New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch
On the offensive struggles:
To be honest with you, I'm not sure how to explain it, right. I mean, I know that when I'm watching my team play that it's a good team and that we're, in many ways, we're executing game plans the right way, and in a lot of these games I think we come out in many ways as the better team on the day but walk away with not enough goals and giving up too many. So obviously that is a recipe for losses.
So, the one thing that I will say is that my belief in our team being a good team hasn't wavered at all. It's just a funny thing to see how things have materialized in these early parts of the season. I mean, you could almost draw a lot of little clichés and metaphors for what happened tonight as what's been happening in our season.
So we can't feel sorry for ourselves. The breaks will come eventually as long as we stick together and keep playing hard and keep playing well.
On Bradley Wright-Phillips taking PKs and overall performance:
Yeah, well, it's Sacha and Brad are our penalty takers, so it's up to them to decide whose taking penalties. I love that Sacha has said, you know what, Brad, take it. Get on the board, get yourself a goal and we're getting back in this game. Now it doesn't work out that way, and we went through this a little bit last year with Vancouver when Brad had missed a couple. But my belief in him hasn't -- doesn't change based on missing a penalty or missing some chances.
Overall, I thought he was very dangerous, a handful for their center backs, and it's incredible just that with all the good play he's had and the good positions he's put himself in that he hasn't been able to put them away yet. But they're going to come. I've said that already in the past and I'm going to continue to say it. He's going to score goals. That's the player he is. We've seen it in training every day. We've seen it both of the last two seasons, so it's only a matter of time.
On the goals conceded tonight:
Yeah, the first play is a little bit of a breakdown and we allow a couple of plays to get away from us, and then they've created a three-on-one basically. So that's partly tactical and partly not dealing with a couple of plays coming at them. Then the second one, Chris just gets a little too tight on Dwyer, and he's strong and clever and slips away, and all of a sudden he's right there at the goal.
So, hard to explain that. Hard to explain how we can create so many things and be so dangerous and they don't create much but wind up walking away with two.
On Connor Lade's play:
Yeah, I thought he played well. Thought he took care of Graham Zusi pretty well on the whole night. Got forward and got some shots off, put some crosses in, was dangerous on the day. Pretty good. Honestly there aren't many guys that I look at and say had poor performances. It's just that collectively we gave a couple away and just weren't able to now execute and put one away. But that's going to come, honestly. That's going to come. Trying to instill belief and remove anxiety from our group so that we can just go out and play with free minds and commit to who we want to be. So that's kind of where we're at.
On Chris Duvall's play:
For the most part very good. Then he just let the goal slip away from him, and that's often the difference between what it's like to play an outside back and center back. Center back you almost have to be 100% on the day with plays, so he let one slip and it cost us a goal. But overall for a guy who is filling in for us, who is trying to do the job at the best level that he can and committing to it and not afraid and competing, he's going to be hard on himself.
I saw his head down. I was trying to say to him don't worry about it. He filled in great for the team tonight. It's just unlucky that now he lets one get away.
On Connor Lade going down at the end of first half:
I thought at the time that maybe he might have been fouled, so I was just trying to assess if it should have been a penalty. I thought Brad got clipped in the first half when Lloyd got a shot off. I think that could have been a penalty.
So I thought Kansas City played the game in an honorable way and played hard, I think, yeah.
On team's performance in final third:
Certainly the goalkeeper had a great night. Made some huge saves. I mean, you have to credit Kansas City in general to come here and get a shutout against what I consider is a good team. We're a good team, and we're a good attacking team. For them to get a shutout in our place, that's a great accomplishment for them. Certainly on the day their goalkeeper was their star. So, yeah, yeah.
On going with Duvall at center back and other options:
You know, not sure is the answer. We have Amobi (Okugo) is playing in our USL game tomorrow night, so we'll get a look at him. We're hopeful that Kemar Lawrence is day-to-day, so maybe he's available for Wednesday in San Jose. So that is an option.
Zubar's day-to-day, so he's close. But we don't also want to just throw guys out there to get reinjured. And then you asked about Zach Carroll, he'll play a little bit tomorrow night, and I think he went through a little dip in format the beginning of the year, but I think he's now gotten himself going again, so we'll evaluate if that's a decision we want to make.
I'll be honest, it's not like I have all the answers right now. I mean, you guys are watching what I'm watching. There's a lot of really good things there, and I think for the most part that we've had good performances this year, and we've walked away with losses. So I've got to think hard about some of the choices, but also continue to instill belief in this team. The biggest reason being that I believe in them. I believe in what I'm looking at. I believe in our team and I know we're going to be a good team.
So it's just a matter of now getting some breaks and getting over the hump to where we want to be.
On how he is taking the slow start:
That's a good question. I tell our team that one of the things that I like about this business is not the easy times, it's the tough times, right? Because I think that the strongest people are the strongest in the toughest moments.
So whether it was as a player or now as a coach, I enjoy those moments, okay. I make sure that always I'm hard on myself, I look at myself first, but that I do everything I can to help our team be strong, have a good mentality, work hard every day, to get inches closer to success at every moment.
