Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
General thoughts on the match...
It’s a grind. At the end of the day, there are a lot of games that you, as a team, have got to be able to grind out. They’re not always going to go pretty. There are many teams that have come and played many games at our place over the years and they wind up stealing one point or even three because they sit back and they counter. Part of our gameplan tonight was to try to do some of that based on us traveling and having to go back home and play Saturday night, having just played a game this past weekend.
Credit to them, they’re at home and they have to drive the game. They have to attack and they have to do that for their fans and everything else. We had to play smart. That’s really the gameplan going into this one, just based on a number of issues and it being a mid-week game.
On playing without Graham Zusi...
We missed him a little bit tonight. He gives us a little different dimension on both sides of the ball, but I think the guys did a good job that were in there. The fighting is a huge part of the game and that aspect was good. Hopefully he’s recovered and he’ll be ready for the next game and the game after that.
On the team’s confidence...
I think one of the things that we’re learning to do is —seven games now, us being undefeated going back to that US Open Cup match — pulling out results, being a tie or a win and doing it home and away at the moment. What’s helped us a lot is getting a chance to play at home. It gives you that break in-between. We had a long stretch on the road and I think it was really difficult for the guys in a lot of different respects.
Where I think the guys are is we have a good foundation where we’re working from and even though there were shots on goal tonight, other than the one that hit the crossbar and the one that (Sebastien) Le Toux had that went by the post, everything else was around our goalkeeper’s wheelhouse. Even though there were some shots, we didn’t give anything crazy or any stupid stuff away. We were really good on set pieces as well and there were a lot against us.
Credit to them, they came and they tried to drive the game. We’re also depleted with some injuries and things like that, but that’s the way it goes. Our guys were courageous tonight to be able to fight through because they gave up a lot of energy.
Sporting Kansas City Captain Davy Arnaud
General thoughts on the match...
I think it’s a great result for us. This is a tough place to come in and play. I don’t think they’ve lost at home all year. For us to keep our streak going of picking up points in the last six or seven games now, it’s huge for us. I thought, on the night, we didn’t play great, but we all defended for each other and that’s what it takes sometimes. You’ve got to grind out some 0-0's in tough places.
Credit to them. They were good tonight and created some problems for us. Defensively, I thought we were good, we were organized. Jimmy (Nielsen) came up with some big saves for us.
On weathering the Philadelphia pressure...
Most of the time you go on the road you want to pick up at least a point every time. We’re on a good little run right now. We’ve won on the road at Dallas and we’ve had good results at home. This is not an easy place to come and play, and for us to pick up a point is very positive.
Sporting Kansas City Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen
On the result...
We’ve got to be pleased with a point when we’re not playing our best game. We were struggling a little bit today. We were struggling in the heat, we looked tired today. We’ve played a lot of games recently, but there’s more games coming around the corner. We’ve got to find some energy because we’ve got to do better than we did today.
On the upcoming home matches...
When you play a lot of games, you travel a lot and spend a lot of time in the airport, in the plane. It’s totally different in this league to play at home or away. It’s a big advantage to play at home.
On facing so many shots...
If you don’t have anything to do it means that the team is doing well. If you have a lot to do and you save the ball, you’re active the whole game. I had a lot of stuff to do today, but it’s my job.
On recording back-to-back shutouts...
It’s important. Later in the season when we’re struggling, we know we can keep fighting hard and still get a point. When good teams play bad, they still get points. That’s what we did today.
Philadelphia Union Manager Peter Nowak
General thoughts on the match...
It’s not going to get any easier. I think that the teams are recognizing that they can come here and just play defensive and look for the goal, look for the counter. Even in the second half, though, I don’t think Kansas City was looking for a counterattack and to score a goal. It feels disruptive, but that’s how it’s going to be, you know.
We are where we are in the standings and the teams are coming to be happy with the points. We’ve got to find the formula to score a goal when we have the chance. I think we had good looks today and we’ve been unlucky a little bit with the post and the crossbar from Carlos Ruiz and some of the shots we took from outside the penalty box. Missing a little bit here and there but we’re going to go back to work.
