New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch
On if his team is back to last year's form:
Obviously a very good performance against a really good team. I thought that they executed the game plan and stuck to the way we wanted to play and controlled the tempo for the entirety of the match, for 90 minutes.
Really good to see some young guys getting on the field at the end, and guys who I think have a bright future in this club. That was great.
In the tough moments, we tried to continue to reinforce all the things about confidence, belief, who we are, what we're about, that in tough moments you get stronger. I feel like we're in a good place right now.
Now, that doesn't mean anything because next week we've got to throw it all out there again and prove ourselves again. If we get too ahead of ourselves, all of a sudden you start to slip.
Right now I think the level of concentration and commitment and the mentality right now is at a really good place. We've got to just keep pushing here as we go forward.
On if everything came together tonight:
Yeah. Even that being said, I thought we could have and should have gotten the lead earlier, right, then could have kind of pushed at that point.
But like I said last time we all sat here, I believe in things that are real. When I look at this team, I know it's real. Yeah, we haven't gotten breaks, we gave away too many goals, there were moments where we were rattled a little bit in the beginning parts of the season.
But, again, I think we used that to strengthen us. If we were worried about, after coming out of the Supporters' Shield, about being complacent, that's gone. Now it's hunger to try to prove ourselves. Everybody thinks that we're no good. I think that's created the chip on the shoulder.
In the end, we've got to use that tough start as motivation always to make us better and help drive us to where we want to go.
On the mindset against FC Dallas:
It's a dangerous team. I knew we were controlling things, but I also knew that three passes, one play away from evening the game up. We said we wanted to keep the shutout, but we felt like getting the second goal was going to be really important.
What a great second goal, right? It came from doing a lot of the things that we try to do: playing forward, pressing, going after the ball, being alert.
Overall I thought the way we, again, put our stamp on the game, played the way we wanted to play, put pressure on them, that was a very good night for us.
On the set piece:
Everything we try to do here is a representation of all of us. We as a staff like to do some special plays on occasion. But then it's up to the players on the field, Sacha, to sort of quarterback what we're going to do. The thing that's great to see is they love the special plays, too.
The play that comes to Sal, Sal could decide to shoot it, because he was in a good spot, instead of pass it. But they stick to the plan of what the set piece is, then they try to execute it.
They don't all come off. But when they do, they look pretty fantastic.
The execution on that one was really good.
On the importance of keeping a clean sheet:
Everyone on the field knew that was the emphasis. We wanted to now not allow a goal. There were some moments late in the game where they come and almost put up a play. A bunch of guys diving around, flying around the box, sprinting back to try to recover, to do everything they could to not give up goals.
That's what we've said. We've said, listen, sometimes it's tactical and sometimes it's making a play. But often times it's just how bad do you not want to give up a goal. Are you willing to throw your body in harm's way? Are you willing to make a tackle? Are you going to sprint 80 yards to try to prevent someone from getting an open shot?
So we saw that tonight. That's something that we needed to see and it was really good.
On the decision to start Duvall at center back:
We knew they didn't have a lot of size, but we knew they had crafty, quick guys. We thought that even though it's not Chris' natural spot, we used him there, looked at him in training, obviously against Kansas City. I think Chris has gotten better at playing that spot. We felt that the matchups were good.
So it turned out to be the case. I thought in the end it was going to come down to how well Chris was going to play.
What I said to him before the game is, we need a guy to go in there that has belief, that's a competitor, that wants to win his battles, that wants to do whatever it takes to win the game. For me, that's Chris Duvall to a T.
Thought he had a really good game and was a difference-maker for us tonight.
On Justin Bilyeu making his MLS debut:
Yeah, his best play is the desperate play he makes in the box to get a toe on the ball to make sure they don't get a goal.
We like Justin. We think he's gifted with the ball, he's a great passer, he serves a great ball in the box. He's athletically fairly gifted. Just trying to get him to up the speed in terms of the intensity in the defensive end, the ability to cover ground, the ability to win battles.
But I think he has a bright future.
On the trade for Aurelien Collin:
Well, we felt like we needed one more piece back there to I think solidify our defense. Obviously we've given up a lot of goals. That hasn't been good. We've been looking around at different opportunities to add a piece. We were thinking at the beginning of the year that maybe we'd wait until the summer window or see how we got through this.
But we thought now that given everything, it was time to make a move. And to be able to get access to a player like Aurelien Collin, I think we're very lucky. I think he's going to fit the way we play really well. He's a true competitor. In Kansas City they play a version of what we do. So I think he knows what this is about. He's incredible in the air, on set pieces. He's a smart player. I think he's going to fit into this whole thing pretty seamlessly.
When I spoke to him, he just talked about how excited he was for this opportunity, and that he loves the way we play, that he can't wait to get here.
On maintaining this momentum going forward:
I've seen the confidence growing for the past few weeks, right? I've seen that this group, even though we've been through some tough times, that they've gotten more and more confident and they've understood more and more what this was really going to take, right?
Life is funny. The game is funny. All these different things. How to be a good team. There's no manual, right? I mean, there's all kinds of leadership books and all kinds of tactical analyses and everything else.
In the end, it's about how hard guys want to commit to being real, playing for each other, caring for each other. Sometimes it takes really, really hard moments to fully understand how much it means to you.
I think this group is now in a place where they understand it. They get it. They can't wait to, again, show it when the lights come on.