Right now I said it earlier, but I look at myself first, try to figure out what I need to do to help these guys be the team I know they can be.
On frustration of not scoring:
Yeah, but it's important that in our own way that there is a mentality and a togetherness and in some of these moments if you don't feel like you're getting what you should be getting from a referee or from a moment or whatever, that still obviously without getting cards, but you've got to be able to find ways of standing up for yourself.
I'm not even going to go back to New England, but in these moments without having it be frustration, but having it be in a real strong way. Make statements that say that you think that something needs to be done to correct something that you think isn't going the right way.
On Sean Davis' play:
I thought Sean did really well. It's funny, he hasn't played that much. I don't know, maybe he has ten games under his belt, but I don't even think of him as a young guy or as like a rookie-type player. I think of him as an established guy on our team that we know we can count on, and when he plays, we know what we're going to get, and that was again tonight.
So certainly for me he had a great night and Dax wasn't feeling well, so that was one of the reasons I took him off the field at the end. And I knew that even with Dax not being well or Dax not being on the field at the end, that Sean would be fine in there and he was. I thought really good performance for Sean.
New York Red Bulls Defender Connor Lade
On not being able to convert the chances into the goal:
It's hard to put your finger on. I thought we had a lot of possession. We came out and played pretty well in the first half. We felt like we had the upper hand and then it was hard to give up the goal, but we still had the belief that we were in the game. We responded well and we continued the half pushing, and we were unlucky not to get a goal. As the game went on, it could frustrate you, but we're not going to let it get to us. The goals are going to come.
On the defensive performance:
I didn't think we gave them a whole lot. They had a couple chances that I think they took advantage of, but overall, a loss is a loss. At the end of the day, even though we limited them, we lost so we just have to be better. We can be content with holding them to some chances but when they get chances, and score, we know we didn't do our job tonight. So, we can only look up from here.
On having a quick turnaround:
Quick turnarounds are always good to try to right the wrongs we did, and overall, just have a better performance. It will definitely be a big road trip with some tough places to play, but we know we can get out there and grind out results and get back on the right foot.
On the team's confidence level:
We have full confidence in [the attackers]. We know what they're capable of. We know they can be dangerous and they can click at any moment really. We put ourselves in good spots tonight. We were unlucky not to get goals, but we still have total confidence in them and everyone on this team.
New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips
On not being able to convert his chances into goals:
I remember last season missing two penalties in a game, so it's frustrating obviously as a striker when you're getting the chances you want to put them away, but again, it just wasn't the day. The keeper made some decent saves, and I'm disappointed in the penalty. The chances I am hitting the target, but the penalty, I've got to be scoring that one. It was a chance to get back in the game, and I messed up.
On if it will just take one goal to get back into a comfort zone:
I hope so. I feel like I'm having some decent movement, getting some shots off and hitting the target, and if it's not a player blocking it, it's a keeper making a decent save. Hopefully it will come. I'm getting encouragement from the boys, I think it will come and hopefully it does.
On if the team is getting fair results:
Aside from the first two games I don't think we should have gotten some of the results we have gotten. That could be a bit on me not finishing some chances, but we should have definitely gotten more out of this game today."
How to get out of a goal scoring drought:
I just try to do the same things. I try to get it on goal and hit the target, and I try not to change it up too much. I try not to find the corners more, I just try to hit the target, and go from there. When they're going in they're going in, when they're not they're not.
New York Red Bulls Defender Chris Duvall
On assessment of positives and where he sees the improvement:
Yeah, I think we did a good job today playing out of the back and building from the back. I think myself, Karl, Connor, and Sal, we all did a good job of being composed with a team that likes to press and being able to find options going forward. But, I mean defensively we gave up two goals and one of which comes directly from me and that's unacceptable so I mean in the end that's the biggest point.
On holding Dom Dwyer for the first half:
Yeah I mean, again, we gave up a goal in the first half and I think as well as we played in the first half and as many opportunities that we had, if we keep them off the scoreboard then the chances are going to keep coming. We know that we will get one, and one will fall eventually but that's kind of the way the game goes when you're pounding on a team and you give up a goal. It hurts and it kills your momentum a little bit so it's up to us to keep them off the score board and we didn't do that today.
On what happened for the second goal:
Basically they just did a long throw to Dom Dwyer and I got a little too tight with him and he let the ball bounce and he was able to spin. It was a very soft goal.
On whether the throw in surprised him:
It wasn't a surprise, it was just poor defending.
On how comfortable he was at center back today:
I was very comfortable, it was partially because I've been practicing there for the last two or three weeks and partially because of the relationship I have with the guys around me so with the staff and with the players that we have here, it wasn't a difficult transition.
Sporting Kansas City Head Coach Peter Vermes
On the play of Tim Melia:
Yeah, Tim was big time tonight. If you just look at and take the penalty kick aside, since he's come in last year he's had quite a few games like this. Tonight I think was one of the games where he put the whole entire package together. If you really look at Tim, you look at his background, he's 31 but he hasn't had a lot of years of playing as a number one.
