QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 2-4 FC Dallas
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
March 30, 2019
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On the game:
“The opening goal, within a minute, we came out — for whatever reason — a bit flat. Everything I say tonight, everything I say in this, I’m going to say this right now — it all comes back to me. I don’t want to keep saying that, it comes back to me, but it does. I’m the coach, I prepare the team, I spend a week training them. I thought this was one of our best weeks of training from preseason. Last week was an unbelievable week of training and we had a good showing last week. Tonight, I’ll say this, we donated two goals and a red card, and that’s why we lost this game. If we finish 11 v. 11, we win this game tonight. What character we showed, the players showed, down a man to score two goals, but against a young, energetic, talented passing team for 75 minutes, we’re going to get exhausted — and we did. We shot ourselves in the foot and it starts with me, but some promising things out there.”
On four red cards this season:
“I want my guys to fight, I want my guys to stand up for themselves, I want my guys to compete. Do I think all four red cards were justified? Do you think they were? Honestly? Be honest with me. Maybe you do. … Do I wish we didn’t have four red cards? Absolutely.”
On addressing red cards:
“Don’t get red cards, simple as that. How do you discuss that? I’ve played, there is passion that goes into it. I've said it for 20 years, players aren't robots. It’s not a remote control game, I wish it was. Maybe I would have one of my assistant coaches sit up stairs with a remote control. Any time he would see an aggravation goal from a player or passion goal from a player, with someone standing over them and yelling at them you could press the X button on the controller, you know it’s the calming button. We don’t have that! We are humans. Do I think Damir meant to get up and headbutt him? No, not at all. For anyone that knows Damir, they know he is the calmest guy on my team. Do I think he got up and headbutted him? No, I don’t, that is just my opinion.”
On the positive moments of the match:
“The positives were to me that going down a goal and a man, a man down scoring two goals and creating good stuff in transition. I thought we were actually pretty good defensively a man down and it just takes one moment, one bad step, bad pass and it’s in the back of the net. So I am always trying to look for positives. The positive was that we scored two goals a man down, for 75 minutes and we gave them two goals and a red card.”
On FC Dallas:
“Like I said, Luchi is a friend of mine and I respect what he’s doing there. They did a great job in the beginning as far as limiting our opportunities to build out. Like you said they were they were a very big sideline press team. If you don’t find those second and third outlets through the lines or switch on a point of attack you get in trouble. They did a very good job the first 10-12 minutes for sure.”
On losing being a man down:
“Its a regular three-game losing streak. It doesn’t matter how many players are on the field. I understand what you’re saying but no it doesn’t give me comfort that we lost because we were down men. At all.”
On playing Rusnák after the international break:
“Albert came back on Monday so we had Tuesday training, Wednesday rest because we have a day off, Thursday-Friday training. No hesitation at all and I thought that he did well. It was tough because we were under the gun the first 10-12 minutes and then four minutes later we’re down a man so I thought there were very good moments. Corey came back, [his] first day of practice was Thursday and he had a bit of a head and chest cold so logic tells you after being away for that long... he’s not someone that we felt comfortable starting. Not because of any other reason than what I just said. And Sam Johnson got back yesterday morning and didn’t train once with the team all week so Albert was here for three training sessions, felt good and didn’t feel anything from jetlag. I thought he did well in key moments tonight and that’s why he came off towards the end as well because we knew his travel was going to catch up with him.”
Defender Nedum Onuoha
On maintaining possession:
“It was hard out there because they like to keep the ball. So, I think it's very hard sometimes, especially when you're home to just sit back and wait for a moment. I think it was about patience and trust in the game for as long as we could and obviously can see that the third goal was a shame, but I think overall you know, we we've kind of stuck to that.”
On red cards in three consecutive matches:
“I think a lot of people today were probably surprised the way we reacted today. So that's not normal for [Damir] over his entire career. Jefferson, I can’t see him getting another red card again in his career. Then there's a contentious role with Marcelo as well, the week before. Portillo again, for me, that’s not a red card. I think if we lacked real discipline, then it would be a bigger problem. But for me, I don't want to see it that way.”
On the frustration of red cards:
“It's disappointing. And it's disappointing, today with someone like Damir because he's a massive player for the side and when he's not playing we miss him. A lot of the things that we do throughout the week is he's one of our main assets both attacking and defending. So, it was a shame but that’s football.”
Midfielder Albert Rusnák
On the game:
“The only positive would be that we scored two goals with a man down. It was difficult playing a man down again from early on. Overall, it was a tough game.”
On playing with a man down:
“It’s kind of a balance because you still want to try and win the game with a man down and you want to attack, but they always have the advantage with one man and you could see it on the field. It was too much today.”
On the mentality of the group:
“What killed us tonight was that every time we came back into the game with a one-goal difference, within a minute they scored the next one and I feel like the fourth goal was a killer for us.”
FC Dallas
Head Coach Luchi Gonzalez
On the teams performance:
“From the beginning we ended up getting a play in transition that led to the early goal. Scoring that early is positive but also a challenge because you know the other team is going to respond right away which RSL did, even with a man down. I think there were some emotions and some competitive fire there that led to some cards but we have to move forward and deal with the situation the best we can. They were a man down but they were still dangerous with some counters and never gave up but we have to stay competitive and find a way to win.”
On the difference between the first two road games:
“Every game is going to be different whether it’s home or away. We want to compete and play with our idea, our style, and try to win. I thought we showed a lot of flashes of that today. We’ve got to continue to get better though if you want to do this consistently.”
On Paxton Pomykal:
“He's a mature young player that’s no acting like he’s made it in any way. He’s just trying to work hard and help the team and fill his role, and he’s doing it in a way that led to goals. In other games it led to transitional plays or a key pass. That’s the type of person he is and player he is and we’re lucky to have him.”
On Jesus Ferreria:
“Intelligence, timing, and technique. Just doing what he’s good at and knowing that his game is one that relies on smart movement and timing as opposed to physicality and athleticism. He’s showing that he’s a footballer. He had some smart movements at the 9 or false 9 position and put himself around the goal. He just continues to contribute and help the team.”
Midfielder Paxton Pomykal
On the match:
“We played well, obviously they had a red card early but even before that we scored a goal. We tried to implement ourselves in the game, home or away we play the same way. We can’t control how they acted and got the red card we just have to adapt to the game and play with what’s given.”
On personal performance:
“I’m happy with the goals but at the end of the day I’m happy that we won. It’s key to get points on the road for the season. This is our second road trip, the first one we lost, so it’s good to be able to go on the road and get a win and get that out of the way so we know that whenever we go on the road we can do it.”
On response to RSL scoring goals:
“We need to be better about killing out the game, obviously we were up two goals and we gave them a goal and every time they scored we came back really quickly and scored a goal right back. We were never in doubt that we didn’t have control of the game I thought we had control of the game the whole time and that was a good thing.”
Forward Jesus Ferreira
On the match:
“I think we went out there and executed the plan that Luchi gave us. I think we went into it with the mentality if we do everything right, things will go good for us. I just feel good that I can help the team with a win today, if that was with an assist or a goal, I am always happy to help the team out.”
