Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes
Initial thoughts on match...
“Our whole objective was that we wanted to play. And we wanted to make sure that what we were good at was playing the game on the field. We didn’t want to get caught up in anything. We understand that there is a rivalry between the two teams and our whole objective was to play and try not to give everything away. In the first half I thought that, in certain aspects, we kind of gave up a few balls in the middle of the park; nothing overly-exaggerated, but we gave up a few balls which we try not to do. But what we did really well was that we compacted the field defensively and especially in our final third. We really didn’t give anything away and nothing was really ever dangerous against us. That’s a credit to the guys and the way they recognized the situation. In the second half, one of the things we wanted to do from the first to the second half was to get more compact. Especially when we broke out in the counter. I thought we did that very well, and we were very fast on the counter. We had great movement off the ball and I think it caused them a lot of problems and we finished three good goals and didn’t give up anything which was huge.”
On team’s success not turning the ball over...
“Some of it is that you value the ball as a team. The other is that we have a better group of guys to keep the ball. There’s an importance on the team for that. Possession doesn’t win games. What it does is it limits the opportunities for the other teams. Especially if you don’t give it up in critical areas, and we realize that. We value that a little more. What it also allows you to do is it allows you to have good position and location on the field; so if you do lose it, you’re not exposing yourself to it if they do get a counter. But our recognition and our reaction to get compact really quickly when they did win the ball was excellent. And we dealt with a lot of crosses. They served a lot of balls in the box, but we cut out a lot of stuff because we were really attentive.”
On team’s confidence level...
“Well I think why we're confident is that I think the guys believe in the way we want to play. I think they go out and they try to play that way. I think everybody wants the ball, and at the same time, I think everybody understands that they have a responsibility on defense and so what you get from that is you get confidence. More importantly, you have a belief in what you’re doing and you have a belief in each other. It’s something that takes a long time to build with a team but it’s nice that you can sense that belief in them for sure.”
On possibility of getting sucked into rivalry on field...
“It was a big, important aspect that we talked about before the game. We were going to start the game with 11 and finish with 11. One of our core values is that the team is always first and it’s not about any individual and if something happens, we’ve got to keep our composure and we just have to play. Because at the end of the day, our objective is to get the result. We’re playing soccer, we’re not in a fighting match or anything.”
On Gerso’s goal...
“First off, Soony (Saad) did a really good job in the way that he held the ball up, and he recognized that Gerso was making a run between the two players and so he slips the ball through. What really helps him in that situation is his speed, he’s a quick and fast guy at the same time so he was able to get there before the keeper. He found a little separation, and I thought Daniel (Salloi) was going to steal that from him and toe poke it in or something, but I think he was a nice guy in that moment and just let him finish it off.”
On if change in tactics were necessary due to condition of field...
“Our grounds crew does an unbelievable job. The field was great today, you never saw any standing water. It was a tremendous field for play. And the other thing is we always wet the field before we play, so it really wasn’t all that different for us. The only thing, from a tactical perspective, is that I was trying to be very careful at the end with the guys that have a yellow card because we have a quick turnaround on Wednesday and I don’t want to put anybody in harm’s way.”
On difficulty of playing with a wet ball...
“Passing is relatively the same. That’s the easy part. When you’re trying to bend the ball - and you can bend the ball on a cross, you can bend the ball on a shot - that is a little harder. What happens is it’s leather on leather and it slips. Where when it’s dry, it grips and you get a chance to actually get around the ball. From that perspective it’s a little difficult. That’s why, if you remember Gerso’s shot in the first half where he curled it and it just went wide, if it’s not raining out and it’s a little drier environment, that ball goes in the top corner. It’s just harder to get the bend on the ball. I’m glad I could be scientific with you guys.”
Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer
Thoughts on the match…
"We can definitely be better, but it was a decent result for us. We played well. We will keep scoring. We have one of the best teams in the League defensively and we are not letting many goals in."
On getting his third goal in four games…
"I should have had more today to be honest. I’m not looking at those kind of stats. I’m just looking to win games. We lost last week, won this week and we’ll get back to it on Wednesday."
On the team finding depth in the attack…
"We have a quality team. We want to prove that the goals can come from everywhere. I think we are starting to show that we can have goals from many different places. Gerso is starting to find his feet and I think Jimmy [Medranda] will too and we have guys coming in and making a difference as well. We have a deep squad here."
Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia
On the team keeping possession and not losing the ball in dangerous spots…
"I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. We are committed to our style of play. We are going to make mistakes and if we make a mistake we are going to try again two seconds later. Everyone is opening up and everyone is demanding the ball in all areas of the field. There is always an option and it’s just can we do it consistently and pick the right option."
On the team’s defensive effort…
"Defensively, we are collapsing quick. We are winning aerial battles, winning one-v-ones and blocking shots. Those are the main things as a goalkeeper that you ask your teams to do and everyone is doing it."
Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber
On the team keeping possession and not losing the ball in dangerous spots…
"To be honest, I don’t think that was one of our strengths today. We probably could have kept the ball a little better and I think that’s something we can continue to improve upon. Usually, we are not used to playing at home and have teams press us that high. Salt Lake did well to press us, caused a few turnovers, but nothing that was costly in the sense of giving them a breakaway. We lost the ball out of bounds and took a few bad touches so I think that can be better. But as you said, we didn’t give up balls that were very dangerous in the sense of giving them easy chances on goal. That was something we had talked about from the last few years and we’ve done much better at it."
On the team finding balance in the attack…
"The way Dom works up there, it’s always going to open up some spaces and now he has got some guys to work around him. Gerso is a guy that is flying all over the place and he gives that little bit of fear in the defense to have to drop. He can get in behind. I think the offense is coming along but as always, there is room for improvement and I think we can get better."
On gelling with other players in the attack…
"I know Dom really well. Gerso is the guy that’s new on the team but the way he runs off the ball, it’s easy to find where he wants it. Jimmy [Medranda] is a guy that we know as well. I don’t think it’s too much finding each other out. We knew each other pretty well but it’s something that with more games, and the further the season goes along, the better the communication becomes and the better the understanding becomes. That’s something that will continue to improve."
On the team balancing a congested schedule…
"Our team is deep. There are guys that haven’t gotten a chance so far this year because the guys are playing well that have been starting but you see guys are coming in off the bench. Soony [Saad] comes in and provides something for Gerso there. Daniel [Salloi] comes in as well and is part of that play. Soni [Mustivar] is a guy that has started many games and we know what he can provide. There are guys in the defensive positions, Saad [Abdul-Salaam] who played almost every game last year at right back and Kevin Ellis who has played numerous games in MLS and playoffs. We have a lot of guys that can do the job. I don’t know when they are going to be needed but, like you said, there are a lot of games coming up this month. I’d like to think we are all fit enough to play three games in eight days, but we’ll see what Peter [Vermes] does. There is always the chance for change but I’m sure every guy that started today will want to start on Wednesday."
Real Salt Lake head coach Mike Petke
Thoughts on the match…
"They are a good team, especially at home. Our plan was to manage the first 15 minutes and then from there things should open up. We did that and then the 17th minute we let up a preventable goal. We had a lot of the play after that and we just couldn’t convert. Then in the second half, we give up another goal which I have some questions about, but I don’t want to say anything because I don’t want to get fined but there were some question marks on that goal. We give up the second goal and then we are treading water and coming behind in a place like Kansas City which is not easy to play in. So we didn’t do ourselves any favors tonight."
On the team making progress each week…
"It’s tough to keep talking about progress losing two games in a row now. Personally, it’s tough to swallow but it’s not an overnight change. This is a long term process. We have some good players and we have some players that need to step up, but at the end of the day to look up and see the stats, and I guess I’m becoming more of stats guy now because when you lose two games you have to look for some positives, but again we outshot them but a bulk of them weren’t on goal. We had a bit of the play but we fell behind and we were just trying to chase after that."
On moving on from tonight’s match and preparing for Dallas…
"It starts right after the game tonight, analyzing the game. Tomorrow, we travel home and get back to work training this week to get ready for Dallas. It’s another good opportunity for us to put a good performance out and get a result next weekend at home."
On managing the team without Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando…
"It’s no excuse whatsoever. When we lose guys like that, it’s other guys’ opportunities to step up. I thought Sunny and Luke [Mulholland], for large parts of the game did well for us both defensively for us and in the transition to offense. Having said that, any time you come out losing 3-0 it’s tough to look for positives, but there were some."
Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel
On the matchup…
“We expected it to be a battle. We knew the rivalry was there. We knew it was going to be a chippy, hard, intense against a good team. Some of the bounces didn’t go our way.”
On the third goal…
“We were down two at the moment, so we were committing guys more and more forward so we knew the game was going to be left a little more on the counter. And yeah, they got in behind us a couple of times. They put their chances away.”
On Dallas coming up next week…
“Mike said it best. It’s a process. We’ll get back onto the field on Tuesday, put the work in. Believe in the system and what he’s trying to accomplish here. We’ve all bought in and now we’ll start to make our own luck.”
Real Salt Lake defender Chris Wingert
On the matchup…
“Yeah, especially with the weather. I think in general, it’s how most of the match when we play Kansas City are going to be. They are high intensity. We know they are a really tough team and they always bring that energy and that fight and we respect that and we know we have to match that if we want to have a chance to win against them. So I thought it was a hard fought game for us, but unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the result.”
On how the game got away from them…
“A really good strike. You know, goals. As obvious as that sounds, really that was it. We talked about coming out and having a good start, we got through the first 15 minutes, I think it was in the 17th, they scored, a great strike from Benny. A little bit tough to be down 1-0 inside the first 20 and then we hung tough, had maybe a couple half chances and then came out and really wanted to have a good start to the second half and then unfortunately gave up another one and that obviously put us behind the eight ball and then we’re chasing the last half hour.”
On the injuries…
“I think that’s been the case the whole year, so as a player you can’t get to caught up in that. You have to bring everything you have when your names called and you can’t worry about what the lineups going to be. I think one of the good things about our team this year heading into the season was that we had a lot of depth and then unfortunately we’ve lost some of that due to injury. But again, that’s just part of the game, part of a long season. So as an individual that’s not something that you can worry about.”
