MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 2 : 1 PORTLAND TIMBERS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2012 – RIO TINTO STADIUM – SANDY, UTAH
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On Saborio’s performance:
“I think the first two goals I saw him score, they don’t get much easier than that. I think that he has to be very appreciative of the work that the players around him did to set those up, because those were both tap-ins. The third goal was certainly something special. The performance by everybody tonight was very, very positive.”
Thoughts on the match:
“For whatever reason, we had a good night. We went out there with the right mentality, we tried to press on their half of the field early on and won some balls there and made things happen. Obviously, the second goal was all about having people in their half of the field and winning it there. The direction from the coaching staff was taken on board by the players. We have to be very appreciative of that. I think a lot of things went right for us tonight, that’s a mistake that [Dan] Kennedy probably hasn’t made all year and he probably won’t make in the next four games that [Chivas USA] plays. All in all, our guys just really played well tonight.”
On keeping intensity throughout the match:
“I think after the second goal we weren’t great. They had a lot of chances and a lot of dangerous plays from I think minute 15 to minute 45. I don’t think that we did well enough in that stretch of the game, but then our performance in the second half, after getting the guys in the locker room was very good again. I think that we’re still after 90 minutes of complete soccer, and I think tonight we got 65-70. I think we’re improving a little bit.”
REAL SALT LAKE GK NICK RIMANDO
Thoughts on the match:
“A good offense was the best defense tonight. The guys fought hard, from the forwards to the defenders. They made my job easy. It was a good victory that we needed going into the playoffs.”
On the team’s ability to score:
“I think the quality of our finishes [was great]. [It’s good when we’re] playing simple when we need to play simple and have the threat of our strikers and our whole midfield getting into the offensive third.”
On the team’s mentality:
“We knew this was a big game, not a must win - but a big game for us. At the end of the season you try to get as many points as you can and today that was the mentality going into the game. The guys capitalized on that. All week we talked about going forward and getting offensive threats and that’s exactly what we did today.
REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD ALVARO SABORIO
Thoughts on the match:
“Very happy with the victory and performance of the team and the win on the road. We worked hard to create chances and score, the midfielders did their job to get chances.”
On the team’s mentality:
“Very positive, we have to think that every game is a playoff game and keep it like that.”
CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER:
Thoughts on the game:
“I thought we actually started off the game pretty well. First half I thought we were decent. We created a number of opportunities, but once again shot ourselves in the foot. It’s always difficult to compete if you make critical mistakes and give teams leads and it was disappointing because certainly we felt like throughout the first half we were dangerous very often. Obviously, we didn’t make good on our chances and we gave away too many chances.”
On the ‘fight’ in the team:
“I think that this team has been pretty resilient, if not efficient, for many of the games down this difficult stretch. Giving away a couple opportunities early in a game where we’re actually playing pretty well, I think, is a season’s worth of frustration building up and probably coming to the surface in the last few minutes of the game. I think all throughout the year, we’ve made too many critical mistakes at critical points in games.”
On rebuilding the team:
“You don’t have a season like this and go without changes. Certainly you evaluate everything and determine where you can make your changes. It’s a results-oriented business – I do understand that results are key and certainly there is a process that goes into rebuilding a team.”
CHIVAS USA DEFENDER ANTE JAZIC
Thoughts on the game:
“We conceded four goals, a large number again. We didn’t play too poorly, we had some moments but in the end just individual mistakes and sloppiness in the back and just in possession in our final third where we conceded soft goals that put us behind the ball and it’s difficult to play from there.”
On Chivas’ opportunities:
“We had some opportunities but we were down [2-0] in the first 11 minutes. We were forced in the game, we got stretched out a bit and they scored two more goals in the second half. We can’t start games like that. We can’t give teams a two goal lead and then expect to win that game. There were some positives in the [4-0] loss, we had some good moments going forward but when you lose four to nothing, nothing’s really good.”
On the missing element to improve team’s performance: “We just need to be able to score some goals. Get a lead for once and not always be playing from behind. It’s difficult when you’re chasing the game.”
CHIVAS USA MIDFIELDER PETER VAGENAS
Thoughts on the game:
“They are a very good team to begin with. Normally when a game goes like that, the team that falls behind gets on the back foot, that’s just natural tendencies but I think we came into half time and the message was ‘the next goal is going to win this game.’ We felt it was that type of game. As the game went on, we had to continue to push because there’s no point in losing 2-0 and we left ourselves exposed again. They are a quality team with some quality players and they made us pay.”
On the team’s mindset:
“It definitely is difficult, sometimes the simple things become harder when you’re in a streak like this and the only thing you can do is put your head down and continue to fight. There are a lot of prideful people on this team and you know we’re going to fight.”
On Chivas’ scoring opportunities:
“It doesn’t feel impossible, but it doesn’t seem to be going our way in front of the goal. Their third goal where [Alvaro] Saborio spun [the ball] and then chipped it, had that been us it would have hit the post. That’s a feeling, and again, the only way to get out of that is to put your head down and continue to fight and try to manufacture something.”
