QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Minnesota United FC
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
September 15, 2018
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On the performance of tonight’s match:
“I’m at a little bit of a loss. In reality I didn’t see this coming and we allowed them to walk out of here with a point. All the good that these players have done in these last three games, with really going for the jugular, we just didn’t seem to have that tonight. We controlled the game still; did well against Quintero which was a main focal point considering how good he is. We didn’t finish them off when we had opportunities and even before that I think our transition was sloppy. We’ll take the point and now we have to find two points on the road, two more points than we were planning on getting.”
On Kyle Beckerman’s substitution:
“Kyle’s substitution was about his hamstring. I would never take Kyle out of a game if he’s healthy. He’s our engine, he’s our warrior. At halftime we noticed that he stretched his hamstring at least five times and we tried to work with him and Kyle, being the guy that he is and leader that he is, would never pull himself out and he said he felt something, but would give it a go. I almost took him out at halftime because with the five games to go I can’t have someone like Kyle injured so I actually let him go in the second half 7 or 8 minutes longer than I wanted to and maybe should have. That was a complete medical sub.”
On another possible rough patch:
“Who would’ve thought that we’d score six goals on the Galaxy, who would’ve thought that we’d score six goals the week before that and who would’ve thought that on the road in Houston we’d win in extra time? In the moment, which is how I live and how I want my players to live, yes, I’m not happy and not satisfied, but there’s different teams who, I don’t want to say have your number, but you find it a little difficult to play against and I’m not saying that’s it, but perhaps that is. Perhaps Minnesota is that team for us this year who gave us issues. When you keep a team like that in the game and have countless opportunities to put it away, someone like Quintero or whoever it is going to pull out a little bit of magic and we allowed that.”
Defender Brooks Lennon
On what to take away from this match:
“We can’t let up. We’ve got to have the mentality to work as hard as possible every match to pick up the points that we need to make the playoffs. I thought tonight we came out a little sluggish, we had a great early goal from Damir, but I think we didn’t really regroup in the second half and keep pushing forward. I think we went back too much and I thought that killed us. They pressed us really well and we just need to learn from it, build from it and hopefully we can pick up these points in the upcoming weeks.”
On Kyle Beckerman being subbed out:
“We know Pablo really well and he’s an unbelievable player, so it was really an adjusting type of thing, just the momentum kind of shifted when Kyle went out of the game. I’m not really sure why, but I just thought we went back too much. We went back to our center backs and to Nicky (Rimando) where we should’ve been pushing the ball up, pushing the pace and look for that second goal. I think that second goal wouldn’t really hurt them. We’ll learn from it, go back to the drawing board and head to Atlanta looking for some points.”
Midfielder Albert Rusnak
On a lack of intensity:
“It’s tough to keep the play going like we did against Colorado and LA. People can’t expect us to score six goals every game and to put in those kinds of performances, but of course we do try. Today, I feel like that second goal would have been the key moment to kill them off. They came out fighting in the second half, they started to press a little bit more and win the second ball and we were on the back foot in the second half. We lost some sloppy passes that gave them chances to counter attack and they equalized. Overall a poor game from us. These kinds of games we have to be winning we want to keep pushing up in the table and clinching our playoff spot. I feel like at this moment it’s going to go all the way to the last game.”
On the result and playoff push:
“It is frustrating that we didn’t win of course, because when we did win the last couple weeks, the results went against that everyone else around us won. We just checked today that some of the teams around us have lost or tied and we couldn’t get those three points and move a little bit further away from the other teams. On one hand it’s good that we weren’t the only team to drop points but on the other side these are the weekends that you do want to win and move a little further from everyone else. We’ll have to get these points somewhere else and it will probably have to be on the road.”
Defender Nedum Onuoha
(meeting with the media for the first time at halftime)
On his initial impressions of Utah:
“It’s a good place to be. From my limited time out with the people in this area, I get a nice feel from them. People are very welcoming – from the players to the staff to just people wherever. I’m very happy to be here.”
