If there are two different colored leaves I will assume the green is from the generic root stock, the red from the named cultivar. That is why they want you to pull the green off.

Not totally sure what to recommend. Maybe after I see the pics?

Here is a side view I took this morning.

Zip ties! Use those to hold your cars together lol.

More seriously, they'll chaff the bark of the tree.

Use something gentle like a loosely tied cut off piece of nylon leggings to hold the tree to the stake. You can even pick a more or less natural looking color.

any advice?

The trunk is very pliable...I don't understand how that will help more branches grow though.

You can't "help" more branches grow. They will do that naturally on their own as the tree grows. All the staking will do is encourage the single stem that exists now to grow more upright, providing a reasonably erect support for what branches will form in the future.

Otherwise, it is just a matter of time and you providing proper care for the tree before new growth develops and a proper branching structure develops.

the trunk is totally straight the one branch is just very long...,longer than the trunk actually.