Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis
Thoughts on link between Joao Plata and Alvaro Saborio:
“So far, so good. Plata has two passes showing two goals for Sabo in the first three games and that’s obviously a very good thing. I think in all three of the matches Plata has come on and given us a little bit of energy and a little bit of a different look. He’s been a pretty dangerous player, so I’m pleased.”
Thoughts on Robbie Findley:
“I think Robbie just needs to remember to find the right gaps where he can be the most effective and typically that’s trying to find gaps between center backs, in between the center back and the wide back and trying to get in behind as often as possible. I feel like today he did a good job at that, and that he got himself into really good spots in the first half, but unfortunately he really should have finished. So I think we just build on it and say that today was better than last week and we hope that next week will be better than this week.”
Thoughts on Luis Gil and Sebastian Velasquez:
“I think they both have had pretty strong performances. I don’t think that either one of them you would say has had all of the ninety minutes where they were very, very good and very, very effective. Both of them are still making a few too many errors on the ball, but truthfully a lot of our players are making a few too many errors. So they are still a work in progress, we need to be patient like we said from the beginning, and in the end we should benefit greatly from getting young players like that experience.”
Thoughts on RSL’s defensive efforts:
“We have given away two goals in three matches, that’s not a bad statistic to lean on. When you look at it a little more closely I think we are giving up a few to many clear cut chances, but some of that comes through what we are trying to get out of the game. If we had gotten to 1-1 and said, ‘Okay, we’ll close up the shop and we’re happy to take the draw away from our home stadium,’ I don’t think that they end up with those three clear cut chances there at the end. But because we don’t have that mentality we open ourselves up to plays from behind and allowed the three. At least I think it was three, maybe it wasn’t three, but it felt like 14 clear-cut chances to score against us. Credit to Nick Rimando for saving us a point there.”
Thoughts on Ned Grabavoy coming off the bench:
“The thinking was that Khari Stephenson was injured and we needed to get another midfielder on. I thought it was the right type of game for Ned, we knew it was going to be difficult to find gaps and space to play in. We needed another mature player who has been in our system for a while to figure things out and push things along for us in the second half. Pretty clear to me though that his fitness level was struggling a little bit, so we need to really be focused on that this next week to hopefully make him available for all 90 come next Saturday.”
Thoughts on Nick Rimando:
“I think if you had to pin-point out your top performer over the first three matches his name would certainly be at the top of the list. He’s been absolutely stellar for us at the beginning of the season and he gets considered I think for the national team at the exact right time for next weekend’s match. So I’m really pleased with his performance and pleased that we were able to recognize him tonight.”
Thoughts on Deshorn Brown:
“I believe he was in one other time, not a lot more, but one other time. Where he cut between Kwame [Watson-Siriboe] and Tony Beltran and that was a very much miscall on Kwame’s part. But he was an active player, and he was winning a lot of balls in the air. They seemed to have a very set tactic in the first half today to play every goal kick to Atiba Harris’s head and flicked on for him to run on to. We didn’t deal well with that. I don’t think the organization was quite right, I think we lost a lot of head balls in our defensive end which is very atypical for us and won’t be acceptable going forward.”
Thoughts on being satisfied with one point in the home opener:
“No, no. Going into the locker room it’s absolutely silent; it’s as though we lost 3-0. Our guys want more, they expect more and I think that’s a good thing to have.”
Thoughts on offseason changes and the crowd:
“The crowd again was outstanding, outstanding. We should be very thankful that we have them to root us on the way they do. But again, I think that we feel that we should have done better, we feel a little of anguish that we didn’t get all the three points like we set out for here. It has been a rough offseason, there’s no doubt about it. With so many changes in players, ownership and everything, all of that takes a toll. We will hope, as I keep telling the guys, to improve day-by-day and week-by-week. That has to be our objective, to be at our best at the end of the season.”
Real Salt Lake MF Kyle Beckerman
On the goal by Deshorn Brown:
“It was kind of a freak thing, we were really dominating, getting chance after chance and next think you know we’re losing. So it was disappointing but nobody held their heads. We figured if we keep dominating this game we’re going to get a goal. We just wish we would have maybe got one a little bit earlier, maybe would have helped us get the second.”
