Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the match...
In the match overall, I think we had a pretty solid performance, other than two giveaways on our part. Outside of that, I thought our reaction was tremendous to come back and get a point on the road, especially with the MLS Cup Champions, and actually to a point where we could’ve won this game on a couple of different chances.
On the team’s play on set pieces...
Actually on both sides of the ball, I thought defensively on set pieces we were very solid, and going forward we actually created a couple chances that were huge especially the last one with Diop and the way he played the ball across for Teal Bunbury. I’d like to see it on replay, but it seemed like it was a great setup and that’s something that we work on in practice.
On the MLS debut of Seth Sinovic...
I think Seth is a pretty solid guy. He’s a ‘Steady Eddie’ if you will, nothing outlandish and nothing too low. I feel bad the fact that he did his hamstring a little bit, I just hope he’s not going to be out too long.
On getting a road result...
If I look at it now, it’s a monumental step forward for us, and it’s a huge point on the road. It helps us going into our final game in this 10 game road stretch into Toronto, and we just have to stay focused on what we’re doing, and just continue to get better, and eliminate some of the mistakes we’ve made.
Sporting Kansas City Captain Davy Arnaud
On the result...
It’s a good result for us. We needed a positive result, after our recent run of performances and results in the league. So in that aspect it was good, but having said that I think overall we were good enough to take three points tonight. The first half wasn’t bad, we had some decent chances and all they really had was the goal, which we gave them, but those kind of mistakes happen. When you’re down like that and you’ve had the results we’ve had, you could say ‘here we go again,’ but we didn’t and we came out and our second half performance was outstanding. The commitment from everybody was very good, I think we had the ball, it felt like most of the second half. We created a ton of chances and again the only real chances we gave them were maybe our own mistakes. I think we were well worth the point and if we’re a little sharper in front of the goal, it could’ve easily been three.
On the traveling fans in Denver...
Any kind of support that we can get on the road, it gives us an extra little bit of motivation. They take their time and spend their money to get out here and support us. We had a nice following in Chicago and unfortunately didn’t get a good result for them, but I think tonight the fans that were here and our fans back at home and everybody in the club can be very proud of us because our performance was great and we left everything we had on the field. We’re definitely glad we got the point.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Ryan Smith
On his goal...
It was an important goal, we needed it, but it was a team effort. We did well getting the ball to the edge of the box. Sometimes you hit them and they go over, sometimes you hit them and they trickle in, and sometimes you hit them and that happens. The most important thing was we got a point, and it was a great team effort, to be honest with you. Everyone worked their socks off.
On the match...
It’s a huge result. We started quite well, but I thought we did better in the second half than we did in the first. Overall, they’re the champions, so you can take a lot of positives from this and go into Toronto next week and build from this.
Colorado Rapids Head Coach Gary Smith
On the overall game and the fifth straight tie...
I think Jeff (Larentowicz’s) opportunity was the clearest one of those. And even Andre (Akpan’s). It’s a moment that I think given that Kansas have experienced five defeats on the spin, if we had scored then I might have been all we needed. For whatever reason we can’t get that final nail in the coffin. I think today’s game was overshadowed by the fatigue that the team has endured; some guys have been called upon probably a little too much now. The fact that we stay unbeaten is always good. You can see from the away games that we’ve played that there are points to be had when we go away but we’re going to have to turn the screw a little bit when we go away and pick up some of those points lost here.
On the injuries...
I’m hoping (Marvell Wynne’s) just cramped up. There’s a possibility of course that he’s strained his hamstring which would be bad news for us, he's been playing extremely well. And of course Joseph Nane who came in and played a wonderful 20-25 minutes against New York, and looks like he may have put his shoulder out. So at the moment the group’s going through the grinder physically. We’re having to endure some injuries, and when anybody gets hurt or has a physical issue that keeps them out, it always compounds what we already have. And as tome point we just have to try and break free form that. Hopefully we win a game and feel a lot better about ourselves.
On Conor Casey’s performance...
I was very, very pleased. I thought he had a good game. It wasn’t a plan to keep him out there for 90 minutes and I’m sure he felt very fatigued in the closing stage but he managed to get himself in a couple of good positions. But very pleased, he got a good game under his belt and got on the sheet.
On the team’s busy schedule...
The schedule’s not doing us any favors and I know other teams have to endure it as well. But to have to play on a Saturday and have one extra day’s less rest, and then fly on Monday to the east coast to play against a very good team, and then to jump on a plane and come back and have one day to try and stretch your legs and get at again - that’s tough. That’s really pushing the boundaries of their physical limits. It was important we went a goal up, and I’m pleased we did, it looked like we might hang on to it and it looked like we might extend it but in the end it wasn’t enough. There’s no criticism for those players in there, they gave absolutely everything and we’ll push on and look forward to next weekend.
Colorado Rapids midfielder Wells Thompson
On the match...
It was frustrating. I think everybody’s a bit down. It’s been a long couple of weeks, but it’s a long year too so we’ve just got to keep our head sup and keep plugging along. There are no excuses, you could say travel or it’s been a long week. We should all be ready to play. It was kind of a missed clearance by me and I’ll take the blame for that. But it is what it is; it’s kind of hard to put it together.
On having injured players return...
I think we’re more than capable to play well with the guys that we have and that we could have come out with a victory there. That goes into the excuses category for me: travel, tired legs, guys not playing. We’ve got plenty of guys playing, we’ve got Ross LaBauex, and we’ve got a lot of guys that haven’t had a chance to step on the field that can play for us. And obviously it hurts just not having Omar (Cummings) scoring goals and him and (Conor)Casey clicking up top, so it’ll definitely be good to have everybody back and healthy and have more options especially when we get into Champions League and have more weeks like this.
Colorado Rapids defender Tyrone Marshall
On the tie...
It was one of those games that I think scoring early helped us but we needed that second goal to put them away. You could tell they were ready to just roll up their socks and go back home. They kept pushing for a while and an opportunity dropped at their feet and they ended up putting a goal away. You could tell. I’ve seen games like that before where you can see that it’s coming, but unfortunately it came for them. I wish we could have come out with the three points and capped off a wonderful week for us. But we kept the seven game unbeaten streak and we know we can go into the other venues and get a result. Now we just need to start putting things together and hopefully start getting three points, because one point is not going to get us to the top of the standings where we need to be.
Colorado Rapids midfielder Ross LaBauex
On his second start of the season...
The day of the game Gary just said, ‘Look I’m going to try to play in this formation can you play in there? Can you stay close to Andre and connect with him?’ And I was like ‘Yah I’m good, as long as I can play I’m good.’
On two yellow cards in two games...
I was just trying to slow the guy down today. And I had the one at Red Bulls. I just have to be careful and pick and choose when I tackle and take a foul here and there.
On the five draws and playing with Andre Akpan...
Only four games (in June) will give us more time to rest and get off our legs and do things in the treatment room and the weight room and all the things necessary. And we’ll come out against Philadelphia and be ready to go. Andre (Akpan’s) a great guy, he’s my roommate and he looks good and looks positive. His confidence is building and so is mine. It will be good to see what happens the rest of the season, and the biggest thing is that we’re getting points. As long as we’re getting points we’re good. There are plenty of opportunities for us to get back to where we want to be.
