Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jeff Cassar
On RSL having a big defensive performance:
“Nick [Rimando] came up huge for us. We were under the gun there for a little bit, but I was extremely proud of the way our guys played. They followed up the game plan exactly the way we wanted to. We had a few chances to score of our own. I think [Donovan] Ricketts made a few nice saves as well. It was definitely a playoff atmosphere game.”
On containing Portland’s wing play:
“They’re going to be dangerous. [Darlington Nagbe and Rodney Wallace] are both excellent players. With [Diego] Valeri and [Fanendo] Adi, it’s a dangerous foursome to deal with. We got the shutout. Our goalkeeper made a few very good saves to keep us in the game. But at the end of the day, a shutout on the road with our playoff mentality is exactly what we wanted.”
On Portland’s attacking play:
“They’re out of the playoffs. They’re fighting to get in the playoffs. They’re going to send the kitchen sink. For the most part, I thought we dealt with it incredibly well. Obviously when you’re playing a very good team at their place, they’re going to get their chances. We got ours too. Listen, this is not easy, in the rain, on the turf. There’s going to be some bad hops. There’s going to be some things that don’t go your way. But we stuck together and dealt with it.”
On GK Nick Rimando’s performance:
“Unbelievable. I mean, he’s been fantastic this year, all year for us. Always coming up with timely saves. I thought Luis Gil made a great save. Chris Wingert made a great save. When you have everyone getting each other’s backs and obviously Nick [Rimando] holding down the fort, that’s a good thing. He’s an amazing goalkeeper and that’s what he does. He’s become such a solid goalkeeper that you think it’s supposed to happen all the time. We don’t want him to have to be like that all the time. But once in a while, on the road in tough conditions, a team that’s pushing, sending the kitchen sink, he came up big for us.”
On if RSL’s game plan was to sit back defensively:
“It was to be compact defensively and have our line of confrontation in a certain area and we did that. Portland, for a team that plays very attractive soccer, resorted to a lot of long balls direct into a forward and picking up second balls and going from there. So I think they were frustrated. Obviously I’m sure they’re pretty upset, coming away with a draw. That was the goal.”
On the keys to defending a team like Portland:
“You just look at their front four and they’re going to get their chances. I don’t think any game this year, they didn’t create. What you want to do is try to limit them and not give up any set play goals. It was a slick turf tonight. The ball was zipping all over the place. It was a fast paced game and I thought our boys did well.”
Real Salt Lake GK Nick Rimando
On his mentality in the match:
“They were a desperate team, a team that we knew that was going to throw everything at us. Our goal was to be organized, fight together and use this to prepare for the playoffs. The guys in front of me did a great job and I was able to come up with some saves to help the team.”
On how he organized himself and his defense to deal with Portland’s attack:
“Yell a lot. Yell a lot for sure. Tonight was one of those games where I was constantly trying to organize. With one up top, we weren’t the best at handling their forward up top. [Diego] Valeri is just a handful that we have to find at all times. Just try to make sure the guys knew where guys were and marked up. If they got a cross off, make sure we were tight. That was the message at halftime and on the field.”
On having to rely on instinct when the defense breaks down:
“I think a lot of that comes down to natural instinct and reading the play and positioning. Being in the right place at the right time. Tonight, that’s what happened. Sometimes I was in the right place at the right time and read the ball a couple times in the first half. Cheated a little bit, but you have to when we give the counter attack up.”
On making some incredible saves against Portland:
“I don’t know. For some reason I get up for these games. Maybe because they attack us more. They put more shots on goal. They’re a very dynamic team with special players that get their chances on us. Maybe some other teams that get one or two chances a game, these guys get four or five. I just have to show up and make sure that I’m ready to play when I play against Portland.”
Real Salt Lake MF Kyle Beckerman
On the difficulty of playing against a team that attacks for 90 minutes:
“I would say more teams at home. But it always seems like that we have a fun game with Portland. They come out to play, we come out to play. Even 0-0’s are pretty exciting, which is good for the league. It’s just the style that both teams like which is good for the fans.”
On the midfield battle tonight:
“It was good. They’ve got three guys in there that can play, that are strong and a big part of their team. It’s always fun, always a challenge. They’ve got a three-man triangle and it kind of goes in and out of our diamond. Then they bring in their outside guys. They’re really creative and interchange a lot, which makes them really dangerous. So it’s always a challenge. It’s a cat and mouse game out there. They’re trying to catch us when we’re attacking and then we’re trying to catch them when they are. So it’s always good stuff from both teams.”
On Real Salt Lake’s defensive setup to contain Portland’s wide players:
“I thought we did pretty well. Sometimes when we got ourselves in trouble was more when we had the ball going forward and we missed a pass and then they were off on the break. For the most part, I thought we did well. They have some really dangerous players and Portland’s a good team. So there’s a lot thrown at you and you have to just battle it and that’s what we did tonight and we were able to get the shutout.”
