Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes
On Sporting KC's performance throughout the match...
The execution of the game plan was very good. We played with a lot of intelligence in the game, and I thought that was the difference. There was obviously a lot of effort and everything else, but I thought our intelligence in the game was very good.
On the one-two punch of Dom Dwyer and Krisztian Nemeth...
There's no doubt that Dom can score and there is no doubt that Krisztian can. It's just them getting used to the league a little. They found themselves in some really good spots and probably could have scored another one. Dom could have scored another one. It was a great ball that Benny actually put in for him when he hit it just wide. It was almost remnants of last year against New York in the playoffs so you know we could have scored a few more goals in that game. We were good.
The other thing that I like is that although we gave up a few set pieces at the end of the game, I thought we were really strong, and organized, and we dealt with their stuff really well. And the last thing is our three first round draft picks closed out the game. I thought Hallisey was incredibly intelligent to take the ball down into the corner, and try to waste time, and get a throw in at the end. It shows a lot of maturity from that kid. I’ve said this before, he has a lot of potential ahead of him. You know T [Amadou Dia], I think all the guys would agree with me, T is a guy that is very instinctive. He goes out and he plays and he gets the job done. I think all the players have a lot of confidence in him and at the end to see Abdul-Salaam to come on, it was more for height than anything else because they were pumping in so many set pieces. It was great to see those three guys in this time while we are struggling regarding injuries and everything else. For all three of those guys to be in at the end and still help us solidify and get a result is excellent.
On the performance of forward Krisztian Nemeth...
There is no doubt that he is more of an attacking player. He is a more forward-thinking player. He uses his body very well and he also finds space really well. The other thing is he gives time when you play into him for these guys to catch up to the field and win real estate. Now we get numbers in and around the ball. He helps in a lot of ways and he has good instincts for the goal. He also takes pressure off of Dom of not having to be the focal point the whole time, and I think that is a real benefit to have many guys scoring like we had today. Benny even getting the PK again, so that’s important for us.
On overturning an early deficit...
I just would say the one thing to all that and that is we were actually playing well up until they scored their goal. I probably don’t agree with that statement that we were woken up by the goal. I just think that they scored but we were in the game, were playing well. I think that again we were executing the way that we wanted to play, and I think that they were kind of surprised that we didn’t step up right away on them. I think they had to make the game a little bit which drew them out and created the opportunities that we had like I was talking about. The ball that Benny gives to Dom, again it was because we were quick to win the ball, quick counter, and we find the opportunity to run at them. Sometimes you get a goal scored on you AND it doesn’t necessarily wake you up, but what it does is it does make you determined a little more maybe than you were before to get another goal.
On earning the victory three days before a game at Seattle...
I think players, they always win games. They do. When we lose, it’s truly something that’s happened with the coaching staff. Something we didn’t do. We have a good group. I really think the reason why we were able to get a result tonight was becauseof this one thing, and one thing only. We take every game that’s coming up as our most important, and we’re focused on that game, and we’re not thinking about the next. The idea of us coming in tonight and knowing we’re at home, we need to try and take the points.
We need to go out there and be determined about how we’re going to play. We need to be very disciplined in how we play. I think that because of that, the mentality of the guys, knowing that and focusing on that, is the reason why we get a result. That is something that I’m proud of, that we have that focus to be able to do that. Especially in a time when we’re beat up a little bit. It’s not any big statement, it’s just that we are [beat up]. We’re missing quite a few guys. But it’s great to see how many guys have come into the game and are able to come in and contribute the way these guys have.
On Sporting KC fielding three rookie draft picks throughout the night...
I think it was big for us to have all three of our first-round draft picks to finish out the game. I think it’s huge. I think you guys know this, but we always talk about guys I send on loan. My big thing with [Saad Abdul-Salaam] is he missed so much of preseason, I wanted him to go out with a team and get 90-minutes fit. And I think that he feels really good right now at the place that he’s playing, and I think he had a lot of confidence. Like I said, I brought him in mainly because I needed to get Krisztian off of the field and I really thought that his height was really going to be an advantage, at least when we were getting all those set-pieces at the end. I can’t say enough about those three guys. They have really stepped up and for those guys to play like they did in the game, it was big.
