QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 0-0 FC Dallas
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Head Coach Freddy Juarez
On the results:
“I’m definitely disappointed with the result. We created so many quality chances in the first half. That changed a little bit and we took our foot off the pedal a little bit in the second half. I think we could have been more aggressive in the first 15-20 minutes. They got a little bit more control of the ball. We weren’t as aggressive in trying to win the ball back and then we turned it back around towards the end where it opened up a bit. We deserved more from that game, if you look at the stats and the quality of opportunities and chances that we created. Those aren’t half chances. That’s the hardest part of the game. Sometimes you give yourself those opportunities, and you don’t put it away. Then there’s other times, where you can create one chance and you finish. It wasn’t because of lack of effort. I’m proud of the guys. We have to win that game.”
On replacing Ruiz with Besler:
“We had to get a little more desperate in attacking, so we had to throw more numbers in. When we're making the switch of Corey going into the nine and bringing on Meram, they went into a line of five, which happens simultaneously, so that threw it off. All of a sudden, we were lacking numbers in there, so we were going to throw more numbers at them. We took Pablo out, and put a true six, who's going to be a true ball winner and just stay put. Then it allowed us to throw more numbers up top and I thought Besler did a very good job with them.”
On creating chances and being frustrated because you couldn’t score:
“We’re going over stuff. We're disappointed with the standings and things of that nature but we're creating a lot of chances and we're putting ourselves in a situation where we should have a couple. The quality of the chances were there, so it’s sometimes some luck, sometimes some brilliant saves from the opponent. Their goalkeeper had some very good saves. Putna, for us, had a couple on our end as well. What else could we do today? Maybe a little bit more aggressive in the start of a second, but I'm happy with the guys. You leave frustrated but you're leaving the game knowing we created enough where, in the past, maybe we wouldn’t have created that many chances, so there is progress. I just know it's hard for people to realize that when you don't get the W. I know the players are disappointed but you can't get disappointed. When you take a step back, and you really analyze the game, yes be disappointed but also know that we did more than enough to get the win. Maybe more composure, maybe a little more quality, maybe a little bit more focused, maybe a little more sacrifice where we slide for it and make sure it goes in. We’ll get after it again, but I'm happy with the guys’ performance.”
On the defensive gameplan:
“Luchi is doing a heck of a job, and I’m proud of him. I'm taking the same route. They're very good in possession, so first and foremost, we wanted to keep it in front of us. We thought we could recover the ball up against the sideline. I thought we did a pretty good job of that today. You're always going to potentially give up some opportunities. It’s rare that you can control an opponent and not give them any. We gave up eight, which maybe we could cut that in half, but you're also going to ask your keeper to make some saves and that's what they’re there for. Especially in the second half, for those 15-20 minutes, when we have to throw everything at them, we're asking our guys to be one-on-one in the back. we're asking our goalkeeper to come up with one or two big saves. Overall, I thought the defending commitment for the whole crew was very good. They were winning duels, and they were good in the collective. It was an overall good performance.”
On the high press:
“The plan was for this to be more of an in-game press, more calculated, and win it in a certain area. They are very good at it and what they're hoping is that you really get desperate and then they break out of it. We were in a high press on their goal kick. We didn’t want them to get comfortable possession easily. Sometimes we had success winning it and then other times they got out. It's a challenge to play them. If you go back to most of their games, they win the possession part, so today we won the possession. Today, we won the chance creation, but we didn't win the score line. I just don't think the game was fair today. I'm not happy with three minutes either at the end of the game. You see most of these games are five minutes, six minutes. All those subs were made, and the guys walking out, only three minutes?”
On Albert’s performance:
“Good. Solid performance. I think we could have gotten him on the ball a little bit more in the first half. We directed that a little more in the second half. Overall, it was good. It was nice to have him back. He adds some quality in there, in the tight areas. He’s only going to get better, so it’s nice to see him play well.”
