Jesse Marsch: "Obviously, the Alex situation puts a damper on the end of preseason."

In a video recap of the New York Red Bulls' preseason friendly against New England Revolution, it becomes clear that the knock sustained by Alex Muyl during the game was the principal talking point for RBNY.

SUB:

➡️ Derrick Etienne Jr.
⬅️ Alex Muyl

Muyl was hit with an elbow and will make an early exit.

0-1 #NYvNE

— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) February 3, 2017

In two minutes and four seconds of video, Muyl's injury is mentioned by Derrick Etienne (around the 0:48 mark, with footage of the challenge), by Chris Armas (around the 1:00 mark), and Jesse Marsch (around 1:28), whose comments hint that Muyl's condition might be a greater source of concern than was communicated by a simple Tweet during the game.

Obviously, the Alex situation puts a damper on the end of preseason.

We have no idea what the "Alex situation" is, of course. It was clearly a hard challenge that shook him up in the context of what seems to have been a scrappy game. Players quickly get riled if they feel they are being bumped around unfairly - maybe it was just a day when tempers flared over a perceived attack on a teammate.

The Red Bulls have a few days back home before heading into the second phase of preseason training with another journey west - to California and Arizona. If Muyl is on that trip and fit and ready to play for RBNY's season-opener on February 22, then the "Alex situation" is no situation at all. Hopefully, that is the case.