NEW YORK RED BULLS
New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch
On the season:
“I think that this group deserves the Supporters’ Shield. I think that in a lot of ways they were the best team throughout the season, they showed that I think, game in and game out. Obviously the points add up to mean that we’re there. So I’m happy for them to reach this achievement. I said on television, ‘in life you don’t always get what you deserve’, but here I think they got what they deserve. Now the key is to know that moving forward the next month, we all start from scratch. And actually what it may mean is, we have an even bigger target on our backs. We have to enjoy tonight but absolutely be ready for Monday morning, because it’s back to business.
On tonight’s match:
“They stepped on the field in the first half and really went after it. I thought on the road, to set the tone like that, and obviously to get the two-zero lead, it showed their character in a pressure packed moment. In the second half, you have to give Chicago credit because they now knew they had to push, they pushed really hard and in the end, they scored a goal and we’re holding on a little bit for dear life. But that final whistle couldn’t have come early enough, but we still did enough today to get the win.”
On the team celebrating here in Chicago after getting their first win here:
“It’s a great celebration for our club and our team with everything that’s gone on in the past 10 months. There’s been a sense on the inside that despite what everyone wanted to say about our group and our team, that there was something special happening here. We have to continue to honor it for the next month. But you know a lot of these guys wanted to prove that it wasn’t about Thierry Henry, it wasn’t about whatever was going on in the offseason. There was talent here and they believed in themselves and they believed in each other and they put it all together for a pretty complete season. So again, we start from scratch. We start from scratch come Monday.”
On the importance of getting off to a fast start in tonight’s match:
“Yes, really important. Not just by getting the goals, but by setting the tone for what the pace of the game was like. Their goalkeeper got put under quick and we were a little bit unlucky to not get another goal, not sure if that goal was offside. But yes, getting a two-zero lead on the road in a pressure packed moment like this was big. We gave ourselves a little bit of cushion, but took it away in the 80th minute but hung on. That, and coincidentally that’s about the same time I heard that Dallas made it 2-1. They were on the field starting to ask so everyone was feeling it but they hung in there and ultimately got the three points.”
New York Red Bulls Forward Bradley Wright-Phillips
On the importance of getting an early goal:
“Yes, it was very important. Not just for the result, but for the nerves. Everyone knows how big the occasion was, and we just wanted to start well. Not even get a goal, but start well. Let them know why we’re here; it worked out well.”
On his goal:
“It’s something, I don’t know if I should say, I don’t want teams to scout, but it’s something I tried to work on, just find room in the box. Two weeks in a row I’ve been lucky enough to find space and keep them coming.”
On securing the Supporters’ Shield:
“It’s very special. Because you know at the beginning of the season, even when I remember back to when I was in London in the offseason, I just heard nothing but negative press. What we’re going to do about so-called players and we managed top use that as our fuel. This isn’t everything but this is a big part of history for us. I’m proud of the boys, every one of them.”
On tying a record for goals in a consecutive seasons:
“I didn’t know that. I’m happy with that. I’ve always told my [goals] were at the end of the regular season, it might sound like a lie, but I wanted 17 goals. I wanted one in every two [games]. A one in two ratio. That’s what I aim for. I’ve kind of given that away for next season. I wanted a one in two, and that’s what I wanted. So I’m happy, I’m happy. On to the playoffs.”
On being a more complete player:
“Last season I obviously scored a bag full of goals but I wasn’t happy with my all around play. It’s something I wanted to work on. But during the offseason I wanted to bring to my game, I wanted more assists. I don’t know what I have this season but I still feel like it wasn’t enough. I want to keep adding to my game. Just be the best I can be for the Red Bulls.”
On the keys for the Red Bulls in the playoffs:
“I think it comes down to being clinical. Just eliminate any mistakes. Try not to make any mistakes. I think in our team we are always going to score. They create chances. I think if we can stay in the game, we have a good chance of winning the Cup.”
New York Red Bulls Captain and Midfielder Dax McCarty
On the significance of securing a second Supporters’ Shield in three years:
“It’s huge. It’s very significant. Obviously this one means a lot, just like the first one did. But I think this one, you know, for me, it’s special for different reasons obviously than the first one, for sure. No one expecting much from us this year. A lot of people wrote us off in the beginning. A lot of people gave us no chance to be part of the post season, now we are here. Statistically speaking, we are the best team in the league after the regular season. It’s a great feeling, and it’s part of our goal setting for the year that’s been accomplished. We have another big goal that’s we are dreaming of now. Now we can forget the regular season and go on towards the playoffs. It’s hard to put into words, but it means a lot to this group. We are like a family and it’s a just reward for the way that we’ve played the season.”
