MLS POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 2 : 0 NEW YORK RED BULLS
SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012
RIO TINTO STADIUM – SANDY, UT
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On Real Salt Lake forward Fabian Espíndola:
“I thought tonight he was a little less active than he was last week. I thought there were some spaces for both of our forwards to exploit, but I don’t they were doing quite as good of a job as they did last week with their movement. For Fabian to put in the 90 minutes of effort and then to move to the right side of the midfield at the end of the game is a big sacrifice and a big commitment for a guy that runs as much as he does.”
On improvements Real Salt Lake can make on the defensive side of the field:
“I still think we need to improve on the number of players we are getting forward and involved in our attacks. We have some nice fluid movements to get the ball up to our forwards and we need more players to do that than just Luis Gil, and he was often times late in his running to support the forwards. We need to have two or three midfielders and always an outside back involved.”
On whether or not the match lived up to his expectations:
“Hats off to the fans tonight for getting here early; they were there from the kickoff. Everyone singing together, it was a special night for sure and that’s what I told the players.”
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER LUIS GIL
On whether he thought RSL had control of the game from the start:
“I felt like [New York] kind of sat back a bit, and they kind of made it frustrating for me in that number 10 spot, always having a guy on me. But our other midfielders did a good job and our forwards made some nice runs behind them. We get the first goal and it just opened up the game.”
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER KYLE BECKERMAN
On the team’s status after its opening pair of wins:
“At times we’ve been really good, at times we can get better, but I think that’s just the early season blues. Getting wins and still knowing that we need to improve is a good thing.”
REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD FABIAN ESPĺNDOLA
On his goal and the celebration:
“I think it came from their line, and I just shot low and it went between his legs. I was trying to shoot the second ball, and I got a little bit lucky, but a goal’s a goal, right? The celebration was for my little baby, my son that’s coming (in two months).”
On RSL’s play on the evening:
“Tonight was good. We got two goals, and then we got to the 70th minute and then [New York] took control of the ball. I think our defense did a great job; if they scored I think it would have been another game, very complicated for us, because they played well at the end.”
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER NED GRABAVOY
On what has made RSL’s fast start:
“We’re just playing within the team and that’s when we play our best. When we move the ball things open up in the final third for some of those special guys that can make a special play.”
On the flow of the match:
“The first half was obviously much better for us, and the second half was pretty average because I think our legs started going on us a bit. It was noticeable in the second half that we were on our heels a little bit more; in the first half they were trying to counter attack, but I don’t feel they were ever that dangerous. We score the second one and then we know we have a little bit of a cushion so perhaps we took our foot off the pedal a little bit. We don’t want to do that, obviously, but it’s something we know we can work on.”
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH HANS BACKE
On RSL’s opening goal at the end of the first half:
“It’s very frustrating to go down a goal in the first half. We played a very good first half, we defended well and we got some breaks and they didn’t create any chances and it was just a sloppy play that cost us the first goal. And then on the second one we gambled and it was just two mistakes that cost us. By far this was our best game against Salt Lake in two years.”
On his expectations coming into the game:
“Looking back at all the games we had played in Salt Lake, we had never won a game against Salt Lake and, at most, we had gone down one- or two-nil in the first 50 minutes. We decided we just wanted to have a clean sheet and then hope that the game can open up. The game looked good, but you can’t make these kinds of unforced errors against good teams. They kill you and we had five in the first half. There was some sloppy passing and lots of pressure and we gambled with the offside, but that was the difference between the teams. Otherwise it was a very even game. That was the first time that we had dictated the game against Salt Lake.”
On going back to Red Bull Arena to open their home schedule:
“It will be good. It’s been, as we knew before we started on the road, two tough games against Dallas and Salt Lake; of course we had wanted to pick up some points.”
On Real Salt Lake’s status in Major League Soccer:
“They definitely are in the top three in the league, but the good sign about the game was the way we responded after going down two-nil. We dictated the game and created a couple of chances, and that is a credit to the players and how they responded after going down.”
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER STEPHEN KEEL
On the Red Bulls’ game plan coming into the game:
“It was good. We were able to neutralize what they wanted to do a little bit. We were also able to counter that a little bit with switching the field. It was just one mental breakdown and they punish you. But overall we just wanted to limit [Kyle] Beckerman and his effect on the game and shut him down.
On how the last two games will affect their play at home:
“I think that, in our system, it just comes down to executing better. If you look at the four goals we have conceded they are just silly mistakes. Mental lapses with decision making here and there, and you clean those up and we will be ok. It’s just about being switched on for 90 minutes.”
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER JAN GUNNAR SOLLI
On being down a goal at halftime:
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and I think we stuck with our plan. The way they scored their goal was just because our back four were trying to get them offside and we didn’t succeed with that. Overall it was not such a bad performance.”
On trying to stop RSL’s attack:
“During the second half we mostly had the ball, but they have a couple of guys that like to get in behind our back four and everyone needs to be on their toes. When they have confidence they can play those balls in behind and they are very direct in the way they play.”
