Curtis/Marsch talk about their Red Bull plan for the future

Say hello to Jesse Marsch - a new RBNY coach. And 'Good luck', as he will undoubtedly need it. Foto: Twitter

Recap of today's media conference call that introduced Jesse Marsch as a new RBNY head coach. In brief: Ali Curtis has "a plan" and Jesse Marsch was a part of it from the very beginning, but he would not comment on talking to other guys as well. Marsch wants the team to be "explosive", but doesn't think a third DP is needed. He knows he is under the pressure (and he thrives at that), but wants "the team to win the fans over" for him.

Q: If it's not broke why fix it?
ALI CURTIS: This was not about getting rid of Mike Petke, it was about bringing in Jesse Marsch. We are moving forward with our youth development and a new philosophy, plan. We appreciate Petke's service, but already looking forward to working with Jesse.

Q: What's been the fallout from the the fan base in the last 4 hours?
ALI CURTIS: We realize that Mike has been with the club 7 years, had a good relationship with the fanbase. I don't know what's been happening in the past 4 hours, but we believe that the RB community will embrace this decision, because it's a right one.

Q: When were you contacted about the job?
JESSE MARSCH: We made contact 10 days - 2 weeks ago. After initial discussions we had a sit-down meeting with Ali and Marc de Grandpre and walked through potential scenarios. We agreed to work hard, challenge each other, use our expertise to bring the club to a new level. I already see so many similarities between the three of us that I am sure that this will be one of the most successful and functional relationships. I also understand there are certain questions from the fanbase, but my answer to that is this: innovation.

Q: When did you make the decision about firing Petke?
ALI CURTIS: When I was at MLS I had been working on a team plan for the past 7.5 years. When I got my chance to lead the team one of the things I needed to evaluate was the coaching position. Jesse was my man from the very beginning.

Q: But - according to ESPN - you also reached out to Caleb Porter, Bruce Arena and Columbus manager Gregg Berhalter. So was Marsch really your guy all along?
ALI CURTIS: There's always a process of getting a new head coach. I did not read what ESPN has written, hence I won't comment on contacting these other guys. Jesse is our guy, we're happy to have him.

Q: When you were hired - did you get marching orders to get rid of Petke from Europe?
ALI CURTIS: The decision was all mine. If you are asking about mine marching orders they were to create a RB into a world class organization.

Q: RB lose Thierry Henry, what do you think of the current stand of the roster?
JESSE MARSCH: Backbone is quite good, we have a reliable goalie with Luis Robles. We have smart center midfielders Eric Alexander and Dax McCarty. And we have Bradley Wright-Phillips, who's the best in the league. We want to continue to move with this group and bring more youth, athleticism and mobility, while also bringing new philosophy, mentality.

Q: Do you feel the pressure and can you handle it?
ALI CURTIS: We're in the pro sport business. There's pressure everywhere and I am used to having pressure, it's in my DNA. I have got pressure to perform, the pressure is on our coaches and our players. We want to be committed to excellence.
JESSE MARSCH: I have been a part of this business for a long time. It's far from a perfect world, but I am not afraid. I look forward to the challenge. I know I have to win fans over, but I want the team to win them over. We are going to have the team that plays with passion and the fans will be proud of how they play.

Q: When you spoke about the core players - you left out Tim Cahill. Was it intentional?
JESSE MARSCH: It was a mistake on my part, but I was thinking more about younger guys. Of course I want Tim Cahill. I totally appreciate what he's done and I know he could be a useful figure.

Q: You've never seen Petke coach, not even in practice. How difficult was it to let him go?
ALI CURTIS: I know what Mike has done for the team and situations like that are never easy. Mike's a good man, but I am confident that we can move forward with Jesse. He's a good man as well.

Q: Will we see a third Designated Player join the club between now and the beginning of the season?
ALI CURTIS: We have our eyes on a number of different players, but we try not to focus on categories as there are many of them for example a re-entry player. My focus is to bring players that can share our philosophy, that fit our style, that resonate with our fans. So I am focusing on that rather than on a DP.

Q: Jessie, you said that you want the team to play like the energy drink. What does that mean?
JESSE MARSCH: Jesse Marsch's team will be organized and sophisticated in how we defend and move forward. If you watch modern game of soccer, whether it's the MLS or international games you can see that it's important to incorporate players that are good on the move and arrange their strengths. I want the team to be explosive, aggressive and find ways to suffocate opponents and get to the goal as quickly as possible.

Q: Have you picked your technical staff yet?
JESSE MARSCH: It is going to take some time, but it will be a first class staff. Of course I need to evaluate the remaining members, so there's so much work to be done.

Q: Next week in Philadelphia there will be an MLS Drafts. What will you look for there?
JESSE MARSCH: We need to approach it from two ways: look for positional needs and also see who the best players are out there. We obviously need center backs, but having a rookie center back is not the way to go. Bottom line is we will be looking to upgrade.

Q: Is your commitment with the RB a multiyear one?
JESSE MARSCH: I am going to stay away from the details. My plan is not to stay here a year or two, but to put in 5-10 years.

Q: Can you talk some more about this 7.5-year plan? Was it a Red Bull plan all along or any other team plan?
ALI CURTIS: I was fortunate to work at the league and over the years I developed a philosophy that the goal is not to be successful, but to be the best. Coming here I needed to learn about the focus of the staff and what's current. Now I can work on my plan, which is the Red Bull plan.

Q: At your introduction you mentioned that you will have initial conversations with Cahill. Where do things stand?
ALI CURTIS: He's at the Asia Cup, we spoke briefly to him and his representative. We will have more conversations because he is under a contract with MLS.