QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 2-0 FC Dallas
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
July 7, 2018
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On the managing the game:
“I thought our players managed the game perfectly. Dallas is a very good team, but they’ve also become more of a direct team. With three games in the week and then coming into the altitude, we knew they were going to sit in for large chunks of the game and look for a counter attack. The patience that we had, at times it was a bit boring but I couldn’t care less. We knocked the ball around, got them running, tired them out a little bit and looked to find gaps. It’s a credit to the players to realize that. We talked about it, but then to actually do it knowing that we were just keeping it in our half. It was a great way to manage the game and then things opened up.”
On beating two top teams:
“It’s fun. We’ve been good at home. We’ve got results at home. Now the focus is Minnesota next week on the road. Any week you can get six points, two wins in a row, against the top team in the West on that day, it’s special and it’s a great feeling. The guys are already focusing on Minnesota. They were talking about it after the game and pumping each other up, saying that we have to get the show on the road and get it done. That’s been our Achilles heel this year, but there is still a lot of time. There are a lot of games on the road left.”
On Bofo’s performance:
“I’m not ready to say something has clicked for Bofo. The chance was always there for him to take and while he is far from being a finished product, which is a compliment to him, he has grown up a bit over the last couple months, along with Danny. They have realized I’m willing to give opportunities but they have to earn it. As of now, Bofo has earned his opportunity. It doesn’t mean next week he is going to start. We have to see how he does this week. His commitment, his work rate, his dedication, his selflessness have been all on display. He has to continue to do that or else there is somebody else waiting.”
On Jefferson Savarino getting a game ball:
“The coaching staff and I gave Jefferson a ball tonight because we’ve been preaching in him and really challenging him and riding him for 90 minute to be focused. We know what he can do offensively, but I want to see his commitment defensively, to get back. I thought he was phenomenal at that aspect tonight. We’ve been waiting for that for a while and he put it on display tonight. You can see in the 88th minute, him sprinting 30 yards back, closing and getting a tackle in. That was the one thing that was too infrequent from him for a while. He is a star player with the ball at his feet, but whatever next level he wants to get to, this is what it’s going to take. Long answer to a short question, I thought it was important to recognize that.”
Forward Sebastian Saucedo
On getting two wins in a row:
“They’re two really good teams that we played. I think the team was capable enough to take advantage of three points at home and we’re up there in the table and were trying to push towards playoffs. Like I said in previous press conferences, we have such a special team and I think we have to make the most out of it. ”
On what has changed since his Seattle goal:
“I think the opportunity from Mike and the coaching staff. Obviously you can go from scoring a goal to going on the bench. I think that also gave me a lot more confidence going into other games. You know what, I can do this, I can help the team in any other way to be successful. I’m not saying it’s been showing in all these games that have passed by but I try to work my butt off with or without the ball to help the team in any way.”
On limiting FC Dallas attack:
“I think they've had a week just like us, playing a lot of games, and you know we came in with the mentality of keeping the ball. Dallas is a really good attacking team when they were dangerous going into counter-attacks. I think the most important was sticking to the game plan and knocking the ball around them and moving them side to side and hopefully getting them tired at this altitude. Which did happen and we were able to score that last goal to finish them off.”
Bofo on being thankful:
“I wanted to mention, I wanted to thank this RSL family for giving me the opportunity to help out this family whose kid just passed away and I wanted to thank this organization and the RSL family for helping make this so special for me and for them, taking them out onto the field. I think a lot of things happen for a reason and I’m thankful for being here and thank you for everything you do for me and for this family, it means a lot to them.”
Midfielder Albert Rusnák
On the importance of possession:
“It was key. Maybe for the fans it wasn’t as exciting game as against Kansas City, but that’s our third game this week, same as Dallas, which we were supposed to be a little fresher and I think we were. We had a couple of sloppy giveaways in both halves but that’s normal for your third game in seven days, and three tough games at that. To get six points out of the last two against the number one and number two in the table and in our conference, those six points are huge.”
On the success in the midfield:
“They chose a game plan to sit back and counter attack and with us having a penalty kick after a couple of minutes and scoring a goal, they probably had to change their game plan a little bit and they didn’t have the legs to press us. It was comfortable for us in the back and in the midfield. We were switching the ball from right to left and for most of the game we had the ball in our own half or right above the half way line.”
On taking the penalty after missing the last one:
“Compared to three or four years ago if I would’ve missed a PK like I did against Kansas City, it would stay in my mind for the rest of the game and for the next days and weeks after. The PK against Kansas City, as soon as I missed it, was gone. There was no thinking about it and I was still playing well after missing the PK. I have to say my mental strength and confidence was another level then it was three or four years ago. It had a lot to do with converting the PK today and the keeper tried to put me off before the penalty and had a few words with me which I gave the words back after. If you talk stuff like that you have to take it as well.”
FC Dallas
Head Coach Oscar Pareja
On the match:
“During the game, Salt Lake looked like they had more energy than us. With the penalty kick coming that early, it put us in a difficult situation. After that, the team was trying to reshape better and with more energy. We brought more dangerous plays to their back line, but we couldn’t score. Salt Lake had players who can hold the ball in tight spaces, especially in the first half. That cost us energy. Overall, the team looked tired today, but we will regroup. It was not a night that we can say we did a lot of good things. It was very isolated when we have one play here and another there. We didn’t have continuity, but the boys fought and we had chances to equalize the game in the second half.”
On Ema Twumasi’s debut:
“I thought he looked good. It is good for us to add minutes for somebody who’s coming on and making their debut and to be able to give them important minutes. Feeling part of the team in a game is important.”
Midfielder Ema Twumasi
On making his debut:
“I felt confident, the team was behind me. You know, everyone came to me, trying to motivate me to make my debut. They’ve supported me from day one, and unfortunately we didn’t come up with the win today but hopefully we’ll get back to the basics and get a win next weekend.”
On the speed of play:
“I felt like I was reading plays. We have the best team in the Western Conference for a reason. I see these guys every day in practice. I felt like they played with me real well. It was just an off game. Unfortunately, like I said, we couldn’t find a way today.”
On having a strong week of training and earning the start:
“We had the game on Wednesday, so it kind of threw everything off. We had a light session on Thursday for the guys who played a lot of minutes. I found out Friday that I was going to start, so I had 24 hours of preparation for the game.”
On building off the performance:
“It’s my first MLS game. I was kind of getting a feel for everything, so I’ll get back and watch film to know what to do better for the next couple of games.”
Midfielder Victor Ulloa
On the match:
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the result. We wanted to finish off the week strong with three more points, but unfortunately we couldn’t do that. Today wasn’t our night. No excuses. It was poor from our side. There’s nothing to drag on, we just have to bounce back and get ready for the next one.”
On still being in first place:
“It’s something that we focused on these last three games… to get results at home and away. Six out of nine points isn’t bad. We’re still a little bit sour, but looking at the big picture, we’re satisfied with the team’s performance. It’s not time to panic, just time to regroup and get ready for the next game.”
On coming off of an emotional win over Dallas:
“We tried to ride the momentum into this game a little bit and bring the intensity and bring the energy. We tried a little bit of that tonight. Sometimes soccer is like that. Sometimes we don’t get a lucky bounce, and even though we felt like we played bad, we were losing 1-0 and we had a couple chances in the second half. If would could have tied it, it would’ve been a completely different story. It’s not what we wanted, but we just have to get ready for Chicago.”
