Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes
On Benny Feilhaber’s performance...
He had a good first half. He had a good goal. I don’t think it was one of his best games. He’s been good this season, and he was solid in the first half. I thought he died out as the game went on, but he’s been one of the most consistent guys for us on the field.
On Sporting KC's overall team performance...
We weren’t great today. We weren’t great in possession, but we were really good at creating chances. Where we weren’t good was possession, they were better. We found a way to win by scoring two good goals. We should’ve scored at least two more goals in the first half. We could have scored another off a corner in the second half as well, so we should have been up three or four to nil. Again, we had great chances, but we weren’t great in possession.
On Dom Dwyer’s consistency against Montreal...
I think he’s pretty effective against everybody. He’s getting into his rhythm now. He had open break, not the one he scored on, where he took off down the left hand side, took a touch inside and hit the shot, and then got the rebound and almost finished the second one. He was a handful tonight, and it has a lot to do with his work ethic. He is not an easy player to play against.
On Chance Myers coming off the bench as a substitute...
It was a product of three games in seven days. He can go a full 90. He played 88 or 89 minutes last game and I took him off for a reason. I thought it was a good idea to take him off so he could get an ovation for making his way back. He could play 90 it’s just that we have three games in seven days.
On the importance of scoring an early goal...
It obviously takes a lot of pressure off and makes the other team have to play a little bit more. When the game first started, you could see that they were going to sit back, but then we scored and they had to attack more. That’s one of the reasons we had so many chances in the first half. I thought we created some really quality chances in the first half but again we didn’t get it done. If we could have put a few more of those in it would have changed the game dramatically.
On concern of fatigue due to game temperature...
Yeah, it is a concern. We are going to get the guys hydrated, and get them massages cold baths and food in everybody quickly and then hopefully get everybody enough energy for Tuesday night.
On Sporting KC's scoring balance this season...
It’s very good when you can spread it around. However, I love the progression that Dom is going through right now. He’s got this hunger that is really coming from game to game and you can see it. Every time he is facing the goal he is on the verge of putting it in the back of the net or getting a good chance off. He’s starting to feel it again.
On where Benny Feilhaber ranks in MLS...
He’s been one of our most consistent players this year. I think for him personally it has so much to do with the fact that he is playing on both sides of the ball very consistently. I think that has changed his game and I also think people start to see the differences. It’s one thing if you’re only alive when you have the ball, it’s another thing when you don’t and you’re doing the other things as well. It’s one of the things that Roger [Espinoza] is notorious for. He trucks across the field, the Honduran train, and he wins the ball and then runs another thirty yards down the field. I think people can appreciate when a player does that. Benny did it in the first half where he ran across the field, won the ball back for us and kept possession. I value that a lot. The great thing about that is Benny is starting to value it as well and that is one of the reasons why the perception of him has changed so much.
Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber
On his through ball to Dom Dwyer for Sporting KC’s second goal…
It was pretty wide open. Kevin (Ellis) won that ball for us, he stepped really well on my man and won that. They were really knocking the ball around so their two centerbacks were very wide and Dom was just down the middle. I just wanted to put it with enough pace that he could go in alone and kick it toward the left side. I just wanted to kick it hard, kick it forward so he could do his thing.
On Dwyer’s confidence…
I think forwards go through momentum swings. Dom is riding a hot streak right now. He’s playing well. I’ve always said that everything he does besides score goals is very, very good for us and very, very necessary for how we play. When he’s able to start scoring like he is now and how he has for a year and half now — maybe a little bit longer, since our MLS Cup run — then we have a very good and important player for us playing up there.
On a possible difference between Dwyer earlier in the season and now…
To be honest, not really because he does so many things besides scoring for us. He’s being doing that kind of stuff since the beginning of the season and obviously last year. Obviously he was missing some chances in the beginning of the season, and that’s to be expected from forwards. You get three or four chances a game, you’re not going to score them all. Maybe on one night, like the U.S. Open Cup night the other night, he is but that’s not going to be every night. If he can get three or four chances and put one or two into the back of the net, that’s what we ask of him. He just goes through his thing, he’s got tons of confidence. I think he’s doing a great job for us right now.
On playing three games in seven days in scorching temperatures…
We have to be smart. Obviously today was pretty hot. I don’t think we necessarily played the way we wanted to, which didn’t help our legs. I think a lot of guys got tired — I got pretty tired in the second half and had to come off — but we fought through it. Mentally we were strong and got three points.
It’s going to be tough the next two games. Obviously we have a tough team coming in with Houston who always plays us very tough. Thankfully we get that game at home for the U.S. Open Cup. We’re going to give it our all to get to the semifinals. I think everybody knows how much importance we’re putting on that tournament, and then obviously an away game against Real Salt Lake. We’ll be ready. We don’t know what the weather will be like or how tired we will be, but we’re going to do everything we can do to rest our legs and be prepared for our next game.
On producing chances early on…
We did do some really good things early on until that first goal. We were pressing them. I think that goal came off of a turnover by pressing. We were finding some spaces and making it difficult for them to play out of the back and create opportunities. We did some good things in the beginning of the game. I think after that first goal we were comfortable letting them kind of dictate the pace. We were playing on the counter, which is fine, but obviously with the weather, it takes its toll. When you’re defending for long periods of time, you’re going to get tired, and that’s a little bit what happened to us. We need to do a little bit better of job kind of letting them come to us sometimes and other times press higher up and not let them have easy outlets, so that’s something to look forward to in this week of training.
Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer
On joining Thierry Henry as the only players to score seven goals against Montreal all-time…
That’s a pretty cool stat. It’s good company to have, I think, the legend Thierry Henry. But we’re very pleased with the win tonight — that’s the main thing.
On his recent success against Montreal…
I don’t really know (what it is). I guess I like playing Canadian teams. I really don’t know. It was a fantastic ball by Benny (Feilhaber) tonight. I mean, it was a tap in. I would’ve liked to get more tonight — I think I should have had a couple more but the keeper made some good saves — but we got the result so we’re pleased.
On getting into form after a slow start to the season statistically…
I feel like I’m on the best team in the league, so I’m going to just get chances. I’ve always said that, I just have to put them away. I’m feeling confident at the moment, my body is feeling good. I just want to keep putting them away — keep scoring goals — and help the team win.
On finding the missing piece of his game after the slow start…
I don’t know, to be honest. Sometimes luck goes away, sometimes it doesn’t. I missed a few chances here and there. I started to get there and find my feet a little, start to shrug off some injuries — I had a few knocks here and there — and just get sharper through the season. It’s coming business time; it’s getting closer and closer to the playoffs and we’re climbing up that table taking each game at a time. I just want to keep scoring goals, keep winning games and try and help the team.
Montreal Impact manager Frank Klopas
On Montreal's start to the match...
I think we started well. I think we just made two mistakes that were costly, and you can’t do that. You can’t be casual on the road. Other than that, I thought if you see the overall performance of the team, I think it was probably one of the better road games that we’ve played. It’s hard for me to say because you look at the score and you see 2-1 and then you lose, but you see the game again and you know what I’m talking about. I thought that definitely those two early mental mistakes that we made cost the team and we have to realize that we can’t take risky chances away from home and against a quality team. But other than that I thought we regrouped. The focus was to win the second half, and I thought we did that. We pushed the game. Unfortunately those early mistakes we made cost us.
On Benny Feilhaber’s performance tonight and this season...
He’s just a quality player, Benny is. I’ve known him for a long time. His decision making, not only what he does with the ball. It’s important from a midfield player that he gets points, which help. But I think Peter’s done a great job and he’s getting the most out of him. I think as a player he’s pushing himself to the highest level that he can. It’s great when you have someone like that who can contribute in all phases of the game.
On the two goals that Montreal conceded...
I just think they were mental mistakes. We had a throw-in where we take a risk and try to play the ball out of the back, which is tricky, and we lose the ball. We were really stretched with the two center backs, when one is going up the other has to cover the middle. We lose the ball in the midfield and it’s basically one ball and we let [Dom] Dwyer have a breakaway on goal. I think just being more focused after that throughout the game, knowing where to take risks, making better decisions on the ball, and I think that was the key. We're trying to find better solutions.
On his decision to switch forwards in the second half...
I just thought it was time to use the players on the bench. I think [Dominic Oduro] gave everything. He wasn’t that involved in the game. I think he made some runs and we really didn’t find him. In the first half he made a good run when [Ignacio Piatti] played the ball. You give everything and I think it’s really about the team. I know [Anthony] Jackson-Hamel is a young player but I just thought as the game was going, we could’ve provided some more service, could’ve gotten some more corners or set pieces. He’s a little bit better in the air, he’s physically stronger, he can hold the ball up a little bit more and bring the team into play and win some fouls. So I think [Oduro] gave everything, I just wanted to bring in some fresh legs with some different characteristics.
Montreal Impact forward Dominic Oduro
On Montreal’s 2-1 loss to Sporting KC…
The second half was better than the first half. We just lost our head a little bit. I think we gave them two goals—they didn’t create the chance, we gave it to them. The mistakes we made shouldn’t happen. That cost us this loss. But the second half was really good and we had our chances. We were able to create but we just couldn’t finish it. What we did today in the first half, we shouldn’t give a team the chance to just put the ball in the net. I thought the second half got better.
On Montreal’s struggles on the road…
This is a tough crowd to play against and they’re a good team, too. We just have to fight through it. Like I said, I thought we played better today. We had our mistakes but we have to play on the road like we did in the second half. If we do then we can win every game on the road, but at least we have to get a point.
Montreal Impact midfielder Dilly Duka
On Montreal’s 2-1 loss to Sporting KC…
Slow start [for us]. The other team did a good job of sitting in in the first half. Overall, I guess we weren’t playing like the road team in the beginning because we were kind of pushing too many numbers forward in the beginning of the first half. They capitalized on two goals just basically on our mistakes. I think to be a better away team, we need to play like an away team. We can be the aggressors from the beginning and think that we are going to score a goal. We’ve got to work off of the other team’s mistakes, just like Kansas City did to us.
On Montreal’s edge in possession throughout the match.
They worked off of our mistakes and they capitalized. I think they had respect for us coming into this game and they sat in, but we’ve got to be smarter. We can’t try to play pretty soccer all the time, especially on the road when you play teams that sit back and then punish you on your mistakes.
On the team’s position at the halfway point of the season…
There are a lot of games left. I think we just have to look at the positives: we have a really good team; we have a lot of talent. Even in away games at Kansas City, we come here and have more possession and they have a lot of respect for us. Now we just have to capitalize and get some points.
