Sporting Kansas City interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin
On Sporting KC’s 3-0 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps FC…
They’re a good team and a balanced team. They make it very difficult defensively, and that sets them up for the rest of the game. I thought they won a lot of second balls within the game. Part of that was our doing in playing direct, which we wanted to try and get in behind them, but it wasn’t just that. It was off set pieces and goal kicks. They established themselves in the game in a better way, and for large portions of it they were threatening in and around the goal mouth, especially in the first half. We were on the backfoot and we wanted to be on the front foot, although we started the second half of the game in a decent way. We just couldn’t command control of it. This is a difficult place to play and a tough team to play against, so you’ll have to withstand some of that pressure they had in the first half. Unfortunately we gave up two goals—two goals that were preventable—and we go into halftime down 2-0. We have to make some tactical changes, and it shifted the game in a decent way for us in the second half. I thought we were going to a get a goal midway through that half. I thought we got good pressure on them and got really good looks at the goal. Once again, it’s a story of the first half and not being able to gain control of that, which did us in against a good team tonight.
On Jacob Bartlett dropping deeper as a third center back later in the game…
Going with two midfielders versus three in the second half—and in a very man-oriented way—what that solves is Vancouver’s ability to play long diagonals, which were devastating for us in the first half. We weren’t getting out to them with our outside backs, and for that matter when they put five in the top line, it was very difficult to put them under a lot of pressure. We didn’t drop our wingers back. They weren’t recovering well in the game, so that forced us to bring another player through the back and allowed our outside backs to get more pressure on the ball. Obviously the second half turned into a very man-oriented game and helped us gain control of the game. It might be something that we have to think about in terms of how we start games, but it’s a very high-risk way to start games. At this point, it’s something to think about moving forward.
On the reason for Sporting’s improvement in the second half…
Maybe part of it is psychological, but Vancouver is a good team. They would gladly take possession in the second half and build up just as they did in the first half, but we were better in our duels, we were closer to players, we were winning balls, we were creating opportunities. We put them under pressure and I don’t think it was just the state of the game at that point. I thought we were good in the second half, and I thought the guys who came on—Santiago Munoz, Logan Ndenbe, Jake Davis—I think they contributed to the game in a positive way and almost turned it in our favor. Ndenbe had two great looks on goal and I thought we were there at one point. Part of it is game state, but I wouldn’t attribute all of it to that.
On midfielder Jake Davis coming off the bench…
He’s in his moment of coming into form. He needs minutes and games, and there were other guys playing better than him at the time. I have a lot of belief in him. We know as a club what he can bring to the team. He’s a guy who brings energy, and as he builds his way back to form and fitness in a 90-minute capacity, he’s going to see more playing time. We were thin at right back tonight and I thought Andrew Brody did a decent job in the game, but without Khiry Shelton, we needed that balance of having a right back who could also step in. Davis was playing in two different roles tonight. Brody played the full 90 minutes tonight, so we were able to put Davis in the midfield.
On the possibility of substitute Santiago Munoz working his way into the starting lineup…
I think we’re awfully close to seeing (him) start. He’s obviously very impactful when he comes into the game, and we’re just going to have to manipulate a few things in how we structure the group both defensively and offensively. But there is no doubt when he gets into the attacking third how he combines both with Dejan Joveljic but also bringing other players into the game. He’s knocking on the door and I think we can all see he isn’t far from being included in the starting lineup.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Jacob Bartlett
On Sporting KC’s 3-0 loss to Vancouver…
I think we brought most of it upon ourselves. We initially played long instead of having the confidence to build out, and when we did go long, we didn’t pick up first or second balls early in the first half. That kind of set the tone for them, and from then on, we were chasing. Obviously we want to start on the front foot next time, and if we do (play) long like that, we need to win the first and second job. That is the job of not only myself but the whole team. I think that set the tone for the game.
On dropping deeper into the backline in the second half…
It depends on the game, but coach put me in the back and I was able to connect more passes and try to get us going forward. Our midfield—Memo (Rodriguez) and (Nemanja) Radoja, and then when Jake (Davis) and Memo (Rodriguez) came on—they did a great job moving the ball around and giving us chances going forward. When I dropped into the back, I tried to get the ball to those guys so they could create, and they did towards the end. Hopefully we can do that starting in the first half going forward.
