Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 1-0 LA Galaxy
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT
April 30, 2022
Defender Aaron Herrera
On the backline:
“I think that was the backline for the majority of last year, so we definitely have a good rhythm together. We know where each other are going to be and the communication is really good. We got fairly lucky there at the end, but there was a bit of miscommunication. Zac [MacMath] told me to leave it, then I cleared it, they ended up scoring. But at the end of the day, it’s a shutout and we’re happy with it.”
On the confidence coming from this result:
“They have a ton of good attacking talent, but when teams come here, it’s always a little different. Their game plan almost seems a little different, and they didn’t attack quite as aggressively as they would at home. Nonetheless, they’ve got guys who have played all over the world, and getting a shutout against them was huge and definitely good for our confidence for sure.”
On the difficulty of defending against LA:
“Today, I thought we were solid. It’s hard work, you have to be willing to put in the work from front to back. Our front guys, they tend to make it easier on us so we didn’t get isolated too much in the back. Having [Maikel] Chang on my side, he’s very good at listening when I’m telling him to go left and go right, to sort of extinguish the attack before it even gets there. If we get isolated, we probably did something wrong, but at the end of the day, if you get isolated, you have to be able to handle your one v. ones, and we did that tonight.”
Goalkeeper Zac MacMath
On the miscommunication during stoppage time:
“It was a pretty high ball. I thought [Aaron Herrera] could’ve just let it go, and I was screaming ‘let it go,’ and then once everything unraveled, I sat there as the referee was waiting to look at VAR–I was like, ‘man, should I just scream louder next time? I can’t believe this happened.’ But thankfully, in the end, VAR called it back and we secured three points.”
On the chemistry of the team:
“Obviously after the New York game, we took a pretty hard look at ourselves, especially as a defensive unit. It was time to rattle off some shutouts and really dig deep, and we’ve certainly done that the last two games. If we continue to have defensive performances like that, the offense will come, the goals will come, hopefully, and we can continue to stay in talks for a playoff spot.”
On what he attributes success to:
“It certainly starts with Pablo [Mastroeni] and the rest of the coaching staff and the comments they tell me. Back at the New York game, they didn’t blink an eye about the six goals and that gives me all the confidence in the world. It’s also the guys around me, the guys in front of me, believing in me, talking to me, all of it brings confidence to me and hopefully my confidence gives them confidence as well.”
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
On Marcelo Silva’s decision making:
“I think he’s a very emotional person that wears his heart on his sleeve, but I think he really cares about his teammates. In the past, it felt like he was making decisions for himself, and now, he’s making decisions for the team. That’s a big part of why Marcelo [Silva] has been such a valuable member of our group because he’s making great decisions and being a team player. He’s such a leader, and that’s why he was captain.”
On what he told his team after the win:
“We talked about the mentality and the character of our group after our game in New York last week where we didn’t show up. It was basically a call to arms knowing that these next few games are going to define us. I thought it was a fantastic performance in Portland. Today, we came out against an LA team that has a lot of momentum and played well. We knew what we were up against: Chicharito [Javier Hernández] is one of the best strikers in the league. [Douglas] Costa, [Kevin] Cabral, and [Efrain] Alvarez were all fantastic. It was more about making sure we come away with a good result here at home, and I thought our performance justified that.”
On the struggles at the end of the game:
“I think it’s important to go back and watch the video so we have a collective understanding. We have to figure out how we can all think the same in these moments. We need to find a way to make these guys defend because we didn’t do that as much tonight. What is most important is we got the result. Tonight was like Toronto because at times we showed some of our best stuff this whole season. We tried to play in a moment that didn’t call for it. Now we’ll go back and look at this. I’ll emphasize again, what I ask is, that the players on the field make the decision in real-time. It’s about how they react and feel about these moments. The collective understanding has to be such that I’ve seen this moment before, and we learn from them. I think that’s what we have to continue to do: learn about ourselves as individuals and be on the same page as a collective. Whether you win or lose.”