On Jacob Peterson's assist on the fourth goal...
That’s what Jake does, you know. He’s sort of the jack-of-all-trades. The guys know and they all respect that he’s got an incredible work rate and really wins that ball because of his work rate. He gives a great pass, and to start off right away with a diagonal run that was going forward, it’s hard to come back from.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber
On dominating the game after going down early…
The mentality of the group is very good. Obviously we’re missing a lot of guys. We went down a goal on a mistake on my part, but every single guy picked me and the team up. We deserved the game from then on out. It says a lot about the mentality and the ability of the guys — what this stadium does for us. Fantastic showing, proud of everybody and a good win for us.
On picking up play after going down a goal…
It was a mistake by me, giving up that ball in the midfield. I have total confidence in myself to not lose that ball but I did. Obviously it put us in a bad position and I wanted more than anything to turn it around. I don’t want to go down and lose a 1-0 game on my mistake, so you work that much more to try and get involved in the game and try to give chances to our team. I think I showed some signs of frustration when we didn’t score on those few chances we did have in the beginning, but we kept on going.
Dom had those two chances. He wasn’t able to put it in (on the first one), but then he was where Krisztian serves it on his neck and he puts it in somehow. Dom, he’s going to get his goals and that’s what I told him, ‘Look, if you miss the easy ones and score the hard ones, that’s fine with me.’
He got us back in the game. That shows a lot about our team, the way we play, the way we believe in each other — the way the stadium has its own personality and life that wakes us up. That had a big influence on us as well.
On being motivated after losing to New England three times in 2014…
For me personality, I played there. I don’t need any extra motivation. It’s my old buddies, old teammates, my old coach. I want to beat them pretty much more than any other team we play against in MLS. For me, that’s my motivation against these guys. Maybe having not done well against them last year, that adds to it, but not as much as the first part.
On Dwyer and Nemeth starting to gel…
It’s fantastic. It makes my job a lot easier. These guys, they make the game without our midfield sometimes, which then opens up everything for us. Dom, the way he works up there — the play I that I finally played on that ball in the first half was because of his pressure. He pressures Jermaine (Jones) who tries to step into me, then I’m able to win the ball and Dom is off.
The work he does up there creates so much opportunity for us. Krisztian, he has a way of not only dribbling the ball, but the way he manages the ball at his feet. He opens up space for other guys. Defenders keep their eye on him, which opens up space for the runs. It’s very easy playing with guys like that.
On the attack and its cohesiveness…
There are obviously a lot of guys playing at a pretty high level. I feel really good with how the season has gone for myself and Dom is starting to score a lot more goals — they’re finding the back of the net.
Krisztian, being a guy who’s here for the first time, regardless of how good you are, it takes a while to gel. I need to be able to read his runs; Dom needs to. He (Nemeth) needs to be able to read Dom’s runs. Those things are falling into place now, and once you starting gelling and reading each other without really having to take the extra one, two seconds to see where they are, it makes the game a lot easier and smoother. I think that’s definitely something that’s not only been getting better, but hopefully continues to throughout the year.
Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer
On he and Nemeth developing a one-two punch…
He’s a fantastic player. I love playing with him. We work well off each other, we kind of know where we’re going to be. I’ll work off the ball for him and he’ll work off the ball for me. We have a little combination going. We’re very unselfish with each other, we just want to win. We don’t care who scores, we just want to win. At the end of the day, we’re very happy right now. Four goals is a job well done for us.
On how he and Nemeth compliment each other…
He’s very good on the ball. He’ll drive at people and I like to make little runs in behind. He’ll find me — he looks for me. He’s an intelligent footballer and he’s someone who I look up to as well. I’m a Liverpool fan and he was at Liverpool, so it’s very cool to play with him and rub shoulders with those players.
On being shorthanded, going down a goal and then dominating the game…
You see that this side is a hungry team. I think you can see that from top to bottom. Everyone wants it and every guy can contribute. We were down to our bare bones tonight — I think we had to call guys back from on loan to make 17, so that shows our character. We’ll deal with what we get, fight through it and work through injuries. We’ll keep pushing and keep going.
