A conversation with NYRB’s Jeremy Hall

Posted Mar 26, 2010 by Nick Murray

Updated Mar 26, 2010 at 01:47 PM

One of the biggest stories of the new Major League Soccer season has been the opening of Red Bull Arena, the New York Red Bulls new home. Considered the new gold standard for soccer-specific stadia in the U.S., it opened officially last Saturday when the Red Bulls defeated Brazilian power Santos 3-1.

On Saturday night, the stadium sees its first regular season action as the Red Bulls host the Chicago Fire. Ahead of that, the Rowdies Report took a moment to chat with former Hillsborough County United standout and current Red Bulls player Jeremy Hall about the new arena and the new season.

Rowdies Report: What was last Saturday like, the official opening and getting a chance to play in your new stadium for the first time.

Jeremy Hall: The game against Santos was unbelievable. We knew they were doing a lot of advertising, a lot of marketing for the game coming up to that game, and we knew it was going to be sold out. Playing team like Santos that has been a very, very dominant team in Brazil was a good opponent for us, and to get the result we got in front of a sold-out, 25,000 fans was unbelievable feeling.

RR: You talk about the advertising, what was it like to be part of the big central advert as far as advertising the new arena?

Hall: It was awesome. We had a lot of posters out, a lot of billboards out all over New Jersey and in the city, and it was pretty cool walking around and seeing that, and then to do the commercial for the team was pretty cool and something that was fun to do and it turned out pretty cool. To see it on TV was really fun to see, it was a good experience.

RR: What’s it going to be like coming to work every week with the new arena instead of going to Giants Stadium, and having a place you guys can call your own?

Hall: It’s definitely a big change. Last year coming in as a rookie I was definitely excited, didn’t know what to expect, and I was excited playing a Giants Stadium, walking in there for the first time. A lot of great games have been played there, it’s a very historic stadium, but it wasn’t soccer-specific, the turf wasn’t really that good on the body, the fans didn’t want to come out and watch a game there because there were football lines painted on the field. We did have a good crowd, but it didn’t look like it because the stadium was so big.

Coming to Red Bull Arena every weekend and playing games is a lot better. The fans love it, it’s easy to get to so more fans are coming out. We have our own soccer stadium with our own lines painted on it and we’re playing on natural grass, we have our own locker room, so I mean the advantages are huge and it’s building a lot more buzz about our team.

RR: What was the biggest thing you learnt from your rookie season, and how have you adjusted to that preparing for your sophomore season?

Hall: Being a rookie, getting adjusted to the game for that first month or so, getting adjusted to the speed of play and physicality of the game I think was the first thing I had to adjust to, but then having gone through the season and the losses and not playing well just being mentally tough was something know I needed to work on. It was hard at times because we weren’t getting the results we wanted and we weren’t playing well so it was hard coming to practice when your minds not into it 100 percent, so I think from that season that’s what I learned the most, just stay mentally tough and every week go out and play and train hard, try and help the team out as much as possible, and then not being as hard on myself as I have in the past. If I make a mistake just brush it off and get on with the play.

RR: You guys have had an outstanding preseason (Note: the Red Bulls went undefeated), do you guys feel that’s going to bode well for the way you guys are going to be able to play this regular season and get back into playoff contention after what was a very disappointing season last year?

Hall: I definitely think so. I think Hans (Backe, New York’s new coach) and the coaching staff, Richie (Williams) and Goral (Aral) have done a great job with us. They’ve brought in some great players that fit into the system that Hans is trying to bring here. This preseason we went to Spain, we went to Florida twice. We got great results, I don’t think we gave up maybe more than five goals, we scored a bunch. When you play games like that and you get the results we did it builds confidence and we played Santos and beat them 3-1, and they scored in the 90th minute so we’re definitely confident going into (Saturday’s) game. Chicago’s going to come in and fight, they don’t want to lose points, it’s a good game, but we’re definitely confident, we feel like we’re going to get three points this weekend.

RR: I know last week against Santos was special, big opening game, but how special is it going to be Saturday night, ESPN, Chicago Fire obviously a good team for the first proper game at Red Bull Arena?

Hall: It’s going to be special and it’s going to be unbelievable. We know the fans are going to be there like last game, and to play a game on ESPN, when it’s national you definitely want to put on an even better performance because you know everyone will be watching. I know all my friends down in Florida will be watching. My family’s here, so it’s going to be special for me to know that they got to come out to the first league game, so we’re all excited about that. Everybody is getting a bunch of tickets for family and friends and we can’t wait for kickoff tomorrow.