Quote Sheet
New York Red Bulls 1-0 Real Salt Lake
June 24, 2015; Red Bull Arena
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Jeff Cassar:
On playing with 9 men:
"It was extremely difficult, especially when you’re behind the eight ball giving up a goal in the first three minutes. Credit to the players for fighting back, even down to nine, we were still trying to play. Played really sound defensively and then try to get one or two or three good chances and we almost had one there."
On if he was disappointed that the Red Bulls came out more aggressive than his team early:
"We didn’t get a hold of the ball at all, we didn’t put the ball in behind them at all, we were giving up the ball in tough areas and within the first two or three minutes I think they had two or three corner kicks and then it felt like the pressure was on. We didn’t do a good job handling it that, it was something that we talked about, credit to them for the way they started the game. It’s something for us to learn from and get better."
On what the thought process was at half time with 10 men:
"The thought process was when we were down to 10 men was play good sound defense, try to gain as much ground on the field as possible, move our team up and create problems whether it was through corner kicks or free kicks and get into their half and I thought we did a fantastic job of that until we got the second red card which, was to say the least, weak. Extremely weak. It was awful. It seems like you can’t get a tackle in. You can push in from behind on headers, you can do all kinds of things, but you can’t get in a tackle anymore and that was a good tackle. Could’ve been a statement tackle, no one got hurt and we got a red card. It’s just unacceptable. And it changed the game. Credit to our players for grinding, covering for each other working hard, but it was unacceptable what happened. There’s no way I can get punished for saying that’s not a red card. It wasn’t a red card, it was a good tackle and sometimes good tackles spur on your team. He didn’t get hurt. I can’t tell you tomorrow that it wasn’t a good tackle. Can we say did you have to leave your feet? But, at the same time, that was clean."
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando
On the difficulty of the second half for him:
"Very tough, but not close to what it was for the guys in front of me. Those guys’ commitment, discipline and [we] showed a lot of pride out there. I know we didn’t get the result, but I think that was, in my eyes, not a loss. What we put on the field and to see the result we got with two guys down is definitely a positive going to the weekend."
On what was most frustrating in the match:
"The only frustrating thing about that is for sure the first 10 minute. I felt like we couldn’t pass, we weren’t confident passing, we couldn’t get out of the back, their pressure was great and so we can’t really dwell too much on what we couldn’t do, you’ve got to tip your hat to what they did. They pressured well, we couldn’t play out of the back, the second balls they were winning, and then they got that goal, and that was I think the most disappointing part of that game."
On how nice it is to get Kyle Beckerman back for the next match:
"Yeah, I mean you can see what he brings to our team. We saw today the discipline that first 10 minutes I don’t think we played out of the back at all, we just get the ball forward. He controls our team and we play a different style if he’s in there. He takes over that game just the kind of leader he is and I don’t think we give up that early goal."
Midfielder Javier Morales
On the two red cards:
"What can I say, I can talk about my [red] card. It was weird because the referee didn’t call even a foul. He looked to the second official, he said play on and I think it was the fourth [official]. He was far away, but I don’t know maybe he has a good view and I think he said it was a red card. I tried to play the ball, I miss it, I got Felipe, but I thought Tony Beltran was there right next to me. I was like I don’t know, like 40-yards from the goal, but the weird thing for me was that the referee was right next to me and he didn’t even call [a] foul so a little frustrated about that and I don’t know why I have to say. I can say anything. They give me a red card and I have one yellow card in 10 games. I always try to play good soccer and that happens."
On if he felt Real Salt Lake came out flat to start the match:
"I don’t think so about energy, but a little bit sleepy. We talked in the locker room, we said that it’s not going to be easy and we have to be smart and that it’s going to be a hard game and I think that the first 10 minutes weren’t good enough for us, but all I can say is the second half we played with two men down and I think therefore the team was excellent. I’m proud of my team, what they offered."