I was very proud of the effort. It was tough travel and a tough game in Vancouver. It was not easy to prepare these guys especially the way they positioned like that, so I’m very happy with the effort. I think like we pushed the game to the limit and still tried to find the right formula to score goals, but that’s not the big issue right now. I think we held our own pretty good after a long weekend and we’re looking forward to another game around the corner on Saturday.
On Danny Mwanga’s knee...
He got hurt in the game in Vancouver, got a couple of knocks here and there. We checked him out yesterday in training and he couldn’t strike the ball like he really liked it. There was some limitation with his movement as well, so I think that, as I said, we have enough people to shuffle the deck and make sure that another will have a chance. I think Jack will progress with his development as well. He had a very good 60 minutes and we’re going to keep him working so as to get more minutes.
On the rationale behind the different lineup tonight...
I think, as I said, we have options and those players are recognizing what we’re trying to do regarding the lineup and regarding the style of how we want to play. I think it was, for the lot of them, a very good 60-65 minutes.
On the team being held scoreless...
We’re finding shots. We cannot ask for more, I think. It was a good 90 minutes we played. It was not minutes we had like in the RSL game where it was five minutes here, five minutes high-tempo, five minutes, ten minutes, going back and getting back to the shelf and just defend. I think today we played a good 90 minutes overall, which makes me happy after a tough weekend. We’re going to get the stuff as well for Saturday and get those players ready.
Philadelphia Union defender Danny Califf
On the game in general...
It’s a bummer when you dominate and can’t get anything out of it. It’s really frustrating to completely dominate the game and feel like you gave away points to Salt Lake at home and gave away points tonight.
On the different formation...
I think we kind of have been tinkering around with different personnel and different lineup changes and things like that… We were able to get some good movement and some good combinations. We worked well, we just couldn’t put the finishing product down at the end.
On not getting points against lower teams...
We go into it with the same mentality whether it’s a team at the bottom or a team at the top. The mentality is the same. When we’re at home we want to get 3 points. Like I said, the team doesn’t really matter at this point. We just need to score some goals and keep doing what we’re doing on the defensive side.
Philadelphia Union midfielder Veljko Paunovic
On the game in general...
I think we did a very complete game. We had a procession during all the game. Kansas didn’t have chances or opportunities to score…we played a very good game in all parts like defense, procession, and many chances to score. The only thing that we miss[ed] was putting the ball in.
On his position...
I think I feel more comfortable because you have many attacking players: Seba, Mapp, Carlos, and Jack, me up front. I can play in many positions. I can play on the side. I really don’t mind. I just wanted to come to the team and help the coach wherever he see[s] I can help, I’ll do my best.
Philadelphia Union forward Jack Mclnerney
On the result...
They did not have a chance all game we were on them for 90minutes, ball kept seeming like it was getting closer and closer but just never went in. If I was Kansas City I would be thrilled with a point.
On his performance...
It is tough going in here for 60 minutes with the first team, I usually don’t play with them. Hopefully I get a couple more chances after today’s game; I think I can play a little bit better.
On the team being held scoreless...
We created a lot of chances today, sometimes we just need a little bit of luck for the ball to go in the back of the net. I don’t think we struggle to find a rhythm we just couldn’t get that final pass to get the easier shot. There is nothing we can really work on we just got to play through and get better.
Philadelphia Union midfielder Justin Mapp
On the team's approach to the game...
We had a lot of attacking guys out there and I think at times it paid off we had plenty of chances, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. Here at home we want to put them under pressure and obviously play attacking soccer in front of our fans here. That was the plan.
On the team's offensive efforts...
We made a couple of changes here and there, through the 90 minutes our game plan was to push the ball and attack. They have some dangerous players up front, some speed and things like that. We don’t want to open ourselves up and give up goal and lose a game like that. We want to try and push the game in the right way.
Philadelphia Union defender Sheanon Williams
On the team's performance...
We are at home and we want to control the tempo and play the game our way and force it on them. I think we did a good job with that today but it just didn’t go our way today. Anytime we are at home, we are going to go for 3 points.
On the scoreless draw at home...
It’s frustrating when you play good at home and you don’t get the result you want. We are going to turn it around and get ready for Saturday.
