Sporting KC interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin
On how the early goal changed the gameplan…
Big time. We talked about coming out and being on the front foot. We're at home. We want to start quickly. It's my responsibility. We didn't start well. We didn't touch the ball before they scored. It shook us a little bit, but not enough and we didn't have enough punch even through the first half. To give another goal away right before halftime like we did last week is another disappointing moment. Walking into halftime, you can imagine, there were a lot of things to correct but actually just one thing. It was the energy, the intensity and the determination. We didn't have that in the first half. I think in the second half we came out a little bit better, but on the night we didn't create enough. We weren't dangerous around goal. We were passive in our confrontations and when you play against a team like Vancouver, who's near the top of the table, you have to bring your A game. And unfortunately, tonight we didn't.
On the second half performance…
Sure, the ball was on their end more than ours. That was encouraging. But the game state also said that they were up 2-0 and what they did extremely well is while they conceded a little bit of the possession, they didn't give away anything in their box. That's where the game can be a little bit deceiving. Although we had the ball a little bit more, we still weren't dangerous enough.
On the center backs…
I was just looking before we came in tonight. That was our 32nd different lineup in 33 games. So the continuity certainly is an issue over the course of this challenging year. They paired together for the first time tonight. I think we can see, once again, Ian James' potential. He was without fear. He played calm and with composure, although he gave a few balls away through the middle. Those are mistakes that he's going to learn from and I thought he was just outstanding tonight. (Alan) Montes was decent throughout the game and I thought both of them had their moments. But, at the end of the day, too much for them defensively to do over the course of the game.
On the front four…
I think whenever we go with a single striker up top, we just don't get enough through the middle of the field. Bringing Santi (Munoz) on underneath Dejan (Joveljic), we thought we'd get a little bit more activity through the middle of the field. Now bringing (Erik) Thommy, who likes to drift in different areas and pockets, we thought we'd be able to find him a little bit more. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Vancouver did a very good job in their 4-3-3 of defending that and so we had to find different ways. I thought there were opportunities in the first half where (Khiry) Shelton was coming up the field and Shapi (Suleymanov) was coming in that we could have exploited a little bit more. Unfortunately, we didn't. We got the ball out there, but we weren't able to penetrate. At the end of the day, just not enough combination or penetration in the areas that we were hoping for.
On Alan Montes…
If we would have been able to have a little bit more of the ball, some of his strengths would have come out a little bit more. I think when the game opens up, things sometimes get a little bit difficult but that's on us and that's on me to put the team in the right way that we don't get stretched. I think he did decent. He was decent in the air. He was decent with the ball at his feet. Unfortunately, he was put in some situations that we were hoping that he wasn't.
On Ian James…
He trains extremely well and (has) great maturity for his age. He will get more opportunities down the stretch here. I think that's what's missing in his game in order to progress further. He's very good in the air. He's very athletic. He's not afraid for the confrontations. He can handle himself quite well in the league now and we're going to see more of that. With the ball, obviously, he needs to create some more advantages and see the opportunities where he can maybe play a little bit more over distance in switching the point of attack, but I thought he conducted himself and had a really good game.
Sporting Kansas City captain Erik Thommy
On motivation for the coming games…
The motivation is to win every game. We are soccer players. We have that competitive mind. It doesn't matter if it's a training session or a real game. I want to win everything. We don't need to talk about the motivation. It's really important for us as a club to finish strong and to win games because that gives us the path for the next season. When you look around, what's clear, the people and the players who are here right now, we won't all be together next season because there will be a change. Also for us, it’s to enjoy that time and get the maximum out of it. We tried it even today. There is no doubt that we wanted to win today. When we talk about the game, we just couldn't figure it out. Second half was much better. We were unlucky in front of the goal. A lot of things came together. It's always difficult if you're not on the top of the league and when you need that point, it's harder. We will keep going and try to finish strong.
On the offense in the second half…
First of all, huge respect for Vancouver and how they played away with the calmness on the ball, especially in their half. The defenders did a really good job trying to play out. They broke us a couple of times. We couldn't figure it out because we felt like we were one man down. That was our feeling sometimes on the field. Second half we could figure out. We pressed a little bit higher, tried to step earlier, and therefore we tried to create some chances. It's always more difficult if you need points. We couldn't be effective in front of the goal today.
On his recovery…
For me personally, of course I'm happy to be back playing 90 minutes, obviously with a different result. The long time in the stands is over now for me and I am looking forward to helping the team in the next couple of games as well.
Thoughts on some of the new players this season…
The young players had good moments throughout the season. I'm happy for them personally. In the end, we have 25 players. Every one of us is really important and tries to help us wherever they can. Hopefully the young players have a lot of years in front of them and can learn out of the season as well, because not everything was good. Sometimes, especially if you're not successful, you learn more. That's what I see for everybody. Let's see what the next years bring to them and for us. Right now, the focus is obviously on the last three games.