On what the fans wanted to see tonight:
“I think the fans wanted to see that we can still play like we have in the past. I think tonight we showed a lot of the same skills, in passing and being able to dominate a team for 90 minutes. To not get the goal was a bit disappointing because I think everybody wanted to go home with a big happy smile and three points in the bag. Sometimes that happens. We’ll just have to work on finishing this week and see if we can do better next week.”
On Ned Grabavoy’s return to play:
“Yeah, Ned’s great. I think we’ve missed him the past two games. He’s a really important player for us and the more he gets in and the more he gets his fitness back, it will be a big help for us.”
On Nick Rimando’s performance:
“Nick is always big for us. I say it again and again, he’s one of the best in the league. He’s done it for years now and I think that’s probably why he doesn’t get as much credit as he should, because it’s expected of him. But we need him, he’s huge for us. We’ll need him more often throughout the season.”
On Rimando’s national team duties:
“Yeah, it’s going to be tough. But we brought in Josh for that reason and he’s been really sharp in practice. So hopefully he’ll get in there, he’s a two-time MLS Cup champ so he’s not a bad backup.”
On the midfield and how it is coming together
“It’s a bit here and there, today I thought it was a lot better at times, I don’t know what the possession was, but it seemed like we had the ball the whole time except for when they countered. But it can still improve and I think the more we play and once we get some injured guys back it will be a little bit more cohesive.”
Real Salt Lake GK Nick Rimando
On making some big saves:
“It went right through my chest and stomach I got it, it knocked the wind out of me, but tonight they got their opportunities, when we throw everything at them trying to get the tying goal and the go ahead goal. So I just try to keep my team in it and make the saves I can make. Tonight, second half I was able to make those saves and keep our team in the game.”
On his performance and what it means for his national team chances:
“I don’t want to judge myself. That’s what the coaches are for. I think I got called in for a reason. I’m doing something right and it helps with these guys, it always helps. So it’s a privilege and honor to get called up and represent the country.”
On the defense’s performance tonight:
“This was the first game that I felt like we were really shaky. Definitely some stuff we have to iron out, but I think it’s safe to say that everyone knows we need to get better. We held our hands up and we definitely need to look at the videotape and see where we need to get better and improve…. It’s a young season and as long as we take care of business and iron out those details we’ll be fine.”
On Pickens’ injury:
“You never wish for any kind of injury for a goalkeeper or any player. To see him down is disappointing for sure. But I know he’s a strong guy and he’ll bounce back.”
On what they did to bounce back from the Colorado goal:
“Nothing, our response this year has been great when we go down a goal. It kind of lights a little fire underneath us to go and get one, especially at home in front of our fans. You don’t want to lose ever in front of your fans. It just kind of pushed us in to move forward. We knew we were going to leave some holes in the back and move forward. But we knew we weren’t going to give up, so that’s what you get from us.”
Real Salt Lake FW Alvaro Saborio
On the goal he scored in the second half:
“We were trying to push for most of that second half, trying to get our first goal and it came off a great pass from Plata.”
On improving offensively:
“Right now we are trying in a lot of different ways. Now all we have to do is just look forward and score. We were a better team than them and all we really have to do is step forward.”
Real Salt Lake FW Robbie Findley
On missing some chance:
“You usually get more opportunities at home and it definitely happened today. I just need to be better at it on my end, when my teammates get me the ball. I just need to be more focused.”
On the thought process behind his two 1-on-1 chances:
“Yeah, I try and forget about that stuff as fast as I can, it’s tough, but it’s done and that’s that, you just try and move on. The end of the second one I just missed the touch and it took me too wide, so I had to bring it back around. I’ve just got to be sharper.”
Colorado Rapids
Colorado Rapids Head Coach Oscar Pareja
Overall thoughts:
“It was a pretty good game for both. I thought there was a lot of energy during the first 20 minutes. We are very proud of the boys. They fought during the game and they had the best chances all over the game. We defended well. I thought our discipline tactically today was a highlight for the team. We are proud of them. We push that discipline is the standard point. The options were ours, the chances were there, and we had many opportunities to put the game away and we did not. But we walk away with a point from Salt Lake with the sensation that it could be three points.”
