Rising kicked off another busy week on the road against rivals New Mexico United
Phoenix Rising took to the road for the first time in Prinx Tires USL Cup play, but never found its footing in a 4-0 loss on the road to New Mexico United on June 6 at RGCU Field at Isotopes Park. Following the match, Head Coach Pa-Modou Kah discussed managing busy weeks, starting five PRFC Academy players, bouncing back and more.
HEAD COACH PA-MODOU KAH
On his thoughts on the match…
“It was a nervous start, and we had to make a quick lineup change. For the first 10-15 minutes we were trying to keep our feet under ourselves, but after that we did well and until the first goal it was pretty even. We had a couple of dangerous counter opportunities and didn’t allow much. But in the second half, communication led to the second goal…
For me, personally, I’m very happy knowing we are going into a three-game week. To be able to rotate also helps, but to get these young players to play in front of a crowd like this, and in this environment, it’s great for their development.”
On young players continuing to develop…
“We understood as a coaching staff and club that there will be some growing pains. But we understood that through those growing pains they will learn and get better. I saw a lot of positives. A lot of desire and hunger to keep playing. There is the result, but the performance sometimes is what you want to see in these kinds of games, and that is what you saw.”
On having to make rotations because of a busy week…
“When you have a game on Wednesday, an important league game, you have to be smart with the rotations that you make. We have had a lot of minutes under our legs with some of our players, so it’s very important that we take care of them.”
On the difficulty of choosing matches to prioritize…
“Obviously we want to progress in the Cup. We want to win every game we play. But sometimes you have to make decisions that help your players as well. Wednesday is an important game because if you take three points you move up the league table. In the USL Cup, we play kids and make rotations so we can also see what they can do. For me, it was a smart decision today.”
