Sporting Kansas City interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin
Thoughts on the match…
I think to start the game off, we absorbed a lot of pressure. They were rewarded in the 11th minute. They're playing with a lot of confidence right now. It's a good team, even though they didn't have their maybe preferred best XI out there. It's still a strong and confident team. We absorbed a lot in the beginning of the game. I think the balls we gave away, particularly on the second goal right before halftime, were unfortunate in terms of timing and how we lost the ball in a poor area of the field. We did a good job to get back in the game. In the 36th minute, we get a goal to equalize and we think we're going in even at halftime. We actually started the half, I would say, on the front foot, only to be penalized again with another, another cross right after the half. Obviously, the set piece corner kick was an issue and I think we were just too easy defending tonight. We gave up too many chances that were just clear-cut chances for them. We didn't give up and that's a consolation in things, but at the end of the day I think we just came up against a better team.
On the lost momentum…
I think we play such on the edge and part of that is with the idea that we do want to go for it. We understand that we're flawed in certain areas in the game and we've shown the inability to defend the goal in key moments throughout the course of this entire season. I think tonight was no different. And with that, I think we try to outscore and we try to stay on the front foot, even when we're away. Sometimes when you go for it, you're penalized and certainly tonight we were on the losing end of that. I think the group competed. I think there were moments in the game that we were good, but at the end of the night, the performance was flawed in so many ways.
On the 4-4-2 formation…
We've shown in the previous games that with a two-striker system, especially with Mason (Toye) extending the game and (Santi) Munoz underneath, that we've shown the ability to create chances. Even tonight, we created opportunities. I think tonight, where we needed to make an adjustment through the middle of the first half, we did. Our outside midfielders were a little bit too wide and they were getting the run of the game through the middle of the field. I think once we addressed that and brought Daniel (Salloi) and Munoz a little bit closer to even out the numbers through midfield, that helped. The intention of tonight was to compact the middle of the field. We understand that they like to open the game, get numbers through the middle, get the ball wide and cross the ball. That was no different tonight and we were penalized on that. That was the strategy going into the game. We wanted to make sure that we advanced the ball quickly and that in transition that we were effective and efficient. I think the first goal was an execution in that, along with the second goal. There were some things and positives to take from the night, but as I said, it was such a flawed performance in many other ways, particularly giving up goals at key moments of the game (like) right before half and right after half. At the end of the day, that's what really did us in.
On the club’s remaining matches…
We need to evaluate the players that will be coming back into the group. A formation at the end of the day is just four numbers put together. It's how we defend the goal, it's how we possess the ball and make efficient attacks going forward. That's what a balanced team is and that's what a complete team is. That's something we've been battling over the course of the season. Our focus still is no different from any other week. Whether you lose 5-2 or you win 3-0, it doesn't really matter. You try to get better starting Tuesday to get ready for the next opponent.
Sporting Kansas City forward Mason Toye
On his goal…
It was a great, great play. All the guys on the attacking side of the ball were involved. Tim (Leibold) got a few chances to cross the ball. They were in good spots. We were going to continue to try to just flood the box and put crosses in there. Tim made a great run. I think Dejan (Joveljic) got on the ball and laid it off to Zorhan (Bassong) and Zorhan played Tim in and then Tim played a cross in. I just had to put it away. As a striker, obviously, anytime you can get a tap in opportunity, you’re going to take it all day. It was a great ball from Tim and Tim had a great game. A lot of us did. But there were just little things that didn't go our way and maybe we lost some concentration and we got punished for it tonight.
On the upcoming home matches…
Like we've been saying for pretty much every game, every game is super important. It starts next Saturday. This one hurts. We have just got to think about how we can regroup and get after it again. We'll head back to Kansas City and regroup and just focus on Saturday.
