QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 1-1 SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
RIO TINTO STADIUM; July 22, 2016
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Jeff Cassar
On his dropping points at home:
“Thinking right now without everything in front of me, the kinds of goals we’re giving up which is dead-ball situations which are tough. It is something that we really try and pride ourselves on and not having let downs. We had those. The next one would be the timing of the goals that we’re giving up. There’s critical times during the game, we gave up two against Inter, back against D.C. I think the list can go on. You can even go to the beginning of the year obviously. I think we’re doing a lot of really good things I think we’re creating more chances than I think we ever have as a club. I have full belief in our players and full belief in the staff and the things we’re doing. But right now instead of finding a way to win we’re finding a way to tie or lose in certain circumstances. But, I 100% think that they’re fixable we just need to keep believing in each other and keep believing in what we’re doing. I think you guys are enjoying the game, you’re enjoying it aren’t you? The way we’re playing the way we’re creating chances. I love that part and now we need to start sticking it in the back of the net against these teams and winning these games that we should.”
On the team’s record when trailing at halftime and the team’s resiliency:
“It does show, thank you for that it does show the character that we have. We’ve got a lot of good leaders on our team and experienced players and they recognize those situations. Yes we’re frustrated without a doubt. We’re feeling like this is a loss even though it’s a tie that we came back from, but we’re believing and we’re sticking together. I think we’re miles and miles ahead of where we were last year mentally. We just haven’t been rewarded for what we’re doing. That’s tough, it’s hard to come in and paint a pretty picture of ties at home. But we’re still undefeated at home which is important. We picked up a point, they didn’t pick up three in this circumstance. But, now we’re going to have to go on the road and continue to play how we play at home on the road. And if we do that, without a doubt we can get three points at both places and then come home.”
On not bringing in Allen for Morales:
“I think the final pass from Javi [Morales] on that goal was fantastic. That is what it takes to break down a team that is playing a lot of good defense, especially at home. I wanted to make sure the energy level was high and Javi had put in a pretty good shift. He had just picked it up within the last few minutes and showed a burst and showed he could make it to the end. We wanted to bring in Demar [Phillips] more attacking ideas down the left side. I thought our substitutions did very well. I thought Olmes [Garcia] was dangerous, bright and lively and he’s knocking on the door to get goals. I think we’re all knocking on the door to get goals. I wanted to move Javi a bit deeper to spring somebody forward with a deeper final ball. Luke [Mulholland] had put in an amazing shift and worked his tail off and I just thought it was the right move.”
On Movsisyan’s possible injury:
“I haven’t spoken to him. I saw him very briefly at halftime and it’s pretty tender. So obviously I’ll talk to the doctors and the trainers and Yura to figure it out. But yes, it is very concerning especially with this three game stretch we don’t want to get thin anywhere and Yura is a big part of this team.”
On relying on others if Yura is out for any amount of time:
“Obviously there becomes more pressure to perform. Not to just put in a good work rate but to also finish the opportunities that you get. I’m not going to try and put pressure on Olmes to score, we just want to put him in the positions to do that. Put the other players in the positions to help him. Everyone on our team this year has contributed. I think everyone has a start except maybe one. So that’s not going to be any different. Omar [Holness] has played a lot of minutes and he’s an offensive player and he’ll help us out. I think all those games and all of those opportunities and experiences that those players got earlier in the year are going to help us especially now if we have a few injuries.”
Midfielder Luke Mulholland
On if the team is less predictable in the attack:
“Tonight is a difficult one. I think tonight we had a good balance of our midfielders joining the attack and trying to make those late runs and give an extra option for whoever has the ball to play. As much as we could without taking too much of a risk we tried to get players forward to catch them off guard and be unpredictable. At the end of the day we only scored one goal again, so it’s disappointing, frustrating. Especially when we concede from a set piece, and then we get a handful of corners and we can’t capitalize on that. That’s frustrating for us, but we are happy that we got the goal and tied it up, but frustrated and disappointed that we didn’t get all three points because that is now four home games in a row where we’ve tied. That’s four points out of possible 12. We are averaging 33%, so it’s not great. Obviously, it could be worse – we could be losing them all. But it could be better – we could be winning them all. That’s the mindset we have – that we should be winning every game we play at home.”
On the difficulty of attacking a team that scored first early:
“It’s an uphill challenge. I think the one they scored in the first ten minutes was a flick on from [Jordan] Stewart. It hit me in the chest and bounced perfectly to [Chris] Wondolowski. He’s made a career of just goals like that. I think that’s his 117th goal that he’s scored and I wouldn’t be surprised how many of those are inside the 18 or the 12-yard box. We know he’s a quality player and that if we give him half a yard, he’s going to punish us. We’re our own worst enemies at times by handing these teams a goal in the first half and then having to just fight so hard to get back in the game – never mind taking control of the game and dictating the play when we have the lead.”
On Javier Morales’ assist:
“Great pass from Javier. You guys have seen him for plenty of seasons. He can make those passes every day in his sleep. Like I said before, I was trying to get up the field, especially in the second half as much as possible. Obviously weighing the risk-reward with Kyle [Beckerman] covering me at times. So I could make that late run in the box and that was a great ball from him to me.”