On getting a quick start to the game:
“It’s always important. Always important, especially in a place perennially you don’t play very well. We’ve never won here for a reason. Chicago always gives us a tough game. They literally never give us an easy game when we come here. Tonight was no different. It was nerve racking at the end, and the ball can go anywhere. Chicago has nothing to play for, so they have nothing to lose. They were just throwing everything at us. You just have to grind it out and make it ugly and try to get through it until the ref blows the whistle. And once he blows the whistle, it’s a tremendous feeling.”
On looking ahead to the playoffs:
“We just have to enjoy it tonight, enjoy the Shield tonight, and then move on. The playoffs is a totally different beast. A totally different animal. It’s almost like a mini season. It’s a single series you have. You have to be ready for whatever. I think I’ve learned in the playoffs just to expect the unexpected. Literally anything can happen in the playoffs. I think the team that is mentally ready for that, the teams that are mentally strong, and they teams that have each other’s back usually come out on top in the playoffs. We just have to be ready to focus on each series that we play. Trying to be better and win the series.”
On a message to the fans:
“To the fans that stuck by us when a lot of people wrote us off, thank you, this is for you. You guys deserve it. To the fans that maybe wrote us off in the beginning but now are back on the bandwagon, we welcome you back with open arms. I think it’s a testament to the vision to this club, it’s a testament to the vision of Ali Curtis and Jesse Marsch. Two guys that took a lot of heat early in the season, two guys that really put their necks out on the line when they made the decisions that they made. I think it’s tough to argue that it hasn’t paid off with the type of season they we’ve had. But the Shield means a little bit, but it doesn’t mean very much if we don’t take it to the post season and put forth a good honest effort to go win the MLS Cup. That’s our next focus and our next goal, and we just hope the fans stick by us.”
CHICAGO FIRE
Brian Bliss, Chicago Fire Interim Head Coach
Thoughts on the match
“I mean you guys saw it. You get one restart goal, and in a roundabout way a penalty kick is a restart goal, an earned penalty, not going to debate that. But of the run of play, there isn’t too much to be ashamed of. We battled; we fought, and got back in the game in the second half. We just couldn’t turn the tide. The ‘keeper made a couple of good saves down the stretch. It’s a good team, no mistake about it. The Red Bulls are a good team. That is why they are Supporters’ Shield winners. They can weather the storm and they played good soccer to keep us off the board. They were able to keep possession and ride the clock with a 2-0 lead. It is a good team we faced. My guys fought and battled and it just wasn’t enough at the end of the day.”
On if getting a goal back serves as a moral victory
“It is always a moral victory to get a goal and reenergize the troops for the last 15 or 18 minutes or whatever was left on the clock. In the end, moral victory would be getting that second goal or possibly even a third to win the game or tie it and send everyone home happy. At the end of the day, we were not able to do it.”
On bringing David Accam on off the bench
“We talked to David earlier in the week and based on what we saw and what we witnessed in the D.C. away game. We felt it was better for him to come off the bench and he came in and gave us some spark, some life, and reenergized the guys in there.”
On the youthful squad
“Sometimes youth comes with naivety at times. I think some of the players out there tonight, the Homegrown kids Doody, Shipp, and Ritter went down with an injury. Ritter looked engaged in the game for the short amount of the time in there. Kann was a little bit jittery as a young guy in there and he settled in after first, call it a mistake. There are some guys on the club that can play, no doubt, that should bode well for the future for them and our club.”
On the season overall
“When you get off to a slow start, you are chasing points right from the beginning. It is unfortunate but losing can become a habit just like winning becomes a habit. We lost a lot and it was becoming common place. We just have to change the mentality a little bit. Changes are warranted. I am sure we will make some, but I have said before I don’t think we are ten pieces away. I think it is more like three, four, or five, in order to stem the tide. We lost Shaun Maloney midway through the year. We can all debate on Maloney in terms of, “was he playing to a certain level? Was he an average?’ When you lose a player at least of his quality it puts a chink in the armor a little bit from an experience side of things. Also, injuries to the back line down the stretch. We are piece mealing a little bit. Some of the guys that stepped in and played more minutes than maybe we thought of at the start of the year showed us they can play.”
On Patrick Doody’s performance
“I thought he was very good. He battled down that side. I don’t think much was coming down his flank and causing us any problems. His contribution going forward, winning his duels, and all that stuff that goes along with playing down the flank. I thought he was spot on. I think the minutes he got early in the year in the USL, I think it was 19 or 20 matches, prepared him for this. Just like we went on the road to start my tenure when I took over, we did not hesitate to put him in those two games on the road. He did well and he did well again tonight.”
