Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie
Thoughts on the result...
“Congratulations to Kansas City, they put on a textbook road performance. They defended well and scored on set plays and the counterattack. It gives us a chance to see where we need to get to and what we need to do in order to be a team that’s at the top of MLS. It wasn’t a lack of effort or desire but there were a lot of technical breakdowns where it cost us goals, both for us and against us so it’s disappointing from that perspective. Over the course of a season you’re going to have games like that but the most important thing for us is to see how much character we have in our team and you’re only going to find that out when you have disappointing results. I believe we do have good character and I’m excited to work on that over the next couple of days and see how much belief we have going into our game with Dallas.”
Did you consider any changes at halftime?
“No, not really. The only one we considered was Eric because he had the yellow card. In the first half it wasn’t like we were outplayed in possession or under pressure so there wasn’t a feeling of needing to change things at that point.
Do you think that Kansas City is the best team in MLS?
“I don’t have any doubt that they are the best team in MLS right now. I think that would be very hard to argue, but I think you judge a team over the course of the season. If they continue to play as they are now they will have no problem being at the top of the league going forward.”
Was it your plan to bring on Camilo in the second half and what did you think of his performance?
“Yes, we just didn’t want to have him get reinjured. You could see tonight that he brought a spark and created chances with his play.”
Whitecaps FC Eric Hassli
Thoughts on the match...
“Disappointed, really disappointed. That’s it.”
On early booking and how it affected his play...
“I don’t know what to say. I try to… I try my best. I’m just really disappointed. I can’t even find the words.”
On improvements for next match...
“Just score goals. If you want to win the game you have to score.”
Whitcaps FC Jordan Harvey
Thoughts on the match...
“Very disappointed. I thought the effort was there. We did create chances early on, but unfortunately we gave up some set plays and they capitalized on them and we couldn’t capitalize on our opportunities.”
On Sporting Kansas City’s set plays...
“It’s something we can control and get on our guys. We lost some [of their] guys in the second half and they’re an athletic team. The game opens up and they’re going to be springing guys. It’s disappointing, but luckily we have the game on Saturday.”
On the final 20 minutes...
“They were up a couple goals so you know they’re going to drop in a little bit. We got that goal late, but we have to capitalize on our chances earlier on, then we can be the team dictating the pace and the tempo.”
Whitcaps FC goalkeeper Joe Cannon
Thoughts on the match...
“Really disappointing. I think they had two chances and they scored three goals. Just a frustrating night, it seemed like the ball was always in the other end. Bad timing on the goals we gave up, but hats off to Kansas City. They came in here, got up and played their game. Hopefully we can take something and learn from this, but you’ve got to appreciate at least the last 20 minutes.”
On set pieces...
“From my perspective it was more how those set pieces came. I think we gave them [up] a little too easy. Both balls were long balls that were desperate, that they just put to the corner and next thing you know the balls in the back of the net.”
On Bonjour’s own goal...
“It just kind of came through and Martin [Bonjour] chested it and it just took me by surprise. [It was] just a really weird goal; obviously not his fault. I think he was surprised because it probably went over someone. Those are the bounces we were getting earlier in the season, and now we’re not. We just have to take it in stride.”
Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the result...
“The big difference for us tonight was the play of Jimmy (Nielsen). His saves at the end were tremendous and I think at the end of the day that’s what saved us because the last ten minutes they were really on us.”
Did you have visions of last season’s game here when Vancouver was pressuring...
“Absolutely, I would be lying if I said I didn’t. We could start seeing that they were starting to get the pressure on us and one of the biggest things was we were starting to get tired at the end due to the travel and the short turnaround from our Saturday game. The good thing was that lately we’ve been in the environment where we’ve been up and teams have thrown a lot at us and today we handled this situation really well. Jimmy hasn’t had a lot to do this season but today he was big and really helped us.
It looked like Nielsen was pretty upset at the Vancouver goal. What did you think about the call...
“I really didn’t see the replay and it wasn’t a good angle when we were looking up at the board, so it’s something that I’ll have to look at tonight but I can’t really comment on now.”
How important was Jimmy’s leadership, and not only from making saves but also as a captain?
“Davy Arnaud was our longest tenured guy at our club and when he moved on to Montreal that left a void in our captaincy and leadership, but Jimmy has been great, both in games and in training. He has been very good for us and his experience over the years is really paying off for us right now.”
