Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes
On the match:
“I thought we were tactically very efficient. I thought we made the game very difficult for them. The only thing they really had was trying to pump the ball into the box. I don’t think they had many solutions for the way that we played. I thought at times, especially the first half was a different half, we knew in the second half they were going to push everyone very high up the field and it was going to be a little more difficult. But in the first half I thought we were good at picking and choosing the moments of when to counter. We talked about set-pieces being an important aspect to the game, especially because the ball seems to always bounce around in [the north end] of the field a lot more than it does in [the south end]. We took advantage of it and I think at the end of the day it was a great three points for us. There’s not a team that’s banged up like we are at the current time, but we’re not knocked out. The guys had a great fighting spirit. All of the guys that came into the game helped us out big time and then we had another player go down. A guy we count on in the middle of the park and we had to put a guy in there that normally doesn’t play in there. So the fighting spirit was tremendous by the players.”
On how the match differed mentally from Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup match:
“The difference is we just played to our standard in regards to our work ethic on the field. That’s the difference. Obviously we’re still missing 13 guys out of our team through injury and guys away with the national team at World Cup. With all that being said, we still have a great fighting spirit with the group. This was the big difference between the game the other day and this one, for sure.”
On seeing players he has helped develop play in the World Cup:
“From the club’s perspective we’re very proud of them because not only have they come through the system, but more importantly they’ve evolved into very good international players and true professionals. It’s definitely proud for all of us that have been a part of their progression, but those two guys [Matt Besler and Graham Zusi] are really good pros and that’s one of the reasons why, not only are they there, but more importantly, since they’ve been on the field, both of them have had a true impact on the success of the team.”
On if he has been in contact with Zusi and Besler:
“We chat here and there. Most of the time congratulating them and wishing them good luck. Was a little concerned with Besler. Thought he might have been injured for a longer period of time. The good thing again is both those guys take good care of themselves, so they bounce back quickly. And he’s also smart and made the right decision pulling himself out at halftime against Ghana. But both guys are excited and now they’re on to the next round.”
On if Sporting KC is looking at bringing in U.S. National Team midfielder Jermaine Jones:
“We’re looking at a lot of players at the moment. Like I said, we’re banged up and we have three players, two of which are season-ending injuries, probably even a little into next year. We have another guy that has a career-ending injury and then we have another eight guys that are out with injury, now nine. Then we have a few guys out on loan that we have to bring back. We definitely are looking for some players based on the injuries that we have and the ones that are the long-term ones. There’s a couple different areas of the field. Midfield is definitely a place.”
On if he has spoken to Jermaine Jones:
“No, I have not talked to him by any means. I know the league is talking to him and we’re kind of in the mix like any other team, but right now it’s not 100 percent. It’s somebody we would keep on our radar, but it’s not a decision that we’ve said, ‘Hey. This is the guy we want.’ We also have to take into consideration the allocation ranking. Toronto has it right now so anybody that comes back as a national team player, they have the first rights unless they want to trade that away. So it depends on what kind of value they’re looking for.”
On the injury sustained by Lawrence Olum:
“I think it’s more of a tweak and I think it’s good, because we don’t actually play until next Sunday so hopefully those extra days are going to get him back on the field because we need him.”
On his team’s defensive organization in the second half:
“Like I said, they were launching a lot on us. But the good thing is we kept our shape and we didn’t lose ourselves and that was the big thing. We were still organized well and we made the right choices of when to try and keep the ball and when to just launch it because sometimes you have to. It was very good but it was a great team performance.”
Sporting Kansas City defender Aurelien Collin
On the physicality of the match:
“It is always the same thing here. We expect a very physical game, but we were winning 1-0, so we knew that they would push, push, push the second half and honestly we kept our composure and quite a good line. Not dropping too low and at the same time not going too high. I’m very proud of the team. We still have a lot of young guys that have shown, honestly, a lot of experience. We could have managed the game better in the last 20 minutes. We were losing so many balls. When we were winning the ball we could not have more than two or three passes. They were very good in defense. I’m a bit upset about this, but the defensive work was very, very good.”
On playing against Timbers forward Fanendo Adi:
“It’s always a pleasure. I’d always rather have a big guy than a very small one because when we go to contact it’s not that he’s going to fall on the floor every time I touch him. It’s always a good battle. I’m very happy. It was a great challenge for me tonight.”
On what the win means in light of the team missing so many players:
“It was a very important win, especially after the loss in Open Cup. We’re very upset about that. It was a competition that for me and for the team was very important. We didn’t do the right job. So coming here and showing the right mentality was the most important thing. After having a win here, it’s a great night.”
Sporting Kansas City defender Kevin Ellis
On the match:
“It was good. It was a battle for 90 minutes. We felt like we had something to prove after the performance we gave on Tuesday. We knew it wasn’t good enough and we knew we had to come here. It’s a tough place to play and we knew we had to come and get a result. We did what we had to do to get three points.”
On earning his first assist with the club:
“It feels good to help the team win in that way, but getting three points and being locked in the whole game as a team is really good today.”
On keeping defensive composure in the second half as Portland pushed offensively:
“Communication. I think over the years everybody knows that we play with a lot of heart. We leave it all on the field every game. Like I said, when we knew we didn’t do that on Tuesday night, we knew we had to give a little bit extra tonight. They threw numbers forward and we were organized and we communicated and were in good starting positions and we dealt with them.”
