Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes
On guys stepping up as goal-scorers…
“I believe that goal scoring usually comes by committee and today it was exactly that. Everybody was busy in and around the box. You can’t just rely on one or two guys to score. It all comes down to the movement of players. Everybody being concentrated on the moments that when we get opportunities you’re not only available positionally but also from a focus level as well, you’ve got to be able to put the ball in the back of the net. Ike’s goal to finish off the half was important to (make them) come back out and have them have to play a little bit.”
On importance of having Matt Besler…
“It was important I think for everybody. It was important for the team, obviously, but I think it was even important for Amer. Just because I think he was going to be thrown into a situation where he didn’t have a lot of time to train with us and that was going to be pressure under fire, if you will. So it was great that he was able to come back. It definitely helped us in a lot of respects. I appreciate not only him coming back, but Bruce working with us as well. It really decimated us in our position. We have two guys going away to national teams, you have another guy injured and then you’re signing a guy from your USL team and trying to bring him up, it was difficult.”
On Jimmy Medranda’s second goal…
“Yeah he was lucky that he scored that, because I gave him enough at halftime that he needed to redeem himself. I think he had a little motivation there.”
On Seth Sinovic’s play on the wing…
“That was our intention. On the left-hand side, we wanted to play him very high up on the field this game. We just felt like the way we wanted to allocate our players, that was probably the best position for him to be in. It pushed Latif a little more inside and then having Benny kind of sit behind him in a sort of triangle. We opened up the game a lot on that side in both halves. That picks a team apart over the course of 90 minutes, when guys are inside and having to run out to him every time. We should’ve had a couple of goals in the first half from that side of the field, but we didn’t. But I thought that we were pretty dangerous, we had a lot of good chances there.”
On positioning and play of Jimmy Medranda…
“I’ve always said Jimmy can play left back, or midfielder or left or right wing, I mean he can play a lot of different positions. I think one of the things I’ve said all along, is I think Jimmy is an incredibly technical player. He’s very good. But he’s still working on building an engine that can sustain itself over 90 minutes, especially in the middle of the park. Middle of the park is much different than playing wing or even left back. It’s hard to take a play off when you’re in the middle of the park. For him, with the heat and everything today, it kind of got to him in the middle of the first half. But he came out and got a second wind in the second half. He always tries and gives everything he has, it’s just different because that position is unique and takes a different engine. It’s something that he’s got to get stronger in.”
On play of Saad Abdul-Salaam…
“He was really good today. I thought he was really good defensively. He really nullified that side of the field, which is great. And again, it’s kind of the way we shape things up on the field with the left and the right. He was more defensive-oriented and Seth was a little more attacking. I thought he did a really good job and I’m happy that he got the goal for himself as well because I thought the last month or so I’d say he’s been working pretty hard. This was a good opportunity, and I think one of the reasons that he played well was because he prepared himself well. I think he’s always been a really good defender, I think today the objective for him was just to be a little more defensive. We were trying to make him a little more conservative so he would wind up not expending a lot of (energy) early on. So his discipline was pretty good, then in the second half we let him go a little more. We let him get up the field a little more because I think we kind of broke them a little bit physically.”
If game had a “grudge match” feel after previously losing to them…
“No, not really. It really wasn’t even (a grudge match) at their place. We really moved the ball well. We held the ball for the most of the game. We played in their half of the field for the majority of the game. It wasn’t really a grudge match, we just made two very very elementary mistakes when we played at their place, and we were on the downside of three games in eight days. We were just probably gassed at that point. But this was good to get these points and get back in the swing of things. We’ve got another game at home and we’ve got to keep going.”
On success playing at home…
“I think (the media) always harps on the issue that we have problems with away games, but I think if you look around the league, week in and week out, the majority of the time the away teams lose. One of the things that I always commend our guys on is that we try to go into everybody’s place and we try to play. You go to other people’s place and they’re bunkered in. That won’t work in this crowd here. They’re not coming back next week if we’re doing that. So the mentality of our team, the style of our play and the motto of our play, is a direct connection with our fans. They appreciate that, hey, maybe we don’t win all the time, but I think they appreciate that we always go try to win. I think that’s a big difference. I don’t think that with all the other teams around the league.”
Sporting KC defender Ike Opara
If first half goal was farthest he has