NEW YORK RED BULLS
Red Bulls Coach Dennis Hamlett
On bouncing back from the Orlando match:
We felt that we had an off night [against] Orlando, in terms of our pressing and our shifting and moving, so - I mean, credit to them, on the night that they did well - so tonight, I think we saw more of who we are in terms of our commitment to the pressing and doing it together. And so we had a great response after the first goal and we just continued, and we were able to create two chances, two goals from that pressing.
On shutting down Kei Kamara without Matt Miazga and Kemar Lawrence:
Yeah, I mean you know, obviously we knew about Matt [Miazga], and Ronald [Zubar] has had a difficult season, but we felt and believed that he'd be ready for this game. And so he stepped in tonight and I thought he played a great game and showed his real quality tonight in terms of just competing and being tuned in and just being a presence back there for us. And I think that helped us in terms of having Sal [Zizzo] and Conor [Lade] on the flanks, in terms of just [playing] as a group. I think Sal [was] important [and] played real[ly] well. So we felt that putting him on the field tonight, no issue. We have a system that we play and guys understand their role so when they step on the field they know what to do.
On Kemar Lawrence's absence:
It's just personal issues, he'll be back for Wednesday's game.
On coaching the Red Bulls this week:
It's about the Red Bulls, not about me; it's just about that group of guys that are in there. We have a way we play and so it's the same message just a different voice.
On Conor Lade's performance:
Yeah you know I think he played well tonight. I thought he was aggressive, he read situations, he didn't get himself stepping in, he didn't get caught out of position. He knew he didn't play particularly well last game so you know, I think he had a good week of training, and came out tonight and showed his quality.
On communicating with Jesse Marsch before and after the match:
Yeah, we spoke before - I think he's gotta be out of the locker room by 5:30 [p.m.] so I got here around 4:30 and we spoke a little bit. I went through the different scenarios with Chris [Armas] and Rafa [Gonzalez] in terms of what we could expect.
On Mike Grella's pressing:
I think that's been our system all along. Columbus is a team that likes to play out of the back, and so I think tonight you probably saw more chances that we were able to pick off of them because - you know, credit to them, they have a way of playing and they stick to it, and so they try and play and as a result our guys are in good positions to get up and get those balls.
On being able to stop Kei Kamara:
You know, look - he's a handful, he's having a great year, and so we told our guys - the back four - to just be aware, identify him when the balls are out wide because he does make good runs in the box. And then sometimes, you know, just be smart in terms of going up for challenges because if you really can't win it there's no sense in you going up, you maybe pretend you're going to go up and then kind of play a little cat and mouse and then you drop off, so I thought Ronald [Zubar] played excellent.
New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips
On stopping Kei Kamara:
He's the league's top scorer. He's obviously a dangerous player. He was in our video this week, and I think the defenders handled him well. Be aggressive with a guy like that, he's a big guy. Just don't let him get free time when he's in those areas where he's dangerous.
On team bouncing back after losses:
I think it comes down to pride. You see this season, we're not used to losing too much. It comes down to pride. Orlando came in here and battered us. We didn't want to feel like that again. It was horrible in this changing room, you guys were in here. We made sure today that we would not be conceding. We didn't' want to concede a goal. We've got good bounce back ability in this team.
On getting goals from the high press:
That's how we play. That's when we're best. If it don't work one game, we'll be sure to do that the next game. It's when we're at our best, its classic Red Bull. The second goal from me was classic Red Bull. We win the ball up high, and start attacking straight away. We got a goal from it tonight.
Red Bulls Midfielder Lloyd Sam
On stopping Kei Kamara:
I think our defense played him well. Sometimes, if it looked like he was going to win the ball, they dropped off and just got the ball off of him. Sometimes you don't need to fight him. He's very good in the air, so sometimes, let him win a couple and just get them knocked down. I think they were smart.
On players like Ronald Zubar and Sal Zizzo stepping in and getting the job done when other players are out:
It's been happening all season like that, which is good, it means we've been coached well to do those things even if you're not in the team. People know their roles, which is good to see.
