New York Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke
On the match:
Massive result. Staring with Houston [Dynamo] last weekend, we’re taking every game as a playoff game and that includes Columbus [Crew] next weekend. Tomorrow is out of our hands what happens with Houston, but it would obviously be great if we know we are in the playoffs tomorrow and then we know exactly what we’re fighting for, which is a place. Overall I’m very happy with the result, obviously.
On them left side of the field and if he will be rooting for D.C. United against Houston:
Listen, tomorrow is out of our hands with Houston, so I mean obviously, of course I want D.C. to win because we’ll be in the playoffs. As far as our left side tonight, listen that’s what I’m all about. That’s the school that I come from. You know if you don’t get your chance, you don’t get your chance, you’re finally going to get one and it could be under any type of circumstance, you know? It’s on them to step up and show me – like I told [Richard] Eckersley a couple of games ago when he went in, I said go in there and after the game be able to tell me ‘you should’ve played me 15 games ago.’ I have no problem with that and I thought that did a very good job. It was obvious that they [Toronto FC] were trying to target our left side with the speed in the beginning, then obviously bringing [Dominic] Oduro on for more speed, but I think other than for a couple of occasions, I think Kosuke [Kimura] handled it very well and I’m very excited Ruben [Bover] got a goal. It’s always nice to see; you know it’s like seeing your kids score. You know the joy and his parents are here from Spain, so it’s a nice thing for him, but yeah I think they both did well.
On Ruben Bover’s play with Tim Cahill and Peguy Luyindula out:
Like I said – [Ambroise] Oyongo and [Roy] Miller [are on international duty] as well. Like I said, he stepped up tonight and he did well. I think he had his moments that weren’t very well, but that’s expected. You know we try to give him exact instructions on what we wanted and pinpoint exact areas of the field that we wanted him in because if anyone has ever seen Ruben play, he likes to find the ball, wherever it is, and I think that he listened to that, for the most part. I think that after the first 10 minutes or so, he really adapted and he really did some good stuff with the ball, and like I said, the goal, very happy for him.
On the team’s success at home and how important home field advantage is:
I mean this is MLS, you know? Not like England where the top three teams win every game. It’s not like that league. So on the road, I don’t know, travel? I don’t know, I could insert any number of excuses, but I really would just be making excuses, to be honest with you. But they’ve really come together over the last month or so, especially at home. I just think this is a team that needs to sense things, they need to smell things, for lack of a better term. What they’ve sensed and smelled over the last month is that season’s coming to an end, we’re not where we wanted to be, and our goal is to make the playoffs. I feel that big players step up in circumstances like that and so far over the last month we have and hopefully that will continue. If we have to play the playing game, I’m still gunning for third place, at least, but if we have to play the playing game, of course we want to be at home.
On how he has been tested as a coach this season compared to last:
I mean we’ll have plenty of time to talk about it after the season, obviously, but I’ve been in this league for 16 or so years now as a player, assistant coach, coach. I mean look at the last two years – actually the last three years with D.C. United when Ben Olsen wins the Eastern Conference, then has one of the worst records in the league, and now he’s up for the Supporters’ Shield. I mean it’s just – part of it is the way this league is run and the way it works, which I’m a big fan of, and the other part of it is you know, I don’t know what the other part of it is, to be honest with you right now, but it’s not a terrible year thus far but I’ve had to deal with a lot of stuff this year and I’ve had to adapt to a lot of things, but that’s life. I’m going to be a better coach for it. At the end of the year we’ll have some things to say, but we’re concentrating on Columbus next weekend and that’s it. Everyday is a learning experience for me.
On Dax McCarty and Eric Alexander playing together in the midfield:
Yeah I mean that was the talk all week between the staff and I. There was a mindset that obviously Eric would be playing a bit higher in this game and bring someone like Ian [Christianson] in and I think Ian’s a quality player, young player, someone for the future, and he could do that if we did and that’s why we put him in in the end. At the end of the day, we’ve enjoyed what Dax and Eric have done for us, have given us. I think tonight if I was out on the field with them, I would have choked them a couple of times, to be honest with you, I’m being fair, but if you look at it as a whole 90 minutes, they’ve done a very good job since we started playing them side by side and they’re just plugging up a hole in the middle. If they can continue to play simple with the ball when they win it, selfless, that’s the big thing, to get players like dax and Eric to realize that the less they do, the better they’re going to play in that position. That’s the key and that hasn’t always been easy, but I feel Dax especially has really adapted to that and if he continues with that, he’ll be getting back with the National Team.
On when he felt comfortable the team had control of the match:
I felt comfortable when I was shaking Greg Vanney’s hand after the game. I never feel comfortable, ever. That’s the truth. Last year when we won the Supporters’ Shield the last game, what was it? Was it 5-2? I was freaking out more in the 92nd minute of that game than I was, you know, earlier in the game. It’s just the way I am, it’s just the way the personality of this team is, you never feel comfortable. You know, they could do wonderful things or, you know, things don’t go so well.
