New York Red Bulls midfielder Tyler Adams clears the ball away from New York City FC striker David Villa in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Fourth Round match between the sides at Red Bull Arena on Thursday, June 15. (Photo Credit: New York Red Bulls)
NEW YORK CITY —— They both sat in front of a back drop, each wearing the different colors of the city their club divides, fielding questions from members of the media, hyping up the biggest league match they’ll have played to date — a rivalry match sponsored by a drink they’re not yet old enough to consume.
The Hudson River Derby is coming to Red Bull Arena this Saturday, pitting New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls against each other for the second time in as many weeks, only this time in Major League Soccer play.
It’ll be the eighth meeting between the sides since NYCFC joined the league in 2015, but it’ll serve as the first of potentially three battles between two bright young stars in midfield within the war of the derby.
The similarities between the Red Bull’s Tyler Adams and NYCFC’s Yangel Herrera are numerous — both featured prominently for their sides in last month’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea, both have been revelations for their clubs as strong, steady presences in the defensive midfielder role, stepping up for names far more familiar to the average fan, and both will make their Hudson River Derby debuts in MLS play on Saturday.
Adams has a slight advantage over Herrera considering he took part in last week’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Fourth Round match, allowing him to get a taste of the intensity the rivalry has built up over the past two seasons.
“The U.S. Open Cup (match) was a brawl, to say the least,” Adams said in a Heineken Rivalry Week media day held at MLS headquarters in New York City Tuesday. “I know that every game that we play against them is going to be like that now.”
Herrera was not in the squad for the Open Cup match, which was three days after the U-20 World Cup final in which his Venezuela side fell short in a 1-0 loss to England.
The Manchester City loanee, winner of the competition’s Bronze Ball — awarded to the third best player of the tournament — did watch the match intently, however, and one of the things that stuck out most was Adams’ performance.
Having faced him in the quarter-finals of the U-20 World Cup, where Venezuela knocked out the U.S. with a 2-1 in extra-time, Herrera said he was surprised at how much better Adams was than he remembers from that meeting.
“I had the chance to play against him at the U-20 World Cup. He’s a great player,” Herrera said of Adams. “I had the chance to see him in the Open Cup match last week … and he surprised me more than the World Cup. He surprised me.”
The praise was shared both ways, though Adams admitted that Herrera knocking him out of the World Cup was the biggest thing that came to mind when his name comes up.
“He’s so calm on the ball and he could do it both ways, offensively and defensively so it helps his team in a big way,” Adams said of Herrera. “He’s a great player, so it’ll be good to go toe-to-toe with him.”
The pair received praise from their respective coaches as well, and with good merit. Both had big shoes to fill this season, each with different reasons but coming to similar results nonetheless.
For Adams, his emergence into the starting XI, where he’s been a fixture since he got his first start in 2017 against Real Salt Lake in mid-March, came as a way to fill the massive hole in midfield left by the club’s decision to trade captain and fan favorite Dax McCarty to the Chicago Fire for allocation money in January.
After starting fellow Homegrown player Sean Davis in McCarty’s usual role as the team’s defensive midfielder for the first three matches of the season, head coach Jesse Marsch elected to go with Adams in the fourth.
The final result of a scoreless draw wasn’t optimal, but the young midfielder’s performance was enough to earn him a start in all but one of the eight matches he was available for before heading to South Korea with the national team, playing the full 90 minutes in all but one.
That includes McCarty’s homecoming in April, a 2-1 win for the Red Bulls in which Adams faced one of his biggest influences since he turned pro.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Adams said of his past few months. “Dax was a great role model for me when he was here and I started training with the team when I was 16 years old. He’s done a lot to help me on and off the field and I saw his professionalism and it helped me mature through the years.”
Following a four-game hiatus due to his aforementioned international duty, Adams slotted right back in against the Boys in Blue last week. He also put in another full 90 minute shift in a 2-0 win against the Philadelphia Union on Sunday.
Solid in both appearances, Adams had perhaps his best display with the Red Bulls first team against NYCFC — recovering balls all over the pitch, stopping a number of dangerous counter-attacks and looking solid in his distribution of the ball.