On the defensive performance after the Orlando match:
Even the goal was a bit of a strange one, but that can happen. Other than that, we defended well. I'm proud of the guys back there cause after Orlando, obviously, they took a bit of criticism maybe so they bounced back well and it was good to see us not conceded in the second half.
On his goal:
Sacha did really well to see me. I think the ball popped back out to him, edge of the box, and he just put it toward the penalty spot where I was. I thought he couldn't see me, but he did really well so I give him the credit for that, and then I just put it on frame and it felt good to see it go in.
New York Red Bulls Goalkeeper Luis Robles
On staying mentally in the game:
I was doing my best to stay warm, stretching a lot. These games I don't mind at all-when there's not a lot of action-but towards the end, you know you're going to be called on a couple times, so I knew mentally that's something I needed to be prepared for and I felt that I was up to the task.
On winning the important second balls:
When we watched video this week, we knew it was going to be tough to win aerial battles with them, so if we got one guy up there and then another guy to win the second ball, that was going to help us, and the boys did a great job of that today. Not only jumping with them, so he wasn't getting a clean header, but then picking up the second balls.
On how the high press worked tonight:
I felt like today we did a great job of recognizing opportunities, and we got two good goals from it. So as we look forward to the next few games, we understand that there's going to be moments where we make the wrong call, but for the most part, if we can make the right call, the majority of the time, we'll be okay.
COLUMBUS CREW SC
Columbus Crew SC Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
On the game changing after the first goal:
I think we made a couple mistakes and we let it get to us. It was visible that we were affected by some of the mistakes we made in the first half and we need exactly they were going to press us like they did, and we had the idea to keep switching fields and moving it across and we did that really well in the first part of the game, but then when a mistake happens, we have to keep our head high and keep playing.
On dealing with mistakes:
It's through training. We have to do a good job of getting these guys confident because they are good players. For the most part, I'm happy with the fight, and the attitude. I'm happy that we kept going and kept pushing. We're a better team than we showed tonight.
On dealing with a losing streak:
This was going to be a tough game, we knew this was going to be a tough game, but we saw it as a good challenge for us, and nothing more than that. It was a challenge, we tried our best, and came up short. I think at this time in the year, games like this are only going to help us.
On the Red Bulls defense tonight:
They did a good job. Give them credit for dealing really well with the first ball, and with the second ball they're outstanding. I don't know what the numbers are but they won a majority of the second balls tonight.
Columbus Crew SC Goalkeeper Steve Clark
On the match:
I thought we had the game in hand and I made a few bad passes, and I think that hurt us tonight. They have good pressure so credit them also but there were a couple bad passes tonight.
On the Red Bulls play style:
Like I said I thought we had a really nice handle on the game, and we have a very tight margin for error back there, and today I was on the wrong end of that.
On the play of defender Gaston Sauro:
It was very good. I thought we defended really really well, so overall I thought it was a good defensive effort from our back four.
On going up against New York's style of play:
It's a pretty fun chess match because we come all the way through and then they come back. They were the better team tonight so we'll continue to work and I think there's a good chance we'll turn this around and perfom.
Columbus Crew SC Defender Michael Parkhurst
On the team's performance:
I don't think [the game] changed until we gave up the goal. I thought we were able to break their press numerous times, we brought the ball to the opposite side of the field and were ready to attack, and obviously score the goal. I thought we gifted them two goals. They're a very good team so they don't need any help scoring.
On having concern about the losing streak:
Of course you want to go into the postseason with a good feeling, but we're still able to do that. There's two games left, and if we can win both of those, we'll be a confident group in the playoffs. We're still confident in what we can do out there...we're still confident we can do the things we need to do in the playoffs.
On this being a good test for the team:
Yeah, obviously they're in first place so it's playing against the best. We need to be ready for those playoff type game. Watching the game last night and then playing in this game, we knew this was going to be a playoff type-atmosphere. The physicality, the speed of the play, that's what our final two games are going to be like. We'll be prepared.​
