Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 1-2 Seattle Sounders FC
Lumen Field; Seattle, Washington
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Head Coach Freddy Juarez
On the match:
“It’s a tough game. You come into Seattle and you know they are going to be full of energy. It was the biggest crowd they have had in a while so they were buzzing. It took us a little bit. We knew where the spaces were, but because of their energy it forced us to lose the ball a little bit more than usual, especially in the first half. We really had to get the ball from the center of the park to the wide areas. If we got them to commit over to the wide area, we needed to get it over to the other side. That’s how you move a 3-5-2. First half we weren't very good at that. Second half we got better, you started seeing the ball moving from side to side. When we made the subs we started moving the ball a little more, they brought us some energy and created the PK. We put ourselves in a situation where we could maybe get out of here with a point. The message to the guys was that I saw a lot of commitment, energy and fight out of a united group. Sometimes those games go your way and sometimes they don’t. If we want to continue to grow as a team, we have to leave here with a point. That’s where we want to be. This is the best team in MLS right now and we competed, especially in the second half. We will take some things that we could've done better, like not losing focus in the final phase of the game and we leave here with a point, but that's it. Now we focus on Houston.”
On mistakes being fixable going forward:
“There were three unlucky plays that cost us, but I saw a lot of commitment from the guys. A lot more good than bad. A lot to build on. This is a tough place to come, they are a good team and we were there. I thought we would have risked a little bit more by shooting more at goal because we got into good areas so that is something that we can fix. If we want to continue to grow and be a team that is competing for the top stops, we need to be a little bit more courageous in the final third. When we are facing the goal, shoot, who knows what will come of it. Then we have to clean up the lack of concentration. They were condensed in the middle of the pitch so we had to be efficient there, get it into the wide areas and then we would’ve been able to breathe and advance the ball. On that first one we scrambled a bit in the box because there was desperation and we didn't react to the rebound well enough. On the second goal I thought we could’ve done a little bit better in clearing it when it got to Ochoa’s feet instead of trying to make something out of nothing. Then we scrambled again in transition and we didn’t handle the cross the best. I don’t know if it was a PK or not. I am getting a lot of messages that are saying it hits the body twice before hitting the hand so I’ve got to look at the rule, but it's all very fixable. It’s more concentration than anything else.”
On Bobby Wood’s debut:
“Strong body. Rubio [Rubin] was dealing with those big boys in there. Seattle has three big centerbacks that a lot of teams struggle with, especially with their back to goal. I saw a few moments when we just played it to Bobby [Wood], they tried to jump over him and they just hit a wall. I think that is going to be very good. As soon as the ball gets wide he wants to get into the box, I think that is another good thing. He is another aggressive player that wants to score goals and win games and that’s important. Leadership as well, you saw him talking to guys. Even though he is new to the team he wanted to help the team win the game and that is very important.”
Forward Rubio Rubin
On the two-striker pairing with Bobby Wood:
“It was good. Ultimately when the subs came in there was renewed energy on the field. Bobby [Wood] has been here for a little over a week now. We talked on the field and helped each other out, but we’re still figuring eachother out. I know a little bit about him from the national team. It was good to be side-by-side with him. It was good for him as well to get his legs under him. Obviously we are just gutted with the result, especially at the end of the game.”
On the result:
“We knew that Seattle was the hottest team in MLS and we knew that they are able to play very well at home, especially on turf. We fought hard the whole game. We were tied up with five or six minutes to go and to give up a goal like that, it's tough. It’s gutting. We just have to throw this game behind us and move on because Saturday is coming quickly. We can’t dwell on this loss. We have to recover and get ready for Saturday.”
On the pressure to get results:
“As a team we understand that it’s been more than a few games now that we’ve given up goals late. We just have to find ways to get the result. Ultimately that’s what makes a very good team great. I think we are a good team. We have to figure out ways to kill the game and be smart, especially in these moments. It happened again and we have to work on it. At the same time we need to have a killer mentality to be able to kill a game. At the end of the game here, Seattle was able to kill the game and keep us in their half at the end and we have to find ways to do that. Even if we have to come out with a tie in Seattle, a point is important, especially at the end of the season when the points start to add up and really matter. We just have to work on those things. It’s a collective thing. We have to figure it out as a whole team, it isn’t just defenders and goalkeepers. As a whole team we have to figure out how to kill the game.”
