QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 0-4 New York Red Bulls
Red Bull Arena; Harrison, New Jersey
June 1, 2019
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
On the breakdown in the second half:
“To me, the way we came out in the second half, we talked a lot about our first half. Our structure and our shape – that was good in the first half. Our structure and our shape went out the window in the second half for I don’t know what reason. Three of the four goals came down their right side and it came down to our organization and our shape, which were good in the first half. Three goals in seven minutes – that can’t happen. We’ll go back and look at video and have some meetings and look to clean it up.”
On communication:
“Poor communication is going to make things difficult. There was communication in the first half. There was movement in the first half. There was winning second balls. There was fight and about five or six good transition moments. In the second half, there wasn’t.”
On the upcoming break:
“We have a three-week break now. They’re going to give the guys some time to rest and recover and we’ll tackle that when they get back.”
Forward Sebastian Saucedo
On the breakdowns in the second half:
“It’s hard to explain. We lost a little bit of communication. We gave up a lot of things that we normally do. That’s what happens when you play against a good team. If you lose communication, they punish us and that’s what happened. We had opportunities to score and if we don’t score those opportunities, this is what happens. If we put away our opportunities it changes the game. Whatever we do, we have to come back stronger. It starts with me, losing my runner and not having enough communication with Aaron. A few of those goals, I would take responsibility with Aaron. At the end of the day, it’s a collective team effort. We gave it our all in the first half and in the second half it fell apart.”
On the upcoming break:
“We’re a special team. I’ve said it so many times. We hate losing like this. In this break we’ll have time to spend time with our families and recharge our batteries. Then we have to go at it. Our goal is making the playoffs. At the end of the day, we had three games in a row where we were phenomenal and these types of games are how we get out of position. It takes character to be able to get out of this.”
Defender Nedum Onuoha
On tonight’s game:
“I think we started to make a lot of little mistakes. And the way that they were and they punished us. It’s always bad when you give the opposition something to try and feast on. We tried to limit their chances before the end of the game but it seemed beyond on us, which is a shame because I thought in the first half, we played well.”
On team’s communication with lineup changes:
“There were a lot of changes but I don’t think it was a communication thing because the players that play whatever week it is. We spend a lot of time together. To make as many mistakes as we made today, it’s almost criminal on our part.”
On rebounding from tough losses:
“I think looking back at the game. Taking apart the good things, the bad things and it’s never a good to repeat a bad performance on bad performance. I think that’s a skill in itself, but I anticipate for the team, by the time we play again, I don’t think we will be doing things that we have done today.”
New York Red Bulls
Head Coach Chris Armas
On scoring three rapid goals:
“This team is a real team and they stick together and they play for each other. They run for each other, and this has been building. I mentioned it recently. The Atlanta game wasn't a starting point, we said. It was a result of guys putting in a lot, and all of us doing a lot, right. That's what it was. So now you see a team that we think looks much like us to start the game and control the game in the ways that we want it to, but of course, I mean, I think we all know that goals do a lot for a team. They do a lot for the belief that you can play a little more free. Confidence grows. You start seeing the balls look around a bit more. Guys committing numbers, and again, that's fun to be part of when you're out there, and from the sideline, from us, the spectators, the supporters, that's a lot of fun to watch. So it does a lot for the team. It's the best part of the game. The goalkeepers, 100-yards away get to celebrate, it's the best part of the game.”
Goalkeeper Luis Robles
On thoughts about things finally coming together:
“I think tonight overall is a great performance by the entire group. And we knew that whenever we go up against Western Conference teams. They don't really see us on the regular, so it's a good opportunity for us to really take the game to them, but the game on our terms and we’re able to do that for the most part, tonight and that's why we're able to get three points.”
Midfielder Omir Fernandez
On coming off the bench and producing goals:
“I think it comes down to everybody in the team, you know, the coaching staff, the players themselves, they give me a lot of confidence. When I go out there, I'm free, I'm able to play and express myself, and I feel as a player, I've kind of experienced that when you play free, you kind of like the goals come when you're thinking about it, they tend to be harder to find. I'm glad I'm able to play free. Thank you to the team.”
On the message the team wanted to send going into the second half:
“No, we knew that, in the first half, we were creating a lot of chances, but we would know that we could be better on the ball. Those final plays, the final pass, the final shot could have always improved. We saw some film on how we can improve and just take our time and I feel like in those six minutes, we were on a roll and we got it going.”
