QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 0-2 LAFC
Banc of California Stadium; Los Angeles, California
August 15, 2018
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On the approach to the match:
“Well, we played a little differently today and there was a reason for that, as we have not gotten results on the road. We really took a close look at how LA has fared against its last six opponents, and three of those results they didn’t get were against teams that played five in the back. We have some experience with going five in the back, but moreso at home, at the end of the game when we’re winning. We identified certain areas where we could frustrate them and look to counter. In the first half we had two or three counter opportunities, and we didn’t put them away. We left [Christian] Ramirez pretty much wide open on two goals and he’s going to put those away.”
On Andrew Putna’s debut:
“I thought [Andrew Putna] came on in a very difficult situation, without experience in that situation, and I thought he did very well. From a bad thing where Nick [Rimando] got hurt, it’s almost a good thing that he went into a situation like that where he didn’t have time to think, just go on and just do his thing.”
On Christian Ramirez’s goals:
“It was, at times, losing mark, giving too much space to a damn good player. We talked about him before the game, and yesterday he was in the paper for god sake, quoting that his role with LAFC was to be a poacher and he got two poaching goals right there. We talked about it, so I thought besides that, obviously they’re a very talented team, LAFC, there’s a lot of money spent into this roster. We were tied shots (on goal) three to three at halftime, I know they had most of possession, but a lot of that was by design from us, but the other half of it was that they’re a good team and they’re at home. It was just two momentary lapses that cost us and it seems to be a theme, specifically on the road.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Putna
On subbing in at halftime for his first MLS action:
“I mean, [subbing in at halftime] did make it a little difficult because Nick [Rimando] did get hurt in the 11th minute for so 20 minutes I was up-down, up-down. But then, once halftime came I knew it was my turn to go in and I got a good 20 minutes to warm up. I was confident enough to warm up and just went out there and played my best.”
On his mentality after being subbed in:
“Just do what I can for the team and try not to give up any more goals because we’re already down 2-0. We came out at halftime and said we wanted to keep the shutout in the second half so we can go on and get two goals of our own to at least tie it and three to get the win. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen today.”
On holding LAFC scoreless in the 2nd half:
“Sometimes you get lucky. I think the first save I got really lucky against [Carlos Vela] but sometimes, as a goalkeeper, you need luck. I just played in the moment.”
LAFC
Head Coach Bob Bradley
On the match:
“Normally I come in and talk a lot about football, same with what I normally speak about with the team, actually. Tonight, before the game, I challenged for more concentration, more intensity, more helping each other on the field, more leadership, and all of those things. At halftime, I said we needed a shutout, so rather than coming in and talking a lot about football, I want to say that the players responded really well to the challenges. To become a very good team, you want to continue to take the football that I speak about and that we work on every day and keep trying to make that part better, but to go with it there are other things. Tonight, I think there were a lot of positives in those ways.”
On individual performances:
“We were more solid in defense. I thought Danilo Silva was steady, made good decisions and was solid with his tackling and his ability in the air, so that was all very good. I thought Jordan Harvey and Steven Beitashour had very good games on both sides. Eduard Atuesta didn’t start great, so a couple touches got away, but then he settled in and I though in the second half his positioning was very good in terms of now recovering balls and making the right passes. Very good work by Benny [Feilhaber] and Lee [Nguyen] tonight to go with that. The group up front was dangerous for sure. Christian [Ramirez] is somebody who has a way of moving in the box and getting in position to score goals. Christian can score with his head, he can score with both feet, so two goals, a great start for him.”
On learning from recent games:
“There’s periods in the season that are difficult, and some of those games, when they come quickly, when there’s different conditions, you have to rotate lineups. We’ve had some injuries that we’ve had to adjust to during that period of time, so those are factors. The other factor was that in some critical moments, we made mistakes, so for sure when we think about those games we’re we’ve played good football for 75 minutes and, as I said at the beginning, concentrate and make the right plays, and finish the game. I think most games we show a lot of good football, but this last stretch was a challenge, but you don’t become a good team when everything goes smooth. We’ve looked hard at things that have happened in every game and now we’re ready to finish strong.”
Forward Christian Ramirez
On his first start with LAFC:
“I had 14 family members [at the game], friends and family. It was awesome. I still have to learn that chant at the end, guys are telling me different things, they were playing a prank on me but it’s good. I’m just glad that we won, that’s the most important thing. Any way that I can contribute, tonight was goals, another night will be an assist or defensive tracking, but at the end, if we get those three points, that’s the most important thing to me.”
Forward Carlos Vela
On playing with Christian Ramirez
“I think when we have a new guy on the team, we have to talk a little bit because we don’t know each other, we don’t have chemistry to playing together. Everything is really quick. We talk about how we like to play and how we like the ball. I want the best for my teammates so I always try my best to help the rest of the team.”