On how the momentum shifted after scoring:
“That’s football. That’s how the momentum swings in football. They score in the first 10 minutes and then we’re worrying about them scoring the second goal and really being an uphill challenge. It was a good first that we were able to get the equalizer – I think in the 60th minute. That still gives us 30 minutes to get the second goal – plenty of time. I feel like we wore them down. We had the three substitutions that came on and really punched this team while they were tired. I felt we did that and just were unfortunate not to get the second goal. We need to just shake this monkey off our back that I feel like right now. We are doing everything we can in our power. I feel like everyone is working hard. There were about 3 or 4 players that dropped to the floor when they heard final whistle blow – they were exhausted. You definitely can’t question the guy’s commitment and the effort that they put in week in week out. If we keep working the results will come, but that’s four games in a row at home that we’ve tied. When is enough enough? But on the flip side of things we’ve got to stay positive and keep building. Point by point, we’re adding to however many points we’ve got. It just feels like right now that there’s a lot of teams in our conference that are right there with the same amount of points and we’ve just got to make sure that we stay towards the top of that pack instead of the bottom. But I’m confident that we can go to Philadelphia and Toronto and come back with 4 points. And then Chicago at home. I’ll say a prayer before that game and hopefully we get the three points and then we can really kick on for the rest of the season because that will be our last tough week with three games in a week. And then after that we can really knuckle down, give our bodies time to rest before each game, and hopefully you’ll see the ball banging into the back of net and you’ll see all our goal scorers getting to double figures.”
Defender Tony Beltran
Overall thoughts:
“Of course you’re frustrated to let points slip away at home. In this league, if you’re going to be an elite team, you’ve got to win your home games. To have tied the last… in this run here at home – it’s not good enough. So it’s disappointing in that aspect, but I think we’re playing good soccer, I think everybody is doing the right things, but I just think the bounces aren’t going our way right now. This happens in MLS during the course of a long season. I think the important things is not starting to point fingers, not get down on each other, just keep trying to do the right things and believe it will come.”
On Yura Movsisyan’s injury:
“Hopefully he’s okay. We’ve got a few days off here. Obviously we’re not playing until the end of next weekend. He’s been a force for us this year. I thought Olmes [Garcia] did a very good job coming in. It’s difficult at times to come in then there’s an early injury, but hopefully Yura’s ready next weekend. If not, I know Olmes is up for the challenge.”
On Olmes Garcia’s progression:
“I think Olmes has such athleticism and such desire and passion to our team. He’s so fast and he’s constantly working, working, working to make something happen. It’s great having him come off the bench or play a more consistent role as a starter. I think he’s capable either way.”
On taking 15 points from a losing position so far this year:
“I think [tonight] is still losing points at home. I think you can look at how we’ve done a lot of things right, but still – like I keep saying – if you want to be an elite team in this league you’ve got to take care of your games at home. It’s very difficult getting points on the road. Look at next week – we’ve got two games on the road in the Eastern Conference – it’s going to be tough. I hope that at the end of the year we’re not looking back on this and saying what could have been.”
San Jose Earthquakes
Head Coach Dominic Kinnear
On if the momentum of the team was building during this game:
“Yes and no. Yes because we scored the first goal and I thought we were playing well and then at the end of the game I thought we were kind of hanging on. They maybe think they could have got three points but with Shea Salinas hitting the crossbar at the end there and some other chances that we had we could have scored another goal. That’s the way the game went. I’m pretty happy with the guys, great effort tonight.”
On if there are other strikers that finish as well as Chris Wondolowski:
“Yeah there are a couple of guys. Robbie Keane is a good one. When Landon Donovan was playing he was pretty good too. Wondo is in good company when you mention those names when you are talking about Chris. He seems to get his goals. His movement was in the box was good. The ball went over his head he turns his run around and he put away nice so good for him.”
On placing focus on less than ideal road record:
“Of course we do. Our next game is on the road as well. It’s not like we’re not trying to win. We scored the first goal tonight and I thought that we looked positive and aggressive as the game was going. Tough life on the road. But it will be good to get it since we have a western conference game coming up. Those are some big points swings in points. If you can pick up a win on the road it’s going to be good for you. I think it breathes confidence into the team as well.”
On feeling closer to the first road win:
“Yeah I do feel closer. The one before this was at Chicago I think and I didn’t think we played particularly well. We’ve been competitive in all the games; we haven’t gotten run off the field. Tonight, like I said, we could be sitting here talking about a win but we’re talking about a tie. So we are close. It would be nice to get that one.”
Forward Chris Wondolowski
On his goal:
“Yeah, right place, right time. Good ball by Simon, Jordan Stewart got a head too and just kind of skimmed off and then deflected off someone and bounced to me.”
On the upcoming schedule:
“We just have to stay the course. We did a lot of positives but I still think that we have to learn from our mistakes and learn from some things from this game. When we start putting it all together, the full 90 minutes together, then that’s when we’ll get a win. I think right now we are putting a good 60, 70 minutes together but have a lapse here and there. But, to be fair, Salt Lake is a good team here. I thought they played well but we still don’t like losing especially on the road, or anytime.”
On what will earn the team points:
“Just staying mentally sharp. I think we also need to have that killer instinct offensively and defensively. We had a few chances in the first half and if we finish that, 2-0,it’s a lot different. It’s something that we need to keep working on. We need to stay more compact defensively as well.”
On his mentality:
“My mentality doesn’t change much. Whether scoring or not. Just have to go out there and keep trying to do that. We need to start collecting some wins though. That’s the biggest and most important thing right now and we need to keep playing more cohesive as a team.”
