QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 0-0 HOUSTON DYNAMO
RIO TINTO STADIUM; AUGUST 5, 2017
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On the feelings after three draws:
“We are a bit frustrated because I think there is a bit more than where we are at right now. Who would have thought before, a month ago, that teams would come in here and sit against us. Teams were coming in here and taking it to us and trying to put us under pressure right away, it is a credit to the guys. I take a little bit of the responsibility for not getting the win, because the one thing I honestly didn’t project was Houston to come in a sit as deep and the way that they did, waste close to 7 or 8 minutes the whole game with slowing the tempo up. But they did what they had to do to get a result, Houston. We created again a number of chances, we didn’t give them much up on the other sides. There was the header on the corner kick and we had some golden opportunities again, and it is just one of those things. Am I happy with the way we are creating and playing right now? Or do I wish we were playing like crap and scoring 3 or 4 goals a game? It’s the yin and the yang and I haven’t decided which way I would prefer but I enjoy the way we are playing right now, we are just not finding the net at the moment.”
On the subs:
“Chris Wingert felt a little, I don’t think he could go anymore, we were going to bring on Danny but we decided to put Tony on the other side, pull Brooks back bring Savarino off. Bring Plata and Bofo a little more centrally and go two up top. So, we were looking for that goal, I felt that our balance was good enough that we weren’t going to give up much going the other way. We were very weary of the counter attack all week, we worked on that and I think we did a great job of sniffing it out and we just wanted to get more people going forward.”
On scoring late goals and tough defense:
“We do a lot of finishing in practice, I will tell you that. The guys, whenever they have extra time they are shooting and doing finishing, so it’s really not anything more we can do as far as shooting. But I think where we lack a bit tonight is, it wasn’t just the way they went down a man from the beginning they were sitting back, perhaps not as deep as when they were a man down. But we didn’t do enough in transition, we weren’t quick enough in transition to break them down, to get behind them before they got into their shape. And then for me, how do break down a team offensively that is sitting back? Switch the point of attack much quicker, more ball movement, send some over the top to chase to lock them in their end and hopefully win something in their end. But it is tough to break down that gets into a great block like that. We had a lot of possession, we still created chances but it was a tough game to break them down tonight.”
On being up a man:
“I knew we would have a lot more of the ball, even though we had more of the ball to begin with, but I knew we would have a lot more of the ball. But that is just, like we already pointed out, they were already sitting back a bit, that really pushed them back deeper. Obviously the way that I play, it is not incredible get wide and cross the ball in with runners. I mean we do that once in awhile, and that was really the only way to break that down when they are sitting 4, 5, 6, 7 guys in the box. But like I said I thought it was ugly and boring the way they killed the game staying back like that but they did what they had to do for a point. Hats off to them.”
On the upcoming road games:
“What do we have, in the 5 games 15 points possible we have 9 points out of 15. Going into these road trips now when the first question asked was “Are we going to change the way we play on the road?” No actually we are going to have to play the way we are playing and push it a bit more without leaving ourselves vulnerable. I still think there is a great opportunity for us to get where we need to go point-wise to the playoffs based on how the Western Conference is going. So 10 games left, not pushing the panic button, I never panic. I get anxious. I don’t panic or get nervous and I am going to compete as well as these guys are going to compete until the last day of the season.”
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando
On three straight home draws:
“The last two road games we got a win, so we’ve got to be a little bit confident about that. Again, we created enough chances to win this game. I think we’re a little bit frustrated, but we’re not gone. If we continue to keep playing like that and working like that with all those chances, we can sneak a couple in, our heads are going to be up for sure.”
On teams burning time against them at home:
“Yeah it’s tough. We just need to figure out how to play against teams when they come in here and play like that. Last week we had five in the back playing against us, this week Houston sat back quite a bit, but we still have chances, and everyone in this room knows that we should have won that game. But again it’s a point and the positive is that we got a shutout and we’ve got to move forward.”
On combination play:
“We want to play as much as we can especially out of the back when it’s on. We learned early in the season what not to, but now we’re playing and it’s fun to watch the guys in front of me have great combinations and three guys up top linking up a little more together more than we did at the beginning of the season and we just got to keep working. I think if we finish a couple of those with a little bit more quality in front of the net, we come out of here with three points.”
On the standings:
“It’s just one game at a time for us. Every game is important. Right now the mind is on D.C.”