So I think coming into this year after the season he had last year he was a much more experienced guy, although it's not a lot. It just gives him an ability to come in this year and be the number one. From the beginning of the year, he's been very good. He really has. Tonight was, I think everything kind of came together for him. I'm happy for him because he's a hard worker, he really is.
The other guy too, Ike Opara, him coming on to the field, most people don't realize he's been out two years. So this was big for him. I told him that probably over the next two weeks he's probably going to get an introduction into one of the games. He's got to be ready. He's got to be confident and feel good, all that stuff.
He went in and I thought he was a huge help for us once they started banging balls in the air. It was over. I think he's the best in the league in the air.
On shutting down Red Bulls offense:
Well, we have a lot of respect for their -- they love to go forward with numbers. In the first half probably the second 25 minutes they put six guys up on the line and we didn't deal with it very well. I thought in the second half we did a much better job.
Look, when any team is up 1 or 2-nil like we were, we're going to start taking a lot of pressure, especially when you're away from home. It's just normal. What I thought was good was on the second half the lines were very compact. It was very difficult for them to play through us in the second half, which made them have to go over us. I just think it's very difficult for forwards, especially in and around the box like they were.
Once in a while a ball would fall down maybe, but I thought we were good in most situations. Then the final piece is that when you put numbers forward like that, if you're smart, we should have scored two more goals on the counter. Don't get me wrong, they probably should have scored a goal in the first half. But we should have scored two goals in the second half on the counter because we were really getting out at them.
It was a great game for us in a lot of ways because you've got to be able to play games like that. And we needed to get into a game where the opportunity was to defend and then counter someone. A lot of teams that we play, they wind up sitting back on us all the time when we're trying to -- it's sort of like a puzzle wrapped up in a conundrum and we're trying to figure out how to break it, and tonight it was good for us because it was a different type of game. I thought we at times did really well especially in the second half.
On if he was worried about the game getting out of hand:
I don't know. I never really thought that the game was really all that physical. We've had other battles in the past that were very physical. What I actually thought that there were some calls in the game I was kind of surprised. If two men are going up for a ball, usually somebody's going to fall down, and that's just the way it goes. But it seems like anymore, two guys go up for a ball, one falls down, and it's a foul against the other guy.
I tend to look at the game a little different, a little maybe more old school. Then the stoppages sometimes are too much. They're just too much. They don't let the guys play enough. But I didn't really see anything dirty from either team.
On Ike Opara:
It hasn't been easy for him. I've got to give him a lot of credit, because imagine two years ago he played a few games and then he got the injury against Colorado. Then he plays the next year, and like you said, he's flying and he gets injured again. I actually thought that he was maybe going to really give it up.
I had a long talk with him, and he got over that piece and he's worked really hard to get back. I think it was great that he didn't come in last year. I really do. I think it was great he was able to go through a full preseason with us where he was healthy.
I told him the only thing he has to be now is be patient. It's kind of muscle memory. You've been out that long, you need to just train, train, train, train and play exhibition games whatever, whatever USL team, I was going to try to get his feet wet there as well. He's done well with it, but it's been hard for him, I will say. I can see it on him. I have to every once in a while have a bit of a moment with him and say, hey, you've got to keep fighting man. You've got to keep going. It was good.
I'm really happy for him the way he got in tonight and the way he played. That was a big step forward for him. The key for all of us, him, myself, and the way we manage the situation going forward, we've got to be very careful not to use him on a regular basis for a lot of games in a row. That's where we have to be careful. Tonight he played nearly 45 minutes because he came in the last five minutes of the first half, so that was good.
Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia
On the result:
Most important thing for me is that we came in an away game [and] got the shutout, which is always our first priority, and also to react from our result last week I think was the most important thing. Not a favorable result last week [against Real Salt Lake] and to come in here against a really difficult team to play against, who attacks with so many numbers, to keep them to zero [goals] is really important moving forward into the season.
On what the result does for the team moving forward:
It's a lot of confidence, it's a really important game, but we have another game on Wednesday. We have to get everybody rested, see who's healthy, who's not and to make sure we're ready to go again, at home, against Colorado.
On his performance:
How many saves did I make? How many blocks did our defenders make? Our midfield closed guys down. It was really a team effort. Shutouts are team efforts. They're not a goalkeeper's by any means. I think this is a game we can really build on.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi
On the match:
In the first half we were a little out of sorts actually, dealing with some of their guys who were pushed so high. They have five or six guys in and around our back line and we weren't dealing with them well, to be completely honest with you. We had a couple very good counter attacking actions - one that led to the goal - other than that, we weren't great in the first half. Second half we made a tactical change or two and that really shut them down. Going back to the first half, we were a little lucky to have not have conceded, but it's the way the game goes and in the second half we locked it down.
On Goalkeeper Tim Melia:
Yeah, it's almost not surprising to us anymore because he does it so much. He's just a monster back there and game in and game out he makes two or three game-saving saves so no different tonight. He was a monster and that PK save was a turning point. That gets them within a goal and a lot of times teams can grab a lot of momentum and really throw the kitchen sink at you so for me that's a game-saving PK save.
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