QUOTE SHEET
Utah Royals FC 0-0 Orlando Pride
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
May 9, 2018
Utah Royals FC
Head Coach Laura Harvey
On her defensive line:
“I’ll take being known as a good defensive team. We were disappointed coming off not getting the three points. I felt over the ninety minutes, we were the better team. We created more dangerous opportunities than they did. I think that in the first half, we were cautious too much on the ball. I think we were a bit braver in the second half and I think we got the reward of that. We put them on the back foot I thought a little bit more. I felt we dominated the midfield better in the second half. I think for us, we just want to keep building, the building for us is when you have the momentum, you have to finish a team off, and unfortunately tonight, we didn’t do that. But again, a clean sheet. I felt like that as a team collectively defending again was very good. But when you’re in those types of games and that's the way it is, you just want the ball to drop in the right way for just one time. We nearly got there, but not quite.”
On the line-up and starters:
“Actually, I felt that in the first half we looked a bit tired/off, and again I thought we were cautious because of that. But then I thought in the second half we came out and really played, and we planned to make early subs. I felt we got the momentum, and we were pushing and doing really well. Obviously, we knew Amy had to come off, we’re still in that phase with her. But we got her to 75 minutes, so to not make a change up until 75 minutes with such a short turnaround shows how well they were doing in the second half I felt. I felt the subs came in and made a difference, the way we play, we have to ask a lot of our frontline defensively. So, to bring on fresh legs and keep the press high, I felt it worked, and it kept putting them on the back foot. We just couldn’t get that goal that we needed.”
On Kelley O’Hara’s injury:
“I think it’s the hamstring she’s been having trouble with. I haven’t gotten an update, I haven’t spoken to her, but I think it will be more frustrating than anything that’s been nagging for a while, and we’ve been managing it, and we go on [based on] how she feels, and she felt ok. So, I’m sure it's a collective annoyance that we couldn’t have gotten her through the ninety minutes. Obviously, she was in a lot of pain and devastated that she got injured, and that's the type of character that she is.”
On what caused the offensive spree in the last minutes of the game:
“I felt that we were the better team, I think we had momentum, I think our subs kept them on the back foot, again. And I felt physically they [Orlando] couldn’t keep going, I think we had more of that. And I think that's the attitude, I don’t know. But, I’ve been told we were going to get some of advantage of that, so maybe that was a little bit of that in the last ten minutes. You could see that we had the front foot, and they were pinned in their half for the majority of time. So, I think a bit of the altitude, for sure. I think when teams come in here, they find it difficult. And I think that the subs gave us that spark, and we didn’t make subs till 50 minutes in. The three that came on I thought did really well, and we were just a different dynamic.”
On decision to press higher:
“I felt that we let them off the hook a little bit in the first half, we actually wanted to press a lot in the first half, and I thought they went longer in the first half than they did in the second half. We knew they had a lot of height in the midfield, and I think we did really well in the second half from a midfield perspective, from when we pressed, we forced them to go longer into the midfield area. And then we competed for the first ball, and did really well with the second ball, and that’s part of our game. You know, partnerships are being developed at the minute, and I felt that was another positive in the second half was our midfield dominated there, no question.”
On Brooke and Kelley’s partnership:
I think for both, outside backs and wingers, I think Kelly is very different from Diana. When Kelley plays on your side, she gives you something different from what Diana does. The majority of the time, I want Diana to play with Brooke, and Becky to play with Kelley, because I feel they could work better together. And I thought Brooke and Becky worked together well in the second half, I think they attributed to keeping the pressure on all under, which enabled Kelley and Diana to stay higher, and I think that should be part of it. That the winger trusts the outside back is going to come with them, they I think they will just keep pushing forward, and I felt like that was a big part of that tonight.”
On Kelley and Diana switching sides:
“It’s just different for the defender who’s marking them they are different, you know. Diana’s always going to come and find a little pocket of space, and Kelley will be at you, and really direct and dynamic. And when a defender doesn’t know what they’re going to do, they’re going to find that difficult. So, I was fine with them being fluid on either side. And like I said, in the second half, Diana actually got in a lot on her side, because we got the full backs to step higher. So, it enabled Diana to get a little bit more up the field.”