On starting Brown:
“One of the things that we are proud of as a club is that the club is becoming younger with approximately four boys that are coming from the draft or coming from the academy, and those things are going to be a reward for the club at some point. Today was one of those. When you see Deshorn scoring and getting his first MLS goal it’s fantastic. I know there are many more to come from him.”
On goals of the team:
“Like any other team in MLS at this point, MLS is at a pretty high level. We showed it today here in Salt Lake against a very good team. We came in, and I thought we deserved three points today, and that just lets us know that we have to be higher. We’re young, but we to be in the playoffs, and obviously we want to be part of the finals. I know the boys can do it.”
On Matt Pickens:
“It seems like he has something that is bad. We won’t talk about it yet.”
On Clint Irwin:
“Excellent. It’s his first MLS game. He came up big today with a lot of pressure. Coming in the game, not starting, just coming in, it was tense and had pressure, but I thought he did very well. For me it’s a great performance. We have been trying to develop the philosophy that training and preparation means a lot, and he has been working very hard, and we decided that he deserved to be number two, and that’s the game. I think that Matt and Clint understand that this is a competition and they actually take this as an opportunity to compete for a spot, and that is going to make them better. Today, Clint showed that the job is there for the taking. He can work, and it could happen.”
Colorado Rapids DF Drew Moor
On the team’s good defensive performance and mentality:
“It’s always been a tough place. It’s a tough place when I played for Dallas. It’s a tough place with Colorado. They make it a tough place to play in. We wanted to be solid defensively. We don’t want to allow a bunch of easy chances, especially early in the game. We dropped our line in a little bit deeper. We didn’t want to just play defense, which clearly we didn’t, we created a bunch of chances even after they scored. I thought we had one or two very good chances where we could have won it, but being solid and even being difficult to play against was the number one goal and I thought we achieved that.”
On how the mentality switched after the goal by Brown:
“The mentality didn’t change at all. We remained solid. I didn’t think that we bunkered in. Obviously, they’re down a goal and they’re going to go looking for the tying goal. Second half they put some pressure on, but I never really felt threatened for long periods of time. They created some chances, but again, like I said, with Deshorn Brown’s speed up top, and Atiba’s obviously a handful as well, we created just as good of chances as they did. Without Rimando making a couple good saves, I think we get all three points here.”
On how the draw after two losses helps them going forward:
“It’s big. Everyone is disappointed here that we didn’t win the game, which is a good sign. I think last year, maybe we lose this game, but this team has some strong characters, and some good leaders, and a good core group, and we build off of the little victories like this. We are disappointed that we didn’t win, which is a good sign, and if we can play as solid as we did this weekend in LA next weekend, and as the season progresses, I think our prospects are good.”
Colorado Rapids FW Deshorn Brown
Thoughts on the game:
“I think we played pretty well right until the end. We get our first goal in the first half and we were going pretty great until the second half. We stayed right there and just a misunderstanding with the defenders. We come here and get one point and I think that’s really great.”
On the play leading up to his goal and how he stole the ball:
“That’s just me. I’m not going to give up. I saw the defender go around, turn with the ball, and make a silly mistake. I took it off his foot and then went straight to goal and just hit it. Luckily, it went in. It was a great feeling, scoring.”
On getting his first professional goal:
“It was a great feeling. Scoring my first professional goal, it was a great feeling. We were hoping to get three points, but we get one point so I think we came out here and did really well. It was a great feeling.”
On his team’s defensive effort:
“We defended really well because we have been working on it from when the week began. We came here and we executed. As I said before, we made a silly mistake and gave up a goal. We’ve been working really hard throughout the week to get this done and we came here and executed. It was a great thing.”
On his play and confidence:
“I came in as a rookie and I’ve been fighting in training to try and get on the field. The main strikers are already out with injury and I’m just trying to do the best I can to help the team and hopefully they will come back soon. I just have to keep working hard no matter, what even when they come back. It’s a great feeling to go out there and fight really hard for this team.”
