out of bed some days after we put so much hard work into everything we do and the standard that we want to play with, it takes a big toll. That’s another big reason why. I want to be able to run around with my daughter and I want to be comfortable, not hobbled by injuries. It’s been a great run and you always want to go out on top. I wanted to be a part of bringing a title to this club because it deserved it so much, our fans deserve it so much, and everyone who works here puts so much hard into it that the club deserves an MLS Cup

On Sunday’s loss…
There’s a ton of emotions running through me in Philly. We’ve been there before, having a lead, and it’s a tough pill to swallow. You don’t want to go out that way. It was tough for everyone, but you know when that final whistle blew and reality set in that it was my last time with the guys, putting on that jersey, it was tough. Like you said I shared a big embrace with Luis [Robles], Ryan [Meara], Brad[ley Wright-Phillips], Chris [Armas]. I didn’t tell the team going into it. I shared with a couple of guys who I had been with since the beginning. I told Luis, Ryan and Brad how much they meant to me and it was an honor to be their teammate. They’re all incredible human beings and incredible players. It’s hard to put into word how much this club and those guys mean to me. In the locker room [on Sunday], I didn’t want to make it about me in a moment like that where everyone is trying to comprehend what happened. Ryan brought it up that he wanted to thank me. He apologized after, he was saying ‘I don’t know if you wanted it to happen there’ but I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to thank the guys all in one room again. I’m glad that he did because they mean the world to me. All the hard work that we have put in over the years, I just wanted to thank all of them, thank the club, thank the staff and having everyone in one room to do so was special, even after a tough loss. It’s been a tough but I’m looking forward to the future. I definitely have options working with the club. We’re still going to talk what that could be but really I’m just excited to not necessarily to be on the road and to watch my daughter grow up and be there for my wife. Just take a new step, go after some new challenges and I’m excited about the future.

On first thought of retirement…
I think maybe late summer. It’s hard to say when we started talking about it but you go through a lot of ups and downs through your career, you’re in and out of the lineup sometimes and we’ve got incredible depth this year. We’ve got a lot of good guys especially at outside back so it was stiff competition for me this year. At times you are in and out of the lineup and you start to think about the future. I think that’s when it dawned on me like what is my future with the club? I’m very thankful that they were open with me. [New York Red Bulls staff] had dialogue going the whole time and all that you can ask for as a player is clarity.

On best moment…
That’s a tough one. There’s so many good moments that I don’t think I could pick one. Winning Supporter Shields, scoring my first MLS goal here, bringing my daughter on the field for the first time, there are so many incredible moments that I don’t think I could pick one. I think ask when I have time to digest it all but these will be memories that I’ll remember my whole life. Being able to put on that jersey, stepping on the field for the first time, a culmination of all the hard work you put in over your youth career, collegiate career, I had zero expectations going into this. I was thrilled to be signed. I just hoped for a chance and they gave me that. They took a chance on me and that’s all I could ask for. I think there are way too many to pick from and I’m really thankful.

On future and what will be missed…
It’s hard to say where I fit in after this. We’re going to weigh all the options and see what’s available to me. I’d love to stay involved in some capacity and we’re going to iron out the details and figure out what that is. Being a guy from the academy, I have loved representing as a homegrown player. I feel like we have an incredible group of guys that come through here as homegrown players and I’ve been proud to represent that. I’d love to stay involved, helping in the academy anyway possible. I love being a part of this community. I think those are some of my favorite memories, working in the community whether it was in my town or around New Jersey/New York and being a part of that. I love to help them out too and I think there are a ton of different options. I’m not going to limit myself to one right now and we’re going to have that open dialogue of where I fit. It’s hard to say right now. I’m definitely going to miss being in the locker room with the guys. Every single day you are there, all the banter in the locker room, the practical jokes, the arguments after tournament day, coming into the locker room, there’s some happy guys and everyone’s fighting, the ups and the downs. I’m going to miss coming back from the downs. That’s where we find the most about ourselves and that’s what has made this group so special. Even in hard moments, we have each other’s backs. I’m going to miss that part and just stepping on that field on game day in Red Bull Arena. I had the chills every time I walked out on that field. I had the chills when I sat in the seats and watched those fireworks go off as the guys stepped on the field and just dreamed that one day that could be me. When it was, I hope you guys know that I never took that for granted. I loved every minute of it and I’ll enjoy the view again from the stands. I’ll be rooting this club on every step of the way.

Thank you for everything you guys to do as well. I know what you guys take a lot out of your day to do this and I appreciate every single thing that you guys do. All the coverage throughout the years, you’ve given a lot of spotlight on my career so thank you guys.



NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER AARON LONG

On challenges…
There were challenges, for sure, but nothing that is too overwhelming, nothing that footballers don’t deal with in their career. It’s something that I just roll with the punches and try to make the best out of every year.

On comparison to 2018 defense…
I don’t think there are any excuses. It’s something that whoever’s on the field. Last year, we had a lot of interchanges in personnel, especially in the back and we didn’t play together too many times. This year, there was a lot of injuries whether it was guys up front or in the midfield or in the back, I had a knee injury as well as the Gold Cup, a lot of guys left. Like I said, a lot of clubs deal with this all of time. There is no excuse but there were a couple things that probably played a factor. I think we set our sights in the beginning of the year to be the best defensive unit again. I think in all of our minds, whoever plays back there, there was no reason that we couldn’t have done that again this year. I think we fell short as a unit back there and we just have to tighten the screws for next year.


On changing team style…
When you have a certain style as a team for so many year, I think certain teams, especially in the Eastern Conference, start to get used to it and figure out ways to play against us. It’s nothing that we didn’t know. We know that when teams come to Red Bull Arena and they play against us, their percentage of long passing and dumping the ball goes up because we do press and that’s thing that we got to deal with and thing that we plan for. There’s no excuses on that end and we just got to get better.