On preventing Leroux and Morgan from touching the ball:
“Yeah, it was something we talked about before the game actually because I feel like their wingers are really hard working right now. We’re back on defending shape to an extreme, and I think Syd and Alex in the second half could do that. And I think the biggest reason for that was Brooke and Becky being brave and going forward and getting support to our attack. It means that if they don't defend them we have the extra body somewhere, so I felt like that was a big part of that. I always feel the more you can get Alex and Marta and Syd closer to their own goal, the more you know you got momentum in the game, and I felt like they spent the majority of the time in their half. So that’s again why I’m sitting here a little disappointed because I felt like we pinned them in their half in the second half and just couldn’t find that breakthrough.”
FW Katie Stengel
On coming on late as a sub looking to score:
“That’s my job as a forward, working in tandem with Amy when she comes in. She breaks down defenses and makes it easy for me. The game is so important including the bench, our role is to come in and make an impact.”
On the flurry of shots in the last 10 minutes:
“I think the sun was in their eyes in the last 10. We finally broke them down a few times, had some chances, and got momentum. We’re unlucky not to capitalize but I think it showed we can break down defenses and hopefully for more than 10 or 15 minutes at the end.”
On the Royals defense pressing up high:
“I think that’s Laura’s biggest thing she wants us to press higher up because if you win it closer to goal your chances are higher. Towards the end of the game our plan is put them under as much pressure as possible and keep it in their house. That helps us as forwards because we get the ball closer to goal.”
On her deflected shot that just went wide:
“Not happy about it, frustrated that it didn’t go in. Clear shot into traffic where something could happen, but we were unlucky. I think if we keep getting those chances, sooner or later we’ll get lucky.”
DF Brooke Elby
On playing Orlando’s attack:
“By the second half we were very much high pressing them which gave our attack, a lot room to run and I think with Laura’s tactical game plan, the last twenty minutes of the game everything opened up for us and that’s when our attack is most affective.”
On being a starter and coming off the bench at different points during the season:
“I had to deal with a little bit of an injury, but it doesn’t matter the role it’s just understanding either when you’re starting or coming on as a sub it’s the dynamic of where you are tactically, where the games at, what your opponent is like.”
On changes from the first half to the second half:
“Laura talked about how we needed to be braver. What we like to do is be simple, keep that ball and play smart, but we just have to be able to play that risky ball sometimes and catch them on the front foot.”
DF Becky Sauerbrunn
On not being able to finish the chances at the end of the game:
"Especially in the second half I thought that we definitely had the momentum. And I think we created a couple chances that we were just missing by inches. We were just a little off with the final pass or the final shot or a combination or two. So, I think it was just a little bit of the precision tonight that we didn’t have."
On what they did to contain Orlando’s firepower:
"They have a very potent attack and so I think it’s really just being very aware of where they are and the spaces that they are trying to capitalize on. We’re always as defenders trying to protect the space in behind. We’re playing very fast forwards, so I thought the backline did a good job protecting in behind, but also not giving them so much respect that they could just get the ball and start running at us. So, it was kind of striking a balance and also making sure our one versus one defending was tight.”
On what they talked about at halftime to improve in the second half:
"The main thing we talked about at halftime was really just being brave. So as Rachel and I were getting the ball from Abby, it was being brave enough to engage their forwards and then trying to find the pass, as opposed to just going long if we felt a little bit of pressure. We asked the midfielders to move a little bit more and then the attackers were more willing to show and try to combine. So, it was just being brave on the ball, brave in your decision making and brave in your movement."
On how playing a game midweek affected their energy level:
"It was nice that we didn’t’ have to travel. I also think the altitude might have hit them a little bit in the second half, while for us it was just another day playing. It wasn’t too bad. I think we actually got more energy as the second half wore on which is always a good sign. So, I don’t think it hit us too hard.”
On the difficulties of high press tactics:
"Well the difficulty when you’re pressing high is that you’re leaving a lot of space behind you. So, as you’re attacking you’re making sure to be setup defensively just in case they get a fast break. It’s making sure that we’re stepping into their forwards so that they don’t have easy outlet passes. It’s just being disciplined behind and trying to find the right spaces."
On embracing the team’s reputation as one of the most difficult defenses to break down:
"Oh absolutely. We want to have the best back five in the league for sure. I think Abby has been spectacular, I think the backline has been really strong. So, if we’re known for being a team that’s hard to break down we’ll take that mantle absolutely.”