On the effort from the players
“Yes. It was pretty unfortunate that Chris Ritter got out early because we wanted to see how he could go. He hasn’t had a lot of minutes this year or as of late obviously. Unfortunate that he could not complete this game, but we saw what we were looking for. We can go back and evaluate it and use it as we go forward.”
On the next steps moving forward
“Well, obviously there is going to be the end of the season evaluation look at the not just 5 games, but the whole package of 34 games. We have to evaluate where we need the pieces. I have my opinions. I am sure Nelson has his opinion. Hopefully between the two of us there is agreement on a lot of it. When there is not an agreement that is okay to because having more than one opinion is always a good thing. That is the step. If we can obviously put some pieces together now rather than later, too get us moving in the direction and change is coming. We can start earlier rather than later is a good thing.”
David Accam, Chicago Fire Midfielder
On the team’s final performance of the season
“Of course, we wanted to give the fans something to cheer about for our last game. Today, it didn’t happen, we didn’t play well. As usual, we were terrible in the first thirteen or fourteen minutes, we conceded. But I think the team has started to take shape, and there are a few changes coming to the team, so hopefully, next season will be much, much better.”
On his own performance this season
“For me, I don’t think I had a great season. I came in injured, really tired from the AFCON and a long season in Sweden, so I didn’t really have a good preseason. That contributed a lot to my injuries, and not having a good season this year.”
Patrick Nyarko, Chicago Fire Midfielder
On the meaning of a loss to end the season
“It’s really tough for me. If not for anything, for the fans, we feel really bad for them. We feel bad for ourselves. Ending the season on a good note is a confidence-builder for the next year, especially if we got a good result against this team, knowing we can play against the best teams, and something just went wrong this year. I think it was a mentality we just couldn’t get out of for all the season. We just need to go look at ourselves and figure out what exactly went wrong. I feel like the mentality once we start losing a few games just failed us. There’s a lot of young guys in here, and we all just couldn’t get out of it. But you go back to the drawing board, that’s tough, but that’s the only thing we can do; just go back, look at ourselves, and ask ourselves if we gave everything to this club to make it successful. Then we come back next year and try to make it better.”
On his plan for the offseason
“I’m really concentrating on getting healthy, stronger this offseason. The goal for next year is to avoid any sort of injury, and be available for selection every single game. It’s been a tough couple years. I’m lucky and glad I was able to come back from this terrible injury. I feel stronger, I started feeling really fit, 90-minute fit towards the end of the year. I didn’t get into a run of games where I played full games and stuff like that, but I’m happy I got there. I’m not going to stop so I lose the fitness; I’m going to keep working in the offseason and build my strength, and keep improving the strength of my knees and whatever little injuries I have. I’ll be ready for next year, and I’ll be ready for a full year.”
On how different the offseason will be
“In all my years, I think there’s only maybe two years that I didn’t have something going on in the offseason; in those years, I played every game in the season, because I was ready and prepared and worked hard in the offseason to be able to do it. I don’t have any injuries, it’s all about building and maintaining the strength as to avoid injuries. I’m going to turn it an injury-prevention offseason for me; hopefully, we can accomplish that and be ready to go.”
On new Chicago Fire General Manager Nelson Rodriguez
“He started work this week, so none of us have us been able to talk, but we have scheduled meetings coming up. I’m interested in what he has for us, what he can ask me, what he can take away from me, because I feel like he really has a lot of positives in mind. Hopefully, this offseason is very crucial to turn this club around. This club deserves to be turned around; hopefully, they have some plans in mind.”
On what the team can do different next year
“I just feel like, first of all, everyone needs to look at themselves and ask if they gave everything. As players, there’s always questions, everyone can give that little extra to help this team win. We kept fighting, this group, we gave our all but it just wasn’t enough. Hopefully, everyone improves on every deficiency they had. The most important will be the mentality; maybe us veterans need to do a better job of guiding those young guys in terms of building a winning mentality. I take some of the blame; hopefully, I can be better. Obviously, starting preseason with them would be better for me, because I didn’t start preseason with them last year, and so it was hard to come in and be the voice. Hopefully, the leadership can get better, and all of us can help the young guys improve in that mentality.”
On the youth of the team
“They are hungry. They want to play, they want to make an impression. We didn’t show that in D.C. Brian was right to bring in, make those changes, and send a message. We gave up a couple bad goals today, but overall, I think the effort was great. We pinned the best team in the league in their own half for the longest time; we were just unlucky to not get the result. It’s a good start; you get these young guys believing that they can play in this league, and it’ll be great for them to gain that experience and come in next year and be ready to compete and actually play.”
