Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the second FC Dallas goal...
He (Perez) was offsides, and so were three other guys. It's not a good call. It's unfortunate because what it does is changes everything about the game from that point. I always say that all situations within a game have a cause and effect as the game goes on, and unfortunately this one did. My big thing about it is we, as coaches, are working with our team on certain situations within games. That was a set piece. The ball got played back to Michel, our guys stepped out like we work on and they were in a good line, they stepped out the right way and they had the guys offsides. Exactly what we work on, and to not get rewarded for that is the frustrating thing because I have to go back out and try to figure out how to get these guys to believe in doing that for the next time because they don't trust the referee, and that's a little bit of a difficult situation.
On the absence of Matt Besler...
I'm very pleased with the performance of my team tonight. Although we got three goals scored against us, I thought we played very well. I thought we were on the front foot. I thought we put them under a lot of pressure. I think most of their games was they played a lot of long balls down the field, they weren't playing their normal game because of the way that we were aggressive on the defensive side, and we created a lot of chances within their box and had a lot of opportunities. That part's good. A little disappointed a few times we maybe gave up possession, very easy possession and also in critical areas, but outside of that, performance, work ethic, intelligent play, it was very good.
On defender Amadou Dia...
Every game the kid gets a little bit better. He made a mistake on the first goal, but that's going to happen. He's got a lot of potential and a lot of talent and he's got a good future ahead of him for sure.
Sporting Kansas City forward Graham Zusi
On the speed of FC Dallas...
Their front four or five players are pretty pacey and we knew that coming in. For the most part, we did a very good job of keeping them in front of us. When you're pushing the game late those guys tend to get more space and get behind you more often.
Sporting Kansas City defender Amadou Dia
On his team's defensive performance tonight...
We missed him (Besler) a little bit. He's a natural leader, our captain, but Kevin Ellis came in and did a great job to fill his position so I think we were pretty solid without Matt on the back line.
On defending Fabian Castillo...
He's good, probably the best winger I've played against so far in my career. I'm sure I'll see him again and hopefully next time there will be a different outcome. I'll be more prepared next time.
FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja
Talk about Blas Perez’s performance…
Earlier this week I saw him making a comment in front of his teammates saying “I feel younger and younger. Today he showed it. The way he emptied himself on the field… He performed with such professionalism. He is a good example for us and the game rewarded him for his hard work. He’s doing the right thing during the week to get ready for the games. Today was just another day for him where the ball bounced his way just because he’s doing the right things in preparation.
On the team’s ability to counterattack after Mauro Diaz came out of the match…
You need to remember that Mauro has not played much in the past year. We’re still being patient with him. We are giving him the opportunity to catch up with the speed of the game. We need him. We can play with him and we can play without him, but it’s better for the team when we are with him. Last year, we adapted to him being out of the lineup. It made us stronger. When Mauro is on the field we look very dangerous with the ball on his foot in the middle. Without him we are stronger on the counter attack.
On Ryan Hollingshead…
When Ryan was on the field for us tonight, he was a game changer. He continues to take his game to the next level. He should feel very proud about his performance tonight.
On Chris Seitz’s penalty kick save…
I thought he did great. That is what he is there for… I want him to take his game to the next level. He needs to save us when we need him. He stepped up for us today in the moment that we needed him the most.
FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz
General thoughts on the match…
For us, we always look at home games as a mandatory three points. We’ll never shoot for anything other than that. We know Toyota Stadium is a difficult place to play. We know teams are not happy to have to come here and play us. We want to take full advantage of that. Tonight, we played a very good team and we did very well against them. We stuck to our game plan and it paid off.
On his penalty kick save…
It was one of those things where you watch a lot of video and you get ideas of player’s tendencies. You try and go to their tendencies. Nothing is perfect. He could obviously go other way so you just try to cover the side you choose very well. That’s what I tried to do and it worked.
FC Dallas forward Blas Perez
On scoring three goals in two matches…
I may have three goals in two games but I always try and look at the team as a whole. The goals are because of the collective work of the team. Today I am going home happy because I had two goals but those goals are the result of the team’s hard work and because of that we were able to get another win.
On the referee’s decision to not call him offside on his second goal of the game…
As a striker, you cannot stop and think or even look to see if the referee should have called you offside or not. I am focused on finishing the play. If they call it, then they call it. My job is to finish.
On becoming the third all-time leading scorer in FC Dallas history…
I’m very happy, obviously. I am proud to be part of the history of this team. When I decided to come to MLS, I wanted to leave a mark, not only in the league but with this team especially. FC Dallas gave me the opportunity to come here. I will continue to work hard and improve.
FC Dallas defender Atiba Harris
On Sporting Kansas City…
I felt like we had control of the game the first 30 minutes. At the end of the first half, Kansas City got some confidence and came into their own, and that is when they scored their goal.
On his transition from midfield to right back…
Last week was the first game of the season and my first as a right back. It was an adjustment. I feel like teams are going to try and target my side, thinking ‘Atiba isn’t even a right back.’ But as time goes by I am getting more and more comfortable. Hopefully moving forward I can continue to contribute on both sides of the ball.
On the play of Chris Seitz…
We have two fantastic ‘keepers in Seitz and Dan Kennedy. Having both of them compete every day for the starting job is really important for us. They are both good communicators. These first two games, Chris has been very good at communicating with the back four. He helps let you know when you miss something. It’s very important.