On his expectations for 2018:
“It’s not ideal coming in at this point. Due to the way windows work, it’s just how it goes sometimes. I want to try and play as much as possible. But for now, the way Besler’s playing, the way Justen’s playing, for example, it’s good to see them being rewarded for their solid performances. I just hope that when the time comes, if I’m going to be needed, I can make a big difference. And if I don’t make it on the pitch, I’d like to make it off the field.”
On why it was the right time to come to RSL:
“When you play in the top division, every season is exciting. Sometimes when you drop down to the next division, it’s exciting to a point, but then you kind of want more because it’s quite repetitive unless you’re in the top six or eight positions. Each season is like 46 league games and X amount of Cup games. It’s the same old same old and it feels like all you’re doing is existing. As I was about to leave Queens Park Rangers, I thought to myself that now is the time to go and have a different experience. Coming here hasn’t been about money or anything like that. I could have got more elsewhere if I stayed in England, but I wanted to step out of that system and step out of my comfort zone. So far it feels great. I’m coming out and I don’t know anything about my surroundings. So I’m having to learn which is something I love doing. Thankfully I’m getting the opportunity to do it again. … When I retire I want to talk about my playing career and I want to talk about it in terms which are different to the normal person. Up until this point, I’ve had some great moments and I’m hoping to make more here. And I know that these moments will be treasured for me because it’s not something that happens very often.”
On mentoring young players:
“I was talking to one of the players today for probably an hour from when we finished training. I liked it because he was picking my brain and it reminded me of some of the experiences that I’ve had. It also showed me how there are a lot of people here who are trying to get to the very top or get as high as they can. Sometimes you take that for granted when you’re a little bit older and you’re surrounded by people who are older as well – that hunger and desire. You can see more of it. The ones who come and they want to ask you questions and they want to get better – that’s when you realize what your role is within the game. For the three years I was captain at QPR, the squad was becoming progressively younger and younger and younger. The results weren’t going the way they had gone previously when the squad was different and there was more investment. I took it upon myself to make sure that these people were learning the game the right way and being good people and understanding what it is to actually be a true professional. I hope this is an environment where I can continue doing it because I did really, really enjoy it. There are a few players there at QPR who could get to the very top. If I can come here, for example, and make Justen Glad become the next center back for America – or help him try and do that, it’s all going to come down to him – in some ways that’s a bigger achievement than anything I’m going to do on the field.”
Minnesota United FC
Head Coach Adrian Heath
On the results of the match:
“I was so disappointed in our first-half performance, which to say it was passive would be an understatement. We were everything we weren’t in the first half – played on the front foot, played good football, tried to stretch the pitch, try to play in behind. Towards the end I was disappointed we haven’t actually won the game because I thought we looked the most likely to go on and win. You could certainly say it was a game of two halves. It was a stark warning for me and to the players. We cannot play like that on the road in the first half.”
On Miguel Ibarra’s performance:
“He came off the line, made good forward runs, started to stretch the game and that gave Darwin a little more space to really start to do what he can do best. Disappointed with the first half performance, delighted with the second half, and a little bit disappointed we have not gone away with all three points.”
On Romario Ibarra playing more forward:
“Well one thing we spoke about at halftime, I’m fed up with people who can run and all they want to do is come to the ball and show everybody how good their touch is. We haven’t bought Romario Ibarra to come to the ball and ticky-tacky football. We’ve played him to use his speed, he’s got terrific speed, wants to run in behind and conceivably could have got three or four tonight when he got in there. That’s something for us to work with, something to look at in the next few weeks.”
Midfielder Miguel Ibarra
On the second goal:
“They had to go to VAR. Once they went to VAR, the ref said it was a close call. He said in their eyes it was an offsides but it was a really close call. It wasn’t kind of clear so they had to call the offsides.”
On the result:
“First half we didn’t play the game we wanted to play and in the second half we came out and showed that we were able to play. Getting a point is big for us, especially away. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the three points but getting a tie is better than getting a loss.”
On returning home:
“We know we are a strong team at home, that’s where we get all our points. Going back at home, in front of our fans, we are all excited to be back home.”