New York Red Bulls midfielder Ruben Bover
On how it felt to score his first MLS goal:
It feels amazing. I’ve been waiting since I’ve come here to score a goal and today my parents were here too, so it felt like really important for me so I’m really happy.
On how he feels with where the team is in the standings:
I’m really happy now that we are in the playoffs, but we will try to get as high [in the standings] as possible because you always get a better opposition [opponent]. We’ll keep working and try to win the last two games and be as good as possible as a team by the end of the season.
On starting the match:
It felt really good. It was my first at home after two years, so I couldn’t wait. You know it was a great game, a great opposition [opponent], and we played really good, so everything went perfect.
On playing with Kosuke Kimura:
He helped me a lot. You know Kosuke’s a really work hard player so that helps, you know he tells you he helps the young guys, so I have to say thank you to him and keep going.
New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips
On his goal:
Couldn’t miss it, really. Great ball by Kosuke, (audio unclear) … it was a nice ball in there, I spoke about it before. Nice ball, couldn’t miss.
On record chase:
It’s not like I’m thinking about it at home, with two children to look after. It’s not until you guys mention it that I think about it, that I have what, three more to get to. I try not to think about it.
Obviously, as a goal scorer you want to break a record. If it does happen, I just want it to be over so I can talk about playoffs, or the next game.
On getting three points:
It was an important win. They’ve got some good players and they showed up in the second half. I think we got the job done in the first half. We played well, came out and worked hard, and we got on.
On thinking about record after earning playoff berth:
Yeah, for sure… I said this before, it’s a bit selfish for me to be worried about a goal record that’s not going anywhere, you know what I mean? Obviously I would like to break it, but we’ve got a job to do as a team. Our work ethic all through the game showed what a team we can be. We’re tough to beat when we work that hard.
On comfort level after third goal:
Two goals is dangerous to be on, so when we got the third it was kind of reassuring for me, because if it was 2-0 and they scored their first goal it would’ve been tricky. It would have really been hard, would have been a good test for us. The third goal made it comfortable.
On team’s play after conceding:
They’ve only got one way to play, They’re 3-0 down. We’ve done that and we’ve been 3-0 down or 1-0 down and you’ve only got one way to play. It’s easy to play when you’re 3-0 down, and that’s what they did. We knew it was going to be tough, we rode the wave, and we got the three points.
On the play of the left side:
We won 3-1. There was an assist that came from over there, They’ve done well. Three points, a win. Doesn’t matter who plays, we won.
On facing Toronto for the third time this season:
It was a normal, same MLS game. All games are tough. They’ve got some good players, like I said, it was always going to be tough. The position we’re in in the league now, we need to be in the playoffs. They do, as well. It was always going to be tough.
On watching the Houston game tomorrow:
Probably, probably.
On being a DC United fan tomorrow:
Never, no. Never DC. (laughing) Whatever happens, happens. We’ve just got to do our job.
New York Red Bulls midfielder Dax McCarty
On result setting team up to make playoffs:
It feels good. Anytime you get three points, especially at home, you feel like it’s necessary and it’s also important. But look, we know the stakes are high right now. We keep saying that every game we play from here on out is pretty much a playoff game anyways. That’s how we look at it and we’ve put ourselves in this situation so we have to get ourselves out of it by winning. That’s the only way you can do it and Toronto’s desperate and I thought we played a very good first half, thought it was pretty even but I thought we took our chances. Then in the second half they changed their formation a little bit and we couldn’t really figure it out. Again, in the second half, I’m not too happy with our ability to keep the ball and kind of take the sting out of the game. It’s just not good enough and that’s why they get chances and that’s why they almost got back in the game. Thankfully, we weathered the early storm and obviously we have to put another goal away. We had chances, we knew we were going to hit them on the break and we just have to be a little bit more clinical which is funny saying that considering we scored three goals but it’s never easy for us but I think, thankfully, at least we put three goals in in the first half and we knew if we were at least somewhat solid we’d come out with the win.
On scoring his third goal of the season:
I don’t worry about scoring goals to be honest, that’s not my job on this team. When it happens, I’m very happy as you can see by my celebration. I love the feeling but maybe in my younger days I fancied myself as a little bit more of a goal scorer but that’s not my job right now. I’m happy just being able to be a guy that sits in and makes sure we’re solid defensively and just be an outlet for the guys that do score goals and the guys that do make the plays happen up the field. But I ended up, found myself up in the box, Bradley found me with a great, fake shot-pass, which he definitely didn’t mean to by the way. But I was disappointed because I would rather him score that than me, but we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes for him.