New York Red Bulls
Head Coach Jesse Marsch
On what he saw with the changes in lineup:
"I thought that we were on top of the game from the start, getting an early goal always helps. Overall, I thought that we handled the game pretty well. First half we could have pressed at certain moments, not just pressed but really shifted and moved together a little quicker and allow fewer gaps in our team, but they weren’t really ever able to threaten us except for maybe some set pieces and putting some balls in that way. I thought overall the team handled themselves well. I don’t know all the statistics but that’s probably one of the youngest teams that Red Bull has put on the field and we talked a lot about establishing things with young guys here, trusting young guys, helping them mature, grow, and get better, and in an important moment we put a lot of young guys on the field tonight and they came through for us so that was, I think, an important moment for the club to, ‘a’, get out of the losing streak, and ‘b,’ see a bunch of young guys help us do it."
On putting Bradley on left hand side:
"We wanted to put Abang on the field and we thought that it would make room for Bradley to operate a bit because Abang attracts attention from the defenders. And when we had the ball we wanted him joining in and being a second forward coming from the left, which I think he was able to do at times. At halftime, we tried to make a little bit of an adjustment to try to get him even more involved. Once the second red comes, the only reason I take him out is just because we wanted to look forward to Sunday. I think Brad can be effective there. We know he’s a goal scorer, we like having him around the goal, but we’re also trying to just continue to find ways for him to find a little bit more space for himself."
On there being concern about not finishing chances:
"It was a weird night. There was obviously a few different opportunities to score goals and put it away but right now I'm not concerned with that. Right now I'm happy to have three points and get out of a four game skid and look forward to the game on Sunday."
On playing without Kljestan:
"Sacha is very clever and smart the way he moves around and finds the game and sets the next guy up. We certainly missed him tonight but I certainly felt good about what Sean [Davis] brought to us in there. When I talked at the beginning of the week about missing Sacha, I felt that having Sean in there, we know defensively we have another guy in there that will be able to put out some fires, and I think that he did. We missed Sacha in terms of putting some plays together, but overall I thought Sean filled in really well."
Midfielder Mike Grella
On how important it what to get that first goal and set the tone:
"Absolutely, they were coming from a long trip they had just played on Sunday I think it was. It was good to jump all over them high press we won a lot of balls up there (end) and got the goal right away. I was really surprised we didn’t kick on from there. It just seemed like it (the ball) didn’t want to go in. We could have been a little sharper, but it was very important to get the early one (goal)."
On the importance of getting the win and jump-starting a new win streak:
"It is always good to stop a skid like that one. I think being unbeaten took a lot of energy out from us and a lot of mental energy from us and I think that’s why we kind of went on that skid but we need to learn to not let that happen again and I think throughout that skid we went through some tough times together trying to sort out what it was and what we need to do better and how we can execute better I think we are stronger from the losing streak and its great to have it over now."
On his mentality when the opponent is down two men:
"It is a difficult one because you have to actually do the opposite of what you think you need to do. You want to kill them off and get the other goal and press, press, press but the thing is because they are two men down they sat in their own end they sat in their own box and they made it really difficult and the key for that is just being patient and I think we started to become more patient and figure it out but when they had the two guys sent off we were still playing long balls into them giving them chances playing into their keeper and I think we learned as the game went on we needed to be patient and build chances and just be sharper and making the ball hit the back of the net."
Goalkeeper Luis Robles
On the play of the team as a whole:
"When he got hurt, Chris [Duvall] came back and that's not easy mentally so I thought the guys did really well. Sean Davis—same thing—and Abang gave us a presence up top, so from a defensive standpoint the guys did well, they shut it down, they looked very sharp when it came to limiting opportunities, but of course when we get a quick goal, all of the sudden that puts them on their back foot, and then the red card put it over the top."
On playing against 9 men on defense:
"After the second red card, my message to them was the same thing, 'don't shut down mentally because the only way they're going to score is if we slip up.' At that point, I think they were okay leaving 1-0 if you just look at the way they were wasting time, they were alright with that 1-0 loss, they didn't want to get embarrassed. The message was simply to all the defenders and central midfielders to not shut down and the Red Bulls did a great job today."
