QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 1-0 VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
RIO TINTO STADIUM; APRIL 16, 2016
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Jeff Cassar
On Juan Manuel Martinez:
“I think all week long we tried to work on changing our point of attack quickly to isolate the guys 1v1 or 2v1 and trying to change the point of attack quickly, whether it was with a long diagonal or with quick passes. I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight. We weren’t as sharp in the first half but we got a little bit better in the second half. Joao and Juan put themselves in great positions. Yura was really occupying the two center backs. I thought we did a really good job of our game plan. But we could still do better.”
On the creativity of the attacking three:
“I wish I knew what he was going to do every time because he does some really special things. He (Martinez) got out of some really tricky situations. All of our attacking players are extremely talented and when they’re playing with each other you can do special things you can do some things that you don’t necessarily think are going to happen because you trust the player that is giving the ball to you. I think that we can still get even better. That is what is exciting. “
On exceeding expectations with the undefeated record:
“Listen we’re taking this one game at a time. At the end of the day we are happy where we are. We could be even better if we would have made some better choices. But we’re striving to get better every game. Yesterday I told the guys ‘We need to make sure we don’t get too big of heads. We need to think that we are 0-0-0.’ Every time approaching it that way; we’re going to give the guys Sunday and Monday off and we’re going to forget about this game and focus on LA. I think the guys really enjoy those kind of things. We’re not going to dwell on our record. We’re just going to get back to working harder and keep this going. “
On the performance of Aaron Maund:
“He is getting better and better and better. He’s taking care of his body and he is really turning into a professional. He’s doing work with Tyrone, we’re doing video, he is just really focused right now. These kind of things are excellent for the rest of our players that are seeing him go from not making 18’s to just making 18’s to getting some spot starts to becoming a starter last year and now building and becoming better. It’s a beautiful thing and I’m really happy for him. You’re starting to see that with Justen Glad. That’s a great thing. I can tell you one thing, Jamison Olave is working his tail off right now and I really like our center back situation. There is a lot of competition. That is a beautiful thing for us.”
On Vancouver controlling the first 20 minutes of play:
“They have dangerous players and they were playing pretty direct. I thought we were bending but we didn’t break. Obviously at the end of the day not everything is going to go your way. WE talked about how we wanted to start the game and that didn’t quite happen. We weren’t great with the ball, turning it over easy and then dealing with it. The goalkeeper made a great save, one of their center backs sacrificed himself to make a great play. I thought Kyle and John did a really good job for their first time playing together all year in their defensive role. It settled down and we started to get going a little bit and then it was building and building and building. That’s what you want.”
On all the clubs giving them their best shot:
“I’m sure LA is going to want to do that. I really don’t know how to answer that. Let’s just go to work. Let’s go to work on Tuesday. Do the best that we can to prepare. Then we also have a belief. We’ve been doing this on the road as well. It’s not like we’ve only been getting home results. We’ve been grinding out road games. We want to get three points in LA and do the right things and the result will come the way we want it to.”
Forward Juan Manuel Martinez
On his goal:
“It was an important score but it’s more important for you to score to win a game.”
On his bursts of creativity in the attack:
“I improvise. It depends on what the other team does. You can’t start a play thinking ‘I’m going to do that.’ You have to see what the opponent’s going to do.”
On what is making the team successful:
“We have a very good team. With a good keeper and defense and at the moment, we’ve scored every game. When you score every game you have a good chance to win.”
On the changes in the second half:
“Of course, the first half we didn’t play good but the second half was different. We changed our minds. We moved higher and gave high pressure and we kept the ball and we played better. We have to do that from the first minute.”
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando
On two straight home shutouts:
“We’re just working hard. Everyone is covering for each other. Every game just trying to get a little bit better. Today wasn’t our best game but we definitely worked hard. Made some special plays and kept a zero.”
On the defensive effort:
“Yeah they’re great. I think everyone would put their hand up and say we have to get a little tighter. They got behind us a lot in the first half, but we dealt with the situation and that’s a good thing. When we’re put in some difficult situations and you can come out of them because the guy next to you is helping you out, that means you’re doing something right and these guys on the back line are working hard and we’ll continue to work hard.”
On the feeling of an unbeaten locker room:
“There is some confidence for sure. Like I told the guys before the game, it’s nice to see but I want to be on top at the end of the season. We don’t stay there unless we continue to work hard day in and day out and bring these performances and effort to each game.”
On playing in his 399th career game and the possibility of reaching 400 next week:
“I’m lucky. I’m lucky to get there. A lot of hard work obviously from myself, but teammates and coaches and I’m not stopping soon. Chasing all those records.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Head Coach Carl Robinson
On the game:
“We didn’t make it in today and unfortunately it comes back to bite you in the bum when you miss chance after chance. Unfortunately we’re going to have to take that.”
On RSL’s attack:
“I think every team has got the excitement at attacking plays. Salt Lake’s front three really plays very dangerous. They at the moment have scored a number of goals and create a number of chances. Every team has them. We have ours. Unfortunately ours aren’t scoring at the moment, but we created chances. You only need one chance to score a goal, and that’s what happened today, so credit to them for that. They pick up the 3 points. We’re going home with nothing, but I was proud of our forwards today because we didn’t play well last week in D.C. I wanted a response from them and they certainly gave me a response.”
On halftime in locker room after missed chances in the first half:
“They were a group of young guys in there, so when things don’t go your way, sometimes you think negative things and negative thoughts. I said just to keep going and we did keep going. We knew the first goal of any MLS game was crucial, unfortunately we didn’t get it. They did, so we just have to go again. We press ourselves down again tomorrow. We fly back to Vancouver and got to get back to work. It’s disappointing, because I think we deserve something out of the game, but football is disappointing sometimes.”
Goalkeeper David Ousted
On the game plan:
“I thought we had done well this week. I thought we dominated portions especially the first half and had our chances, but goals change games. That’s what we got to recognize. I thought the guys up front did extremely well, but we need to put those chances in. If we do that it’s a different game. All in all performance wise, I think we did great.”
On bouncing back after big loss in DC:
“We would have wanted a result here and bounce back, but again we need to take the performance in and take the positives from that and then go back to work. It’s a rough patch right now, but it’s about getting back out. It’s about sticking together now and grinding it out. We know with MLS seasons there are going to be rough patches once and awhile and it’s about sticking together and pulling through.”
On next week’s opponent against Dallas:
“The games can’t come soon enough. I think Dallas is a strong team. They’re a good away team. Their speed makes them a good counter-attacking team. It’s going to be a tough match, but we’re looking forward to getting back home in BC place and putting on hopefully a performance.”
Midfielder Andrew Jacobson
Takeaways from the match:
“I thought we started well, played, came out well and gave ourselves chances to score some goals. We pressed well and couldn’t get that goal. In the end they grabbed one towards the end and then we’re pushing and it kind of opened up at that point but I think before the goal we did fairly well. We gave ourselves pretty good chance to win the game honestly.”
On moving forward:
“Totally different. I think we played well. We came out and did what we wanted to do and gave them trouble, so it’s a result we don’t want obviously, but this is something we can build off of.”