On the rookies’ (Dia, Hallisey and Saad Abdul-Salaam) performance…
It’s very rare that you get rookies who can come in and contribute right away. Credit to them, they’ve all been brilliant. They’re all good characters in the dressing room. This is a very close team, everyone gets along and is here to win. There are no big egos. Everyone is together.
On finishing his most difficult chance of the first half…
It’s been the story of the season so far — missing the easy ones and scoring the hard ones. Honestly, though, it always motivates me. I’m going to miss chances in a game. It’s going to happen. I just try to pick myself up and try to finish the next one. Those chances have come and gone in my mind now because we got the three points and that’s what we need.
New England manager Jay Heaps
On New England’s 4-2 loss to Sporting KC…
It was wild and we didn’t handle it well, me included. We obviously felt we were on the wrong side of a couple things in the first half and we didn’t’ deal with it real well. I thought we came in at halftime and had a really good talk, and unfortunately the fourth goal was kind of a punch to the gut. In the end, we learn from it. It’s one of those where there are a lot of moments we could do better but we didn’t. You want to blame it on the referees but you can’t because we gave up four goals. It’s not like we gave up one goal and it was a penalty kick. We gave up four goals.
On conceding a goal a minute into the second half…
It’s tough; you hate it. It just wasn’t what we deserved. We gave it to them, and that’s the tough one. At the same time, credit Kansas City. I thought they came out with a lot of energy after we scored, and I thought the reaction to the game was good. We could have put the game away in the first 15 minutes if we were better. Instead, we got caught up in the emotion and stopped playing, and the next thing you know we’re down 3-1.
On New England’s lineup changes…
I thought things started well. As the game went on, we weren’t as dangerous as we normally are and we didn’t attack the way we normally do. It took us a little correction at halftime where we lost our way for minutes 15 to 45—too long of a time in a place like this. So it’s back to the basics and a quick turnaround for Saturday.
On New England’s looming home match Saturday against D.C. United…
We’ve got to correct the things here because I think there were some moments we want to look at and then get ready for Saturday.
New England forward Juan Agudelo
On New England’s 4-2 loss to Sporting KC…
It was a wild game and it was a tough place to come into, but I thought we were prepared. We came out good and were able to go up a goal but we couldn’t keep the lead.
On the chances missed by the New England attack…
You’re always going to have chances, and you’re going to make some and you’re going to miss some. Today we missed some chances that we could have (finished) and could have been more comfortable to finish out the game.
On falling behind late in the first half…
The fans definitely got after it. They were pushing them and their coach was pushing them. They definitely had the momentum, but I still thought that our guys fought until the end. That’s an important thing to go into Saturday.
On conceding a goal a minute into the second half…
It was demoralizing I feel. We were prepared and we felt like we actually could have come out and won the game in the second half when we were coming out of the locker room. But unfortunately we gave up an early goal in the second half.
On New England’s looming home match Saturday against D.C. United…
We just had a good talk—us players—and we’ve got to forget this game. We’ve got an important game Saturday and we’ll just have to forget everything about this game.
New England goalkeeper Brad Knighton
On New England’s 4-2 loss to Sporting KC…
Obviously we started the game the way we wanted to with the early goal, but there was a rough patch there for 10 or 15 minutes and they capitalized on their chances. But I thought we started the game quite well.
On the penalty kick decision at the end of the first half…
The (Benny Feilhaber) penalty kick kind of changed the game. We’re still in it at 2-1 and there were chances at the other end that we just didn’t capitalize on. But the penalty call changed the game and makes it 3-1. I thought the guys put in a lot of effort tonight and we worked hard to get it back, but obviously we came away short.
On conceding a goal a minute into the second half…
It was tough to give up one right after half, and I’ll take the blame for that. Obviously I need to make the save to keep us in the game, but I felt like we rolled our sleeves up, played our way back into the game. We got one and then I thought we were going to get another one or two more. We never stopped fighting, and we’re looking forward to Saturday at home.
On New England’s looming home match Saturday against D.C. United…
It’s a massive game. Every game is massive in the Eastern Conference. Playing against D.C., our rival, we know we’ll have our fans behind us at Gillette Stadium. We’ll try to take three points and stay top of the table.
