New York Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas was not pleased at the usage of Tyler Adams and Aaron Long for the United States against Italy on Tuesday.
Adams was a substitute in last week’s 3-0 loss to England, but played the full 90 minutes for the USMNT in their 1-0 defeat to the Azzurri in Belgium.
Long, though he did not feature against England, also went the distance in the loss to Italy.
After the pair of games in Europe, the pair had to fly back across the Atlantic with the first leg of their Eastern Conference final showdown against Atlanta United to come Sunday.
And Armas now has a pair of “tired” key players ahead of that match, leaving him frustrated with how interim USMNT manager Dave Sarachan used the duo.
“Both guys are a little bit tired and a little bit sore so we got to manage that,” Armas told reporters after training Friday “It’s not ideal, not ideal the way it plays out.”
While Armas, a former USMNT national team player himself, understands how big of a deal it is to be called in to the national side, he would have hoped the coaching staff would have kept the club situations of their players in mind in that second friendly.
“When you go to the national team, you don’t pick and choose when you play. It’s an honor to get called in and you’ve got to take what you get some times,” Armas said. “However in the second game, yeah we’re hoping that you know they could be mindful of how many minutes those guys get.
“They’ll be flying and ready to go by Sunday. But of course yeah they come back and a little bit little bit beat up.”
Adams and Long are not the only players set to take part in Sunday's clash who featured during the international break.
Kemar Lawrence, Derrick Etienne, Michael Murillo, Fidel Escobar and Kaku were Red Bulls players who were in action for their national sides over the past week.
For Atlanta, Josef Martinez, Brad Guzan, Miguel Almiron and Hector Villalba were among those in action during the international break.