You had about 70 to 100 supporters of yours at the game tonight and there is supposed to be even more in Portland. What does that mean to you and your team when you’re a couple thousand miles away from home?
“That’s a good point. When we travelled in the past we really didn’t see too many fans, just a few here and there, but last year ever since we moved into the new stadium and the 10 games on the road, we’ve had a lot more support. When you’re playing those games on the road you can get disconnected from your fans and you can lose respect for what you’re playing for – not only yourself but also for them. When they’re there you don’t want to disappoint them, so it’s great for our organization that we have such committed people back home, and now to see them on the road is tremendous.”
Sporting KC defender Chance Myers
Thoughts on the match...
"We knew coming in offensively they have a lot of weapons, so we picked our moments to go forward and I thought we did pretty well. I thought we sat back a little bit once we got the third goal. We sat back a little bit too much, but going forward we just need to make sure that when we have a lead we don't stop playing the way we play. I think we adapted well to their high pressure and they like to stretch the game box to box. We made sure we were compact and when we did lose the ball we got numbers behind it."
Thoughts on Whitecaps FC...
"They have a lot of weapons up top. If they could continue to progress and work together and find a system that works for them, they're going to be dangerous down the road."
Sporting KC forward C.J. Sapong
Thoughts on the match...
“It was a hard fought match. I think we didn't play as well as we wanted to but at the end of the day we played as a team and we got the win. We worked hard, we got in and out, and we got the win, that's about it.”
Thoughts about Whitecaps FC...
"I always thought they had a lot of attacking options and adding Le Toux – when you put him on the field with Hassli and Chiumiento – It poses a big threat and luckily our defense is just rock solid. They had a lot of chances but Jimmy came up big and we had a little bit of luck sprinkled in there too. They're a really good team and I think ultimately we played well but might have been a little lucky too.”
Moving forward...
"Just focus on being as a team and realizing that this is a road trip that is going to be hard. Overcoming whatever challenges that we need to face and doing it as a team, doing it together."
Sporting KC defender Aurelien Collin
Thoughts on the match...
“Look, it was a hard game against a good team. We pressured a lot, we fight a lot, and it was a hard game. The way they were pressuring us they were very hard because they have good strikers, but thank god we keep winning. The goal I'm sure 100% it was offside, but they could have scored other times so you know we have to respect the decision of the referee, even if the referee on the line put the flag up. But anyways, we win at the end and I'm happy. I'm very proud of the mentality of the team because it was a hard game. That's the difference between this year and last year. Last year we maybe we would have struggled or lost this game, but this year we win it.”
On scoring a third goal this season...
“I said thank god I was at the right spot at the right moment and I took my chance and I scored. Thank god I scored, I can help the team and I'm a happy man.”
Thoughts on the Whitecaps...
“Le Toux and Hassli – the two French guys – they're very good. They're complimentary, so it's a good team, they know how to play football. Honestly, it's a very good team and it was very hard tonight. I'm very happy and proud of the team that we won tonight.”
Moving forward...
“We need to keep the same mentality. We made some mistakes; we need to correct this and keep the same way to play. Hopefully we will play a little more our game on Saturday, but keep doing what we're doing and just correct the little details [and that] will make a huge difference.”
Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen
“We knew it would be a tough matchup here. I think Vancouver is a good team, I still believe they're a good team. They gave us a tough challenge today. Scored one nothing and we came out strong in the second half and scored two goals. When they scored the goal I think it went through everybody’s mind what happened up here last year, but good for us, we learned from last year. I think at the end of the day it was a deserved win for us.”
On the end of his shutout streak...
“I thought he lifted the flag for an offside and the referee came in and called an offside, then he changed. I don't know, I've not spoken to the ref and I don't know if it was an offside or not, but I know for sure he called an offside and then he changed.”
Thoughts on Whitecaps FC...
"It's a good team, it's a solid team. They beat the crap out of us in Orlando. We talked about that before the game. They're a strong team, if we allow them to play, they're a great team and they have some good individual players too, so I'm pretty sure that Vancouver will be one of the teams who we'll see in the playoffs."
"They created some good chances and when they scored it gave them a lot of energy. I kind of had nothing to do the last couple of games until today. We kind of knew that it would be tough up here today. I prepared myself a little different today. I was pretty sure that I would be in action today. I can have a full pay cheque next time."
