Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jeff Cassar
On finishing the season with 56 points with largely a new coaching staff
“It feels great. Obviously we’re extremely blessed to have such an incredible group of men in that locker room. As far as the staff, we came together quickly; that started in the preseason. It’s a great group to work with. We are all passionate about the team. But we still all have a lot of work to do and that is exciting. It’s a credit to the guys in the locker room; to the core group of that have been here for a while.”
On what he’ll be doing this Saturday to prepare for the playoffs
“I’ll definitely be in front of the TV. Scouting, preparing. I’m going to be preparing for two teams, Vancouver and Portland and then we’ll see where it goes from there. It’s definitely not time to sit on the couch and relax. I’ll be taking notes and preparing. Not rooting for anything. I’m just going to prepare my team the best that I can.”
On finishing the season with three straight shutouts
“It’s very important. It’s important for all those guys in the locker room. We were aggressive with our attacking. We were aggressive with our defending. So to get a shutout in this game was huge.”
On sensing a different attitude this time around against Chivas
“This is an experienced group of players that know what time of the season this is. We had been preparing for Portland as a playoff game, this was a playoff game. I was really pleased with the overall urgency that our guys played with, both offensively and defensively.”
Real Salt Lake DF Nat Borchers
On the form of the team
“Three straight shut outs and I think the fight has been good for us. The battle is like what you’re looking for when you’re making a playoff run, so we’re heading in the right direction.”
On Jeff Cassar’s first season
“Jeff came in and wanted to submit some new ideas and he wanted to be more aggressive, he wanted to play more out of the back. I think that we have definitely done that. We’ve been more aggressive and we tried to play more out of the back. With 56 points, definitely a good season from that standpoint.”
On 56 points only potentially putting the team into 4th place and what that says about the West
“It’s funny, because I kind of thought the Supporters’ Shield would go to a team in the East, just because the good teams are ganging up on the teams that are not so good over there, but LA and Seattle kind of ran away with the race and the West is tough. I think that the quality in the West is so good. You got Dallas, LA, Seattle, us, Dallas, Portland some very good teams.”
On going undefeated against the East this year
“We talk about that a lot. It’s interesting how it played out this year in terms of points, but what can you do? You can’t just make the East better, you know, overnight. There’s going to be some shifts in the East and the West over time, and I think unfortunately for us we’re in possibly 4th place in the 4th or 5th place game in the West with a lot of points.”
Real Salt Lake DF Chris Wingert
On Jeff Cassar’s first season
“One of the big reasons why they wanted to hire Jeff is that we could keep things similar and it would be an easy transition for the players, someone that we know, like and respect. I think they were hoping that it would turn out kind of like how it is, and obviously we want to challenge for the Supporters’ Shield, but at the same time we’re in the same region again and unfortunately a couple of teams had an awesome year, so we find ourselves a little lower in the standings going into the playoffs, but the only time we ever won a championship was when we were in a lower seed. The postseason takes on a life of its own and we’re going to have to reset our goals and just kind of prepare as best we can for whoever it is that we’re going to play and then we will go from there. Whether that’s playing in the playing game more, in the 2-3 matchup, it doesn’t matter in that sense. We just have to play the hand we’re dealt.
On which team he is rooting for this weekend
“Well Portland. I’d rather not have to play that extra game. In terms of the Seattle-LA matchup, take your pick. I think either way it’s going to be an incredibly tough challenge for us. Not only are both great teams, but we have had great matchups with both teams in the playoffs multiple times. I think it would be a little bit fitting to be able to play LA, just because of Landon going out and the fact that between the two teams there have been so many finals and represented the West and stuff, but Seattle we had a great rivalry with too and we’re excited to play here or at their place.”
On what was different with Chivas tonight compared to the first two games this season
“We scored. Seriously. I know it sounds silly and I’m not trying to be sarcastic, but that’s the name of the game. You have to bury teams when you have them on the ropes. Even though I would say this game we had a ton of chances. Last game, even though we had like 70 or 75 percent possession, we didn’t have a lot of clear cut chances. Last game we did. We didn’t score right away, but we kept getting after it and then buried one, and keep pushing, keep pushing and eventually buried another. Still maybe not as good as we like, but a little better job of limiting their chances and their counter attacks.”
Real Salt Lake MF Ned Grabavoy
On the team’s consistency
“I think obviously everyone in this group would expect that we would be in the playoffs somewhere. Where we end up now, we will see. There’s obviously some really good teams in the West. Seattle and LA in particular with the points. They have had unbelievable seasons. I’m not quite sure where the whole league is, but I think we might finish top 5 in points again, 4th or 5th something like that. And so I think it’s sometimes overlooked. I just think that sports fans in general like to see consistency. We like to see the flair of the unknown, which is completely different and completely understandable, but I think this group has been just very, very consistent over the past 6 or 7 years. We will see how it goes in the playoffs. We know that we’re going to have to line up with one of the big boys, but we know that we can play with them, and we know that we can be successful.”
On playing under Jeff Cassar
“I think going into the season it’s not just Jeff. It’s a completely new staff that he has, so it’s a lot of new faces on the coaching staff. I think that their biggest goal this off season I think was to keep things as constant as they could. I think we probably made less changes to the group than we have had any other year since I’ve been here, and we’ve probably made less changes than any other team in the league, so I think that when we have a veteran core like that, you can lean on those guys. Like I said, when you go through rough patches in this league, it’s that group of guys that you know you can roll out week in and week out and have confidence that these guys are going to get you points going forward. We have had a consistent group here. We have been consistent with our play and like I said, we’re kind of right where we have always been, so it’s just a bit more of the same for us.”
On the mentality shift going into the playoffs
“We kind of always find ourselves in this position a little bit. Obviously there’s the danger of the play-in game, but we kind of always find ourselves in a position where the Supporters’ Shield is a little bit out of reach, and so we have these last handful of games where we’re jockeying for position a little bit, but ultimately we know that this season is about to start, so now that this game is over, I think that the thought process is where the flip just switches and we think to ourselves that the season is just beginning now, so I think that we all collectively feel that in this locker room. The important time has come now.”
