Red Bulls coach Mike Petke knew his team’s practice situation at Montclair State was untenable, but never wanted to give them any alibis. But after moving into their brand-new – and long-delayed – training facility today, he says they’ve been given everything a professional team should have, and there are no excuses left.
“Just to walk out from the locker rooms to the field and just to see it, perception-wise it makes any player feel wonderful on what they’re about to do on that field, no matter what it is,’’ said Petke. “It should really raise the level. It’s a professional environment. Everything that we feel they need to prepare every day for the weekend game we have, as far as I’m concerned, provided them in this facility.
“I go back to when I was a player and knowing things that I’d want…This is a team that I don’t believe made any excuses for anything. There’s no excuse (now) whatsoever. That has been, in my mind, part of my mantra lately. From the arena to the new practice facility to everything we try to do for these players off the field because they prepare on the field. There (are) literally no excuses anymore.’’
Any longtime Red Bull fan is familiar with the club’s proclamations of having a stadium announcement in 60-to-90 days, a wait that dragged on interminably until Red Bull Arena opened in 2010. The wait for a training facility, a home of their own, stretched out far longer. Until today, when they finally moved into their East Hanover (NJ) home.
“I made sure I was there early, so I was the first person to pass the ball on the field. It’s incredible,’’ said Petke. “I compare it to our move from Giants Stadium to Red Bull Arena, wondering if it would ever really happen. We were at Montclair State for many years, and it wasn’t suitable for the players we had. But we made do.
“It’s already lifted their spirits. Guys are already anxious to get out there and knock the ball around.’’
They’ve been practicing at Montclair State since 2007, with one grass field and access to a turf field on the other side of campus when needed. Their new facility in East Hanover (NJ) features three fields (two grass, one turf) and two buildings which include the first-team locker room, training rooms, gym and offices among other features. The improvements were too lengthy for Petke to name.
“The size of the facility, the space, they have what they’ve included in weight room, physio room, cafeteria, longue area, not even getting to the most important part, two grass fields that are the same size as Red Bull Arena. And the grass is like a putting green,’’ said Petke, who added actually training on a pitch the same dimensions as Red Bull Arena will pay huge dividends tactically.
“Having one field at Montclair and having our ground crew there 24/7 and working as hard as they could, you have one field for that many years, it’s very difficult to keep in complete shape. The size of the field at Montclair was 64 yards wide, which is tiny. To do any tactical work, it was tough to translate to have that small field, the space you’re used to in a game, not having what we’re doing 11 v 11 and we’re working on building on from the back.’’
At one point during Bruce Arena’s tenure as Red Bull coach, he had acknowledged that – without a stadium or training facility – the club simply didn’t have the “infrastructure” to be ready to handle world-class players.
Asked if he agreed with that sentiment, and if now having both structures changed that, Petke answered in the affirmative to both, and even spoke with Arena about that very topic when the latter brought his defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy to New Jersey earlier this season.
“I agree with his thought process 100%,” said Petke. “I remember him telling me with a chuckle that he was told when he was first hired there that they’d have a practice facility very shortly, and the frustration that he felt that they were at Montclair for that that long. So I completely understand what he is saying. I agree with him.
“When we signed Thierry [Henry] and Rafa [Marquez] there was an underlying thought “Oh, I wonder what their reaction’s going to be when they drive onto the campus of the college and go into a (tiny) building with a little field at the bottom.’ Now, we don’t have that issue. I’m fortunate in the timing that I’m coach now that we able to move into the facility. Bruce wanted it when he got there; he didn’t get it. So he understands the importance of a facility like this.
“It’s world-class as far as I’m concerned. It reminds me of the years I’ve been in Europe in pre-seasons and tournaments…driving out to this out of the way place and you’re coming upon these fields and this building. It reminds me very much of that. It puts the stamp on it that it’s really professional.”