Sporting KC interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin
On the comeback…
We never gave up. Although things at different points in the game weren't going our way, we never gave up. There have been different points in the last 6 weeks that we've excelled in. There have been games where we exploded offensively. There have been games where we held really strong and defended a result with zero shots on goal. We've defended set pieces, 12 of them in a game, in a fantastic way. Tonight was one of those moments where courage and bravery and the winning mentality really shone through. That's probably the story of the night because I don't think we necessarily deserved to be down 2-0. But we were and we can't control that. We can't control the result. But we can control our attitude. And the way the guys persevered throughout the game was probably what the storyline is all about.
On the ability to recover from the two goals conceded…
I think it's being consistent with the message. You can talk about how you can't control the results. And then you lose every game and then everyone says, ‘Yeah, but…’ because it's a results orientated business. Our approach is we can't do anything about yesterday and we can't do anything about tomorrow. All we can deal with is the moment. That was the message at halftime, that we have to put the half behind us and show that we have the character at least to compete and push forward. We did and we got a result from it.
On the play of John Pulskamp…
I don't want to talk to him because he's playing so well. He's playing a perfect game, you know? Maybe that's a bit excessive, but I think that he's growing as a goalkeeper. We say that after every week when he's put in a performance that is just a little bit better than the last one. The question recently was ‘what's his ceiling?’ and I would hate to put anything on that, because he just keeps growing. It's really great to see how he's improving and improving the team
On the play of Jansen Miller…
I spoke to the team before the game and I told them, ‘Guys, we have to win the game.’ And all the guys kind of looked and they said, ‘Coach never says that.’ I said, ‘because Jansen has 200 people coming to the game and they'll never let him live it down.’ From a playing perspective, he's been outstanding. He's young and he will make mistakes and he made a few tonight, but it never let him affect how he conducted himself the rest of the game. And that goes for all the players. Great mentality, great courage, great bravery. But now we have got a short turnaround. We have got to get ready for the next.
On the physicality…
I actually really enjoy that in a rivalry game that there's emotion and passion that spills just on the borderline of going over the top. I think it's entertaining. I couldn't tell what the confrontation was but with St. Louis and Kansas City, no matter if it's soccer or anything else, I think you're always going to have a heated and passionate battle. That was no different tonight. In terms of how the referee conducted or managed the game, I try to pay so little attention to what that is, because you can't control that. I would have to say, without thinking too much, he was generally good. He managed the game and if there's a call tit for tat here and there, I don't have really much interest in it. Overall, I think it was a well-competed game.
On Nemanja Radoja’s injury…
I think it's a muscular quad injury. And one of the reasons why we didn't start him is because he put in a really big effort over the weekend. We thought we'd be somewhat conservative by at least playing 30-45 minutes. We thought that would keep him in the clear but unfortunately he pulled up with a quad injury. I don't know how serious it is at the moment. We'll have to wait until we get back to Kansas City.
On the intensity of Shapi Suleymanov…
He's such a nice guy and has integrated himself with the group. He's got a great personality and a great sense of humor. But when he gets on the field he's a completely different person. He puts the mask on, if you will, and does embrace that villain role. He doesn't really care what people think or say or do from the fan perspective. I think that actually energizes him. For us, I think that helps us. It helps us from an energy and an emotional level that we can join him. You're always competing in games like this that are rising to the level of just of being over the edge. He's our leader in that regard.
On Erik Thommy getting the start…
I thought Thommy was going to be able to get in behind a little bit more. As a winger playing against the line with Shapi, who always comes from the line or receives the ball at his feet or rotates with our outside back, Thommy was more of a central player getting in behind since they were playing with three in the back. So we wanted him to penetrate there. As a team, we collectively couldn't get him in the right positions and we had to open up somebody up against the line on that right side in the second half. I would attribute much of that decision to a tactical decision.
On the impact from the substitutes…
I think the subs, for the most part this year, have come on and contributed in a positive way. We had a contingency plan that if we had lost too many central midfielders, Zorhan (Bassong) would be able to go into that central role as he's performed more often than not as opposed to left back. (Tim) Leibold came in, positioned himself extremely well and again was part of that courageous group that just kept penetrating forward. For him to score a goal right in front of the goal as a left back says a lot about his commitment to get forward and try to get the result.
Sporting Kansas City forward Dejan Joveljic
On scoring against St. Louis three times this year…
It looks like I like these derby games. Can we playe them maybe every week? That would be awesome. A bad start, but in the end we showed that we can come back and I'm happy because I scored and we bounced back. It’s huge and a good one point. Maybe we could take all three points, but at the end I think that's a fair score to share the points.
On staying persistent…
I know it has been hard in the past three of four games. I didn't have chances so it's hard to stay focused. At the end, I'm just waiting and preparing myself so if I get in those positions that I need to put ball behind the back. Maybe I could score on one more shot at least. A little bit better and maybe I could have two goals but at the end I'm happy with this one. It’s good for the confidence.
On the challenge for the team to stay focused after going 2-0 down…
Of course. As you know, the goal we conceded against Cincinnati and against Portland and those two goals today so it's hard to stay focused. But we showed that we can and shout out to the team. We are happy and we go to prepare for the next game in San Diego.
On the nature of the goals conceded…
I hope that they're not going to score another bicycle kick or deflection like this.
On his scoring history against St. Louis…
I don't know. I played a few times against them. I think that I have four goals against St. Louis. You probably heard that I said, can we play them every week? That would be maybe good for me and good for the team. I don't know. I just was lucky enough to be in the right position today to score. Hopefully I will have more chances and goals in the next games.
On his teammate Shapi Suleymanov…
I know Shapi longer than the other guys in this team because I played against him maybe two or three times in the national team. He's the same age as me. He was playing for the Russian national team and I played against him many times. We need to have guys and players like him who are good outside of the field and when you step on the field they're like fighters. I'm happy that I have him as a teammate. He's such a good person and an amazing player. Hopefully he's going to help us with goals and with assists. So far he has four assists so I expect a lot of more from him.