New York Red Bulls midfielder Sacha Kljestan
On how satisfying the win is:
The message now is that we're not going to look back. So, as for tonight, a pretty dominant performance. Always good to play at home, kind of when your backs are against the wall, and now we can put ourselves on a winning streak after a very fine performance tonight.
On tonight's chances falling:
I still think in the first half we had so many chances and it would've been great to come in at two or three to zero instead of just one to zero. But the timing of the second and the third goal were great tonight, and I think just the confidence of the guys in the front four, the way we moved the ball tonight and created chances created more belief in front of the goal and we were opportunistic.
On the set-piece goal:
You see us work on the training ground on set-pieces quite a bit, typically the day before the game. That's one we've had in our pocket for a while now and it went right as planned. It's always great when you put something, you draw it up, and work on it for a couple of weeks and finally when you have a chance to use it in the game that it works so that was a pretty good feeling.
On if it was more important to keep a clean sheet:
Yeah, we've got to say that the most important thing was the shutout, so the first shutout of the season, it's got to give a lot of confidence to our defensive group. We made it a goal tonight, we said let's take everything one half at a time and let's get in at worst zero to zero. Lloyd made a comment before the game and said that if we keep a shutout tonight I guarantee we are going to get at least a goal and we're going to win this game. So, overall a very good defensive performance tonight as well.
On his goal:
You know, most of the time you're just admiring a beautiful play by Lloyd but for some reason as soon as he shot it I had this picture in my mind that the ball was going to bounce off the crossbar and nobody else was going to react but me and I was going to be there to tap that in. It went exactly how I played it in my mind, it was crazy, you know. Just a bit opportunistic by me and a bit of effort but it was an easy goal in the end. Lloyd made an amazing play to put it on target.
How important was it to get the first goal:
I think it was important to come into halftime at one to zero. Like I said earlier, I wish it had been more but one to zero we came in at half time and said listen we have our foot on their throats right now and we really have to stomp them out in the second half and not let them get a first goal and let them back in the game. And to build on the lead from one, to two, to three, to four was good and going into half-time with a lead it gave us a bit more comfort.
New York Red Bulls winger Mike Grella
On the team's goal going into the night:
Nothing new for us, it was the same thing that we're always doing. Just working hard as a group, being sharp, being better with the ball, being tight at the back, defending and attacking as a group. And, you know, listen, we're doing the same things it's just we're starting to raise the level and really get it going now.
On why the Red Bulls perform better at home:
I don't know how true that is, I think it's naturally just tougher to get results on the road but for sure we've played some very good away games as well. It is a great atmosphere here, we have great fans, they give us all the confidence in the world and this is the best arena to play in in the league so those are all reasons but for sure I think this group has put in some very valiant effort and some good performances home and away. We just love playing here.
FC Dallas Head Coach Oscar Pareja
On having a few bad losses this year:
Very unbalanced performances this year so far this year. In 10 games, five times away. Two of them we scored three goals, then DC United 3-0. Then we went to a difficult place in Portland and beat them 3-1. That could be more. But we went to Houston and...
...got clobbered.
Exactly, 5-0. Then Vancouver in the same week, 3-0 Vancouver. And today 4-0. It could be more.
So very unbalanced. I'm obviously not just responsible but worried about it. It just tells me that the league is tremendously competitive, and secondly that we fight the team at the best level.
On his team's first half:
I know. The intention wasn't just to park the bus in the back. The intention was just to come and look for them.
I'm going to tell you, New York were much better than us in every area. I thought New York just dominated from the first minute through the last one. I mean, we didn't have answers for New York. They played very well tonight.
On playing Jesse Gonzalez in goal:
Jesse went to the national team, then Seitz was in the goal, and he played really well two, three games.
I thought today was a good game for him to come back in the lineup. That's the game, you know. I always say, we always just prepare. I have said this enough. I back them up. That's the way they grow.
On concerns with Gonzalez' confidence:
Those are the lessons that make us grow, you know? Has happened before. They need to observe it and grow. But they need somebody to back them up.
On his team lacking energy today:
They were much better in that area every minute in every area tonight. We did not have answers. I thought New York did a great job today. New York was superior in every sense of the game. We could not defend them. Since the first minute, they came at us. They were flashy, and they outnumbered us in the middle.
We could not get the ball back. When we got the ball back, eventually we were not fine with it, we lost it again. We couldn't explode. We couldn't hurt them at any point.
They would get the ball back and would hurt us again. I mean, I could see they had a large amount of options, and they deserved it. It's one of those days where you find a team that is sharp and much, much better than us. We did not have answers for them.
On worries from the losses this season:
Right. We're a team that we attack, we put people up front. Then we get exposed in the back, the two games, in Houston and Vancouver. In Vancouver, we have a great number of options to score more than them, and we didn't have any effectiveness there. Houston was the worst game.
Today was all New York, all New York. They played a different level today. We did not play well, obviously.
FC Dallas midfielder Victor Ulloa
On the result:
Terrible, terrible result. We have to find answers. We have to find a way to get results away from home. It's not the time to panic, not yet. This is a time that we have to be united as a group and don't let anything bring us down.
On being down a goal at the break:
We had a lot of pressure in the first half, we knew we had to try to keep possession of the ball a little bit longer. We couldn't complete five passes so that was something we were trying to focus on. Unfortunately, we couldn't do it and it has to be better.
On the Red Bulls' performance:
Obviously, the score says it all. Especially in the first half, they were on us the whole time, and we just have to find answers.
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