Real Monarchs
Head Coach Mark Briggs
On the team’s performance:
“Yeah, I’ve just actually given them two days off for the first time so there’s a bit of a celebration in there.
To go one nil down and to show the character and the fight and the right attitude, to come back and to score five goals and even when we went down to ten men, I felt we could still go and score more goals. So credit where credit’s due and I’m very happy with the performance tonight and I’m very happy with the attitude.”
On the halftime talk:
“We spoke at halftime and we adjusted a few things tactically. We didn’t feel the movement of our 7, 10 and 11, off Chandler’s movement, we didn’t feel it was good enough. So Brody, Seba, Haber and Chandler wasn’t cohesive. One moved one way, the other didn’t react in time, so we just spoke about the timing and the specific movements and it helped in the second half.”
On the quick second half start:
“When we played in Colorado, obviously that was our only loss and we didn’t start the game; it took us probably 30 minutes to start the game. So, all week the focus has been starting the game properly and making sure our attitudes are right and we’re expecting a hard game and we have to be at our best. And they did start the game on the front foot but they can still do it better.”
On how to maintain the hot start:
“That’s what it’s all about. I said to them at the start of this week, ‘If the season ended tomorrow, I’d be happy, but unfortunately it doesn’t end until October and we want our season to end in November. So they’ll be allowed to enjoy it for the next two days but they’ve got standards and they’ve got to maintain those standards. A big word we use all the time is ‘accountability’ and keeping each of your teammates accountable and making myself accountable and keeping my staff accountable and that resonates with the rest of the team.”
On the midfield play:
“Yea, that’s something that we’ve spoke about, what you mentioned at the end there, adding goals to their performances. The rotation and the pivot they use defensively certainly helps us a lot as a team and gives Sebastian a lot of space to weave his magic so to speak. So the midfield, I think, are very happy. I think they’re all technically very gifted and they’re all going to be pushing to move on so we have to keep them on their toes and we have to keep asking of them and making sure that they consistently perform at the highest level.”
Forward Chandler Hoffman
On what he saw from the team:
“I think the most important thing is that after going down 1-0 the response from the group is just the belief within a team–that every game we step out on to the field we’re going to win. To face the adversity of going down 1-0 and then to respond with five goals–I think it shows a lot about this team and who we are.”
On his connection with Haber:
“Absolutely. I think it stems back to when we were in preseason. We were roommates together with the first team all preseason so we spent a lot of time together. He was giving them fits on the outside tonight so I just knew when he was one-on-one out there to just get in front of my man or find a good spot. He did a great job tonight with his service.”
On the team’s mentality at the half:
“I think getting that goal at the end of the first-half to make it 1-1 was really important. Then when we came into the half we just said that we were kind of sloppy with some of our passes in the first-half and our movement in the final third wasn’t crisp. So, if we did that in the second-half, we knew we could give them problems. Finding the goal obviously changes the game. I don’t know how quickly it was, but three goals within a couple of minutes was huge for us.”
On being on the road the next two weeks:
“We love playing here. It’s a beautiful stadium and the field is great. Going on the road is a different challenge, but I think we’ve proven that we can play on the road and pick up points. With the group, it’s just recovering–getting ready. I think Vancouver’s turf is obviously not ideal. Preparing to go in there, every time we step on the field we’re looking to win games and get three points.”
On his and Sebastian Velasquez’s goals:
“I think we complement each other really well so teams can’t just focus on Sebastian or just focus on me. If they put too much focus on one then the other has space. We’ve been finishing our chances and we really enjoy playing together. We have a good combination out there.”
On defensive philosophy:
“That’s one thing this year that [Mark] Briggs and the coaching staff have done a really good job is just instilling that, defensively, it starts with me. I’m not out there just to score goals but, defensively, me and Sebastian have to do a lot of work as well. So that kind of goes unnoticed sometimes–just the amount of work that we’re doing when the centerbacks have the ball, forcing it one way and making it predictable. But then, throughout the whole team, our backline and our centermids have done an incredible job of being solid and then Connor [Sparrow] the last couple of games has been great for us in goal. We took some pride the last couple of weeks in really getting clean sheets because we’ve been scoring goals all year but we’ve been given up goals. So we really emphasized that at training–the importance of getting clean sheets.”
On keeping the momentum rolling through a long season:
“The important thing is you can’t get complacent. When you face adversity, like we did today going down a goal, is finding a way to get back into the game and no deviated from the plan. When we go down a goal we continue to believe in what we’re doing and it’s a group of 11 players that know their roles and responsibilities. Throughout my career, when I’ve been on successful teams, that’s been the key is everyone just knowing their role and playing within their role. That’s what makes this group so successful. We have 11 guys that know what their responsibility is and their doing it at a really high level.”
On what he attributes his success to:
“I think most of it has to do with the mentality and just coming in every week looking to improve. I’ve been fortunate to play with some really great players. So, to see players like Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane to see every week how they have a hunger to get better when they’ve played in World Cups and played at such high levels. It’s inspiring to me because I haven’t done anything these guys have done and they’re still coming in and working every single week. Being able to play with those guys has been incredibly eye opening for me just to see the heights that I can reach. They were very encouraging to me, telling me I was a special finisher. So, it gave me a lot of belief in myself that I can continue to score goals.”
Switchbacks FC
Head Coach Steve Trittschuh
Overall thoughts on the game:
“Yea it wasn’t good enough.”
Coming from Tucson:
“Those are excuses. That has nothing to do with it. Individually not good enough today.”
Did you structure your team based on that game:
“No. Not good enough.”
Defender Josh Suggs
Overall thoughts:
“It’s a huge disappointed for us. I felt like early in the game it was good, the first half. Kind of blew it the second half.”
How did you feel health wise:
“No, we are healthy. Really no excuse. It’s not an altitude thing. We play at a higher altitude. None of us had a good game tonight.”
What do you think of the first 25:
“It’s decent, still think we can do better. Overall not our best game.”