On the mentality ahead of San Jose:
“I'm not a quitter. My group knows that. We've had that discussion and my guys aren’t quitters either. We’ve seen it all as a club. In the last 3 years, we’ve all seen things that we can use as excuses and act as the victim, but this group doesn’t. I told them right now, ‘Heads up’. The reality is we did everything we needed to win the game, we just couldn’t put away the goals. That's how it goes. It wasn’t a lack of effort. It wasn’t a lack of commitment or chance creation. What can we complain about? We’re disappointed, yes, but now head up. San Jose is a team that comes swinging every single game that comes to them. San Jose is not an easy team to play. It’s going to be a heck of a game, a tough game, and we have to be ready.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Putna
On the clean sheet:
“I think it’s just defending from the front to back, it’s about defending as a unit. We want shutouts, we want to win games and it takes that type of effort. I thought we gave that effort all over the pitch, the back four was especially good tonight, and I think we’re unlucky not to get the result.”
On team struggling to score:
“In the first half there was a stat where we had something like 18 shots and they only had one, some nights it just doesn't fall your way. Tonight we were extremely unlucky. Their goalkeeper made a couple of really good saves in the first half and I think we were just really unlucky not to get the result.”
On the mood in the locker room:
“We know that there is work to do. We know we need to win games. Now we have to go on the road the next two games with our season on the line. The game was on the line tonight and we showed enough to get the result, we were just unlucky. We can take some positives away, we got the shutout. We deserved it tonight. We know what we have to do and if we don't get the results in the three upcoming games then we know our fate.”
On difference between the two halves:
“I think they just brought on an extra defender when they brought on Hedges, but I don't think it was that different from the first half. I still think we had our chances in both halves. I don't think they approached it too differently, but maybe from the 70th minute on when they brought Hedges on they went a little bit more defensive, which means they're going to sit in and it’s going to be a little bit tougher to break them down. But I still think we created enough chances to win the game.”
On how it feels to play well but not get the wanted result:
“I think it's extremely frustrating as a team, because I think tonight we did everything right. We got this shutout, we had positive attacking play, so it is frustrating, but now we have to look ahead to the next game.”
On defensive presence:
“I think everyone from back to front when you're pressing did their job, especially in the first half. When we came out I think they had trouble really connecting after their first pass and I think that's credit to the guys for bringing the energy, I thought it was working. We can do all the right things, but at the end of the day if we don't get the three points at this point in the season it’s going to be tough to be satisfied with the result.”
Defender Nedum Onuoha
On the mood in the locker room:
“We are disappointed. It’s not necessarily just the result itself, it's the fact that we had so many chances in the game. We need to be able to capitalize on those. We’re disappointed that we weren't able to get the three points because overall it feels like a game that we dominated and deserved more from.”
On play of the back four:
“I think we did well as a back four. Overall you are only as good as the people ahead of you. I think the midifielders worked really hard as well and so did the front line. It made our job a lot easier because at times if you get left on an island it can be really difficult with the attacking threat in this league being so high, but defensively as a unit I think we did really well.”
On searching for answers at home after an unlucky match:
“To be honest, that’s pretty much every night after a game for me anyway. We’re disappointed, but at some point you realize that we’ve got some positives in there. On a different day maybe we do score two, three or four goals. We’d be more concerned if we weren’t creating any chances whatsoever. You go home disappointed because you feel that you should’ve won the game, but we’ve got three more games left and as far as things go we’re playing okay and we can get better so the positives do exist.”
On being a leader and keeping teammates up with a short turnaround:
“It’s easy, really. This past two or three months we’ve gotten used to just having games every three or four days so there’s nothing new there. We’re at that stage of the season now when you get into October where you can almost smell the playoffs and you need to be your absolute best. It’s just about finding ways to win. I think this is the most exciting time of the year. Whether it’s tomorrow or it’s Monday, we’re raring to go because these are the moments where you really love playing the game. The fact that the game is coming up Wednesday is perfect for us and we’ll be very motivated for it.”
On the uncertainty of Colorado affecting playoff positioning:
“For me, I’m just trying to win some games and see where we finish up. I’m not really thinking about trying to finish seventh because who knows, maybe we could finish higher. While we still have points on the table to play for you have to keep trying to finish as high as possible. Yes it’s very uncertain, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily stressful. It’s just the circumstance of this year itself. We just want to try and win some games, I just want to win some games. The higher we finish the better we’ll be. Seventh is there, but we aim higher because we’re a better team than that.”
