KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MANAGER PETER VERMES
On the result:
“I thought we had more than enough chances to at least get a point here, if not win the game. The chances we had especially around their goal, at the end of the day, we have to score, and we didn’t. They got one good chance off on us and they scored. That’s the way the game goes sometimes.”
On moving forward:
“It doesn’t matter if you win or lose or tie, you have to go back and train; just get on with it, that’s the way it goes. I think there’s been a lot of improvement from last year. I think our style of play is different, the number of chances we create every game is good. With every team, it always takes time to build a mentality.”
KANSAS CITY FORWARD RYAN SMITH
On the result and on moving forward:
“I thought in the first half they were better than us. We made it difficult for ourselves. It was a bit sloppy. Second half, we were the better team, everybody could see that. I think in the second half we were fantastic. If we use the same approach as we did in the second half, we should be fine.”
On the partnership with his fellow strikers:
”It’s been present since the start of the season to be honest. We haven’t converted as many chances that maybe we should’ve. I enjoy playing with those guys, even tonight, I created some chances, but we didn’t convert.”
KANSAS CITY MIDFIELDER DAVY ARNAUD
On the result:
“I thought in the first half, we weren’t great. We gave up the goal and dug ourselves in a little bit of a hole. Second half, we came out flying and we dominated. We created plenty of chances to at least tie the game, if not win. It’s disappointing because with the way we played, we deserved something out of the game.”
On what the team can take from this game:
“Every game is obviously important for us now. Over the past four or five games the results have been pretty good. We suffered here tonight. We came here wanting to get three points and that was our goal. By no means are we out of it. If we play the way that we can play, we can make the playoffs. We are good enough to be there.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH FRANK YALLOP
On taking a full three points:
“I’m happy with our demeanor. Our first half play was excellent. I think Kansas City, obviously being a good team coming into the game, in the second half we kind of ran out of steam a little bit, but I thought that our first half performance was enough to win the game. I am very happy for our guys, very pleased with three points and it puts us right back in the picture, which is what we needed to do.”
On Khari Stephenson’s play:
“He was good. He probably tired a little bit, playing as much as he did. His first half contributions were good, a great ball for Cornell (Glen) for the header and a great ball to [Chris Wondolowski] for the goal. There’s more to him than we saw tonight but what we did see tonight was a clean player that’s strong. He just needs now to get game-fit and feel that he can go for 90 minutes.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER JOE CANNON
On the emotions of playing for the first time in six games:
“I really just wanted to enjoy it tonight, and that’s it. I felt really good today. …I was just anxious. I really wanted to get out here, I felt really good and I’m just happy it worked out. I’m happy we won, happy for our players, for our staff, for our organization to kind of stop the bleeding, as you will, and get some momentum back, especially before a big game.”
On the play of San Jose midfielder Khari Stephenson:
“To be honest I was surprised that he lasted as long as he did today. I think he set up a couple opportunities for us in the first half. It’s interesting, you see guys train, you don’t know how it’s going to translate, but he looked good out there and obviously on the assist with Chris [Wondolowski] he made a great contribution.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI
On his goal:
“Great play by Khari Stephenson. I got a ball, he saw me kind of drifting off on the back post and put it right there on a platter. I owe it all to him there.”
On the difference in the team’s play from the last home game:
“Just our mentality. I can’t really put a finger on what happened against Seattle, but we planned this whole week about playing strong, playing right from the first whistle, and playing hard. We had a game plan that we were going to press high and I thought we executed pretty well.”