Barring a drastic change from the coaching staff or a personal change of heart — Adams is skipping his high school graduation, which is the same day as the match, to play against NYCFC — Adams will make his eighth MLS start of the season on Saturday, another chance for him to shine against his club’s biggest rival.
“Getting to work with Tyler, many times you have a hard time not smiling when you watch him play (because of) the energy and the fearlessness he has in his game,” said Red Bulls assistant coach Chris Armas, filling in for Marsch as the head coach travelled to Europe during the week to take more courses towards earning his UEFA Pro License. “And the rapid growth as a soccer player, that’s been fun to watch.”
Herrera’s inclusion into the NYCFC starting line-up didn’t arrive quite in the same way as Adams, but him retaining his spot upon returning from South Korea is helped in part due to a similar reason.
Andrea Pirlo, the legendary Italian midfielder, had been a shadow of his former self at the start of his second season in the Big Apple, struggling to provide the usual output in attack which made up for the lack of effort he often showed in his defensive responsibilities.
NYCFC head coach Patrick Vieira looked to be slowly phasing out one of his club’s most hyped signings with each match, taking him off the pitch earlier and earlier until he was finally left on the bench when his side visited Ohio to take on the Columbus Crew.
In his place, Vieira elected to go with Herrera, a 19-year old loanee from Manchester City who impressed in three previous appearances as a substitute.
The match served as the Venezuelan’s coming-out party, the moment NYCFC knew it had a special talent in its squad.
Herrera equalized the match with his first career goal, winning a battle in the box before thumping his head against the ball into the goal and the head of Crew defender Jukka Raitala.
Another Look: @YangelHerrera8 scores his first career @MLS goal pic.twitter.com/mZEokzKFGR
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) April 30, 2017
Down on the floor for a few moments after the collision, Herrera would pick himself up shortly after before carrying the team to a win 12 minutes later.
The youngster would pressure the Crew’s central defenders ferosiously, a move which paid off when he beat Nicolai Naess to a bad pass and recovered possession in the box. With a simple touch, he put teammate Jack Harrison in perfect position to score his second goal and complete the NYCFC comeback in a 3-2 win at MAPFRE Stadium.
Another Look: @YangelHerrera8 takes the ball away and @Harrison_Jack11 sends it home pic.twitter.com/ncKlSfdDXS
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) April 30, 2017
Herrera would return to the starting line-up in the next match against Atlanta United, playing all 90 minutes in a 3-1 win over the first-year MLS club at Yankee Stadium.
He’d miss the next three weeks of action due to his international obligations with Venezuela, an absense which came at perhaps the worst possible time. NYCFC’s schedule tightened up massively in the time frame, the Boys in Blue playing a gruesome six matches in two and a half weeks. They’d win two, draw two, lose two.
The club was off for a pair of weeks due to an international break and Herrera would slide right back into the starting line-up as soon as MLS action returned. Playing in a Yankee Stadium converted into a pool due to a massive downpour, Herrera again shined, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over defending MLS Cup champions Seattle Sounders.
For those not keeping track, that’s three wins for NYCFC in the three matches Herrera started in midfield.
“A little,” Herrera said when asked if he was surprised to his quick adaptation to the league. “But I know I can give a bit more. With each game I play, I feel more confident as I get used to the play here in MLS.”
This weekend will be his biggest test yet, the most emotional match he’s participated in as a Boy in Blue. The same can be said for Adams, this league match having more hype surrounding it than the Open Cup tie.
The match will be televised nationally on Fox Sport 1 directly following the Confederations Cup matchup between Portugal and New Zealand, attracting the eyes of fans across the league.
Based on what they’ve shown throughout their first full seasons playing first-team football in Major League Soccer, the tandem look up for the challenge, facing each other on opposite sides of the pitch in the midst of what has quickly become one of MLS’s biggest rivalries.
“It’s really good that we’re getting opportunities like this at such a young age,” Adams said of himself, a quote which can apply to Herrera. “…The more situations I’m in like this, the better I’ll be in the future.”
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Follow Brian Fonseca on Twitter @briannnnf for updates. Email him at brianfilipefonseca@gmail.comwith questions, concerns, tips or story ideas.