Defender Chris Wingert
On the mood of the team:
“Disappointed. I mean three point in three home games when you’re already a bit behind the eight ball, not enough. But at the same time there are some positives to take out of it. Ultimately I do feel like the overwhelming feeling is a bit of disappointment but we’ve been playing better. Tonight was another game where I thought we played well and just were unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet and win the game. Five games unbeaten so I guess there are some good things to take out of it but, yeah, absolutely when we have home games we need to be getting all three points at least the majority of the time. But, again, the parity in the league, we’re still not that far out of it so we got just to keep pushing and hopefully we can get a win on the road next week.”
On the team’s form on the road
“Obviously we’d still prefer to play at home--but I think what tends to happen is when we go away the other team tries to come out and attack us and that opens the game up so it allows us to, if we’re playing well and we’re sharp, to create some chances and get after them as opposed to once in a while when we’re not at our best and a team comes in and gets good numbers behind the ball it’s hard to break down.”
On practicing counter attacking play:
“We did talk about ways to get at the other team could be in transition. Sometimes, like I said, they might have 11 guys behind the ball, that’s hard to break down. So when they attack us, and we win it, can we go forward quickly? I think we’re creating plenty of chances. I think we were able to create chances both on the break and through possession but unfortunately we weren’t able to get one, and we need to be weary of their counter attack as well--we know Houston can be super dangerous on the counter attack.”
Houston Dynamo
Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera (through a translator)
On playing with 10 men and bringing a point back home:
“Defensively, the team did a good job. RSL has a very good team from the middle of the field and forward. They are very dangerous, very intelligent. Any of them can score. They put all their cards on the table. They placed good forwards. They end the game attacking. We were able to contain them, we had a solid defense. We are bringing back home a draw that is important for us to continue working and believing on what we are doing.”
On Petke saying Houston came to Salt Lake just to defend:
“We came here to wait for RSL’s game proposition. They are at home and we know how dangerous they can be here with their speed, the altitude, the space. We waited a little to see what they were proposing. When we were able to have the ball we were also able to attack them with speed and with them some trouble. At the end we obviously had to defend more and more because we were a man down.”
On the good season Dynamo is having:
“Is has been a teamwork. It hasn’t been just me. It has been the support of the owners. It has been the work and support of the executive part of the club. We have a very good working team. We were able to acquire the players that we thought were responsible enough to wear the Dynamo jersey and respond to what this team demands. We are doing well so far, but we have not achieved anything yet. We have 11 matches to play and many points to win. We know it is not going to be easy but right know we are solid and we need to continue being like that.”
On “Cubo” Torres’ performance:
“He has being a hard working player. He was being very professional. He is aware of what he needs to offer. We always work hard during the week, whether he is playing or not. Today he was on the bench; we tried to rest him a little. When he entered the pitch he did a great job. Keeping the ball, not sharing it to the other team. That shows a lot of his mentality.”
Midfielder Ricardo Clark
On the positive road results:
“From this result I think it’s positive. Considering the circumstances, to come out with a point away from home, down a man for a good chunk of the game, kept them at zero in the first half, I think due to circumstances it’s a good result. We’ve been growing together on the road and trying to figure out how to get results. We’ve done that as of late but there’s still a lot of work to be done. We just to keep pushing forward and keep improving.”
On the next game against San Jose:
“Monday we just go back to work. That’s all we can do. We just have to look past this game because San Jose is a different team. At home we’re just going to have to work all week and keep doing wat we do and try to improve. We need to take positives from this game and try and get three points come Saturday.”
Goalkeeper Tyler Deric
On the team’s shape:
“Yes that was really important, we made a point before the game that we were going to keep our lines tight and just be really tough to beat. It wasn’t our best half, the first half, by any means but we were tough to beat and we were resilient and fought hard and that is all you can ask for in the boys. It wasn’t our best day but the effort was there.”
On the red card:
“We have to work hard this week to improve to get ready for San Jose. It is going to be a tough game against them, the league is tight right now. It’s going to be an important game and we have to focus this week and get ready for San Jose.”
On the team’s road game mentality:
“You know collectively we are all on the same page and that is important. It is important for us to carry that over into the game next week against San Jose.”
Forward Erick Torres (Through a translator)
On not scoring today:
“We played well in the final moments in the game. We were still trying to get a goal at the end. We marked well in front of the goal and they couldn’t get a goal. They couldn’t find it and we didn’t help them. We’re happy with the point.”
On the result:
“We’re very happy. We’ve had had help in keeping out goals. We’ve played many minutes and had a lot of activity in those minutes. It’s a factor when you’re playing in this league. Even though we aren’t scoring, we have kept the ball out of the net.”
On playing San Jose next:
“It’s very important to get points against a team on the road and it’ll be very difficult in San Jose. We’ll need to be very powerful against them because they will be motivated in their stadium in front of their fans. But we’re a good team and we should be fine.”
