by ANTHONY J. MERCED

Familiarity was the key takeaway from Tuesday’s New York Red Bulls press conference welcoming new signings Omer Damari and Daniel Royer to MLS.

Damari and Royer come with experience from the greater Red Bull community. Both having experience with Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig in some form or another.

“I know the Red Bull system because I played a lot of games against Red Bull Salzburg when I played in Austria,” said Daniel Royer during the press conference. “The whole Red Bull family in Salzburg, Leipzig and New York, I think they try to follow the same philosophy and the same style of soccer.”

Omer Damari has a more intimate history with Red Bull having been a player for both Salzburg and Leipzig.

“I think when you play in Red Bull, you have to learn the system and how to play,” said Damari. “You have to press all the time and always press high.”

Sporting director Ali Curtis and head coach Jesse Marsch did little to shy away from their familiarity with the players as well, especially Omer Damari, who has been on the team’s radar for quite some time.

“With Omer, he comes from a club that plays very similar to the way we play,” said Ali Curtis. “Tactically, we felt for a guy you bring in on a loan, there’s a lot of value there, because you’re not having to go through the traditional process of education of how to play with Omer, relative to a player outside of the family.”

Damari’s loan process may be a sign of the more intimate synergy between the teams. However, the Red Bulls still maintain their independence despite similarities in playing style. The signing of Daniel Royer is an example of that.

“I think Danny shares a lot of those same characteristics,” said head coach Jesse Marsch when talking about how Royer integrates with the team. “I think the approach to the way he plays and to the way he thinks is the same as we are. In that sense we are excited.”