Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
I thought the sequence of events that occurred around that goal, I wasn't happy with to be honest with you and it wasn't on our side. It's not a handball. They put the ball down. He's making sure everybody puts the ball down, especially with us, to put the ball down where the foul occurred and then they don't and they play and the game goes on. So I’m very disappointed on that piece, but very, very pleased with the mentality of the team to stay in the game and not lose themselves.
On going more direct in the second half…
First of all, I thought we created some very good chances in the first half. For us to get back into the game was obviously good before halftime. And then I just wanted to make sure that when we started the second half that we were on and that we were ready to go. We were. Credit to Johnny (Russell) - he got the first yellow. Alenis (Vargas) really paid attention when he went in because the whole idea was for him to now attack him. There's no way the guy can stay with him. So it was really to put him under pressure and he did exactly that. But just remember, it's never easy to play just being a man up either. It's not an easy gig because the team can get galvanized by the call and then all of a sudden they just go into two blocks and that's it -- game over -- and they just lock it down. So for us to find the goal the way that we did, it was an unbelievable pass by Khiry (Shelton). It’s also a great run, staying wide and keeping the width. It’s just a well-deserved everything. The goal, the pass and the three points.
On closing out the game…
I thought there was definitely some, what I would say, inconsistency in the way the calls were to be honest with you. Alan (Pulido) is getting two-arm shoved from behind and it’s nothing. Their guy just gets touched, falls down and now it’s a call. So we had to battle in those situations. And frankly, they're a big team. They're pretty good on set pieces, so we did a really good job. I thought (Robert) Castellanos was a monster in the back today.
On Daniel Salloi’s injury…
I don't know. I think he sprained his ankle, but I do not know.
If he feels relief or joy…
I'm happy for the players. That's it. I've never come to my job thinking anything other than doing my job to the best of my ability every day. That's how I do it.
On Johnny Russell’s energy…
I would say that the team had that today, which was very evident when they scored their goal. The team didn't just put their heads down. Instead of me trying to get to the guys, they were telling themselves, ‘Hey, let's go. Come on. Come on. Come on. Let's go. Let's go.’ That part is very important that it's coming from them. It can't be externally. Sometimes it has to be the team itself and that was good to see with the group.
On Erik Thommy’s performance after recovering from injury…
First off, it wasn't that bad. So that's the reason why. The other thing is, Thommy is one of those guys that really takes care of himself and always puts himself in a very good position. If there was any situation where it was getting dangerous for him to reinjure himself or what have you, I wouldn't have kept him out there. But the other thing is the fact that we went up a man. I wanted to keep as many attacking players on the field. We were trying to look at what was going to be the best way to even get Willy (Agada) on a little bit earlier. We were trying different things. At the end, it worked well.
On the team’s play…
I think our performance was very good. I think when your performance is good, it gives you a good chance to get a result. I would say it was more of a version of who we are. The whole idea is always to become or try to get close to the best version of yourself. And I think the guys were trying that today. I still think that, at times, we were a little hesitant but I think we grew a lot today in the game and I think hopefully this is going to give us a little bit of a burst that we need.
On Khiry Shelton playing right back…
I said this to him. I said, ‘I'm going to try you at two different positions. I'm going to train you in two different positions: right back and central defender.’ And he's done a very good job there. It happens sometimes with guys, when you're put on the back line and you never really play there, you understand the responsibility that there's nobody else behind you. When you're in the midfield or up front and somebody goes around you or the ball goes past you, it’s like ‘I’ve got other guys behind me.’ When you're on the back line, the only thing that's left is a goalkeeper. He does a very good job of being attentive and being really alert to where he needs to be positionally from the tactical perspective. The other is that he's very calm on the ball in those situations facing the field. It could be a place that we found for him.
On his message to the team…
I think this is a good team. The issue last year, which was a little bit different, was for the longest time, I had to be the one to try to keep telling them that. This win should reinforce that to them that they're good. When they want to play, they can play. I would say that tonight we really didn't give silly things away in the game. And I'll say it again, I thought (Robert) Castellanos played very well in the back. I thought he was in control. He was very good in the air. He was good with the ball. I think (Andreu) Fontas was a good partnership with him because we were able to move the ball and keep the ball. We were talking about possession earlier. That partnership worked really well. I think those things helped the game and helped the team a lot.
Sporting Kansas City forward Alenis Vargas
On his game-winning goal…
First, I just have to say thank you to all my teammates. I feel very happy because we are fighting to have good results. It's the best way to get going with your fans here at home. I think great things are coming.
On his mindset when he got the ball…
The first thing in my mind was to give an assist but when I looked to see the options, I didn’t see anybody. So I thought I have to shoot and thank God the goal went in.
On drawing a red card…
(Peter) told me that before going in. He told me, ‘Go and do your thing. He has a yellow card, so you're going to beat him.’ And then the goal came. Everything went to the plan.
On the support from the fans…
When you have the support and you hear the people yelling, as a player that makes you go and work hard. It's different when you are playing away. It's harder because you don't have that support. At home, the team needed this and we are fighting for this.
On scoring in back-to-back wins…
It's good for me. It's good for the team. I'm happy -- not for the goal -- I'm happy because you see that when we lose or sometimes we are winning and then we tie or sometimes we lose, the locker (room) is different. I like this feeling. That’s why I try to fight for every ball and try to score more goals to have everybody happy.
Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell
Thoughts on the win…
We showed last year that we're a team that doesn't quit. We can fight it out. I'm sure we're going to do it again. Hopefully this is the start of the turnaround. It's only the first step. I’m not going to get carried away. There's still a long way to go. There's still a lot that we have to work on, but this is a step in the right direction.
On taking lessons from last year…
We never wanted to be in that situation again but we are. We know we can do it. That's what we have to look at. We're the same team. It's the same teams around us. We did it last year. So we have to have the belief we can go and do it again. We can’t continue to make it a habit where this is the norm for us. We don't want it to be like that, but that's the way we're going to have to do it. I know every guy in here is up for the fight. You could see that tonight. Even in the previous games, the fight has been there. Maybe the quality fell short at times, but I think you could see every guy who started the game or came on, everyone gave it everything they had to get that result. We’ll enjoy this one, recover and we go again.
On building momentum…
We just have to take a lot of what we did tonight and in the previous games as well. A lot of those games were very close and we just fell short. Tonight we swing it and won by one. We have to win games like that, especially when we aren't at our best. We just have to be confident. We have been through this stretch. I said it last year that I don't think many teams come back the way we did. And even when we were going through it this year, we were still trying to play and we were still trying to do the right things. It was just errors. We were really shooting ourselves in the foot. Sometimes in the first half we let them out a little bit easy. But I thought defensively we were so sound. We should have had a couple more goals. I know I definitely should have had one at the end. I just tried to be a little bit too clever and cut back inside instead of just putting it far corner. Put that down to tired legs and a tired mind. The most important thing is getting the three points. That's huge for us. And like you said, it has to snowball. We have to continue that in the upcoming weeks and we have to get ourselves back in the mix. We're realistic in our situation, but we know that we are more than capable of getting ourselves back in the playoff hunt.
On his yellow card…
I wasn't happy. Daniel (Salloi) was on the ground struggling with his ankle and he was nudging Daniel's foot with his. If someone's rolled their ankle, the last thing you want to be doing is moving their foot. So I didn't like that. And even if someone's injured for the other team, get away from them. Whether you agree with it or not, just stay away. Don't be shadowing over someone. I think when you see it again, you see how bad it actually is. The way Daniel rolls his ankle. So I just didn't like it. The way he was just nudging his foot. It wasn't as if he was kicking it, but it was enough to cause Daniel discomfort. I don't like that. You remember, when I first came here, the tackle on Roger (Espinoza)? We played Vancouver. If someone's injured, honestly just stay…away from him. You know what I mean? Sorry for swearing, but I just don't like that. I don't like that part of the game. I get being competitive, but for me that's unacceptable.
On having a full week to prepare…
I think it gives you that little bit more time to recover. Guys are carrying knocks here and there. We managed to get Erik (Thommy) back. That's huge for us as well. It just gives guys that extra time to take a couple of days. If they're carrying something, it settles. Guys got away for a couple of days and spent time with our family. I think that was huge as well. It refreshes you mentally because it has been a difficult time recently. The guys came back refreshed and you see it out there. We're not going to go down without a fight. There's still plenty of season to go and we are definitely up for the fight.
On the comeback…
I think we had a lot of time tonight as well. Obviously that's key. We go down early and then that kind of kicks us into gear. We didn't start the game particularly well. I thought, in the last 20 minutes of the first half, we were keeping the ball well and we were moving them well and creating chances. Obviously Alenis (Vargas) coming on with fresh legs and doing what Alenis does – just relentless running. He gets them down to 10 men and we know how difficult it is when you go down to 10 men. But on the other hand, it's difficult to play against them as well. Every team bunkers in. It’s a brilliant second goal and a huge goal for us as well.
On beating Seattle in back-to-back years to end 10-game winless streaks…
I said that before the game. This is when the turnaround and resurgence started. It was against Seattle. Let's do it again. This is the first step. We're not going to get carried away. We know that we've still got a lot of strides to make. There's still a lot of improvements we have to make, but it's a good start and it's a nice feeling.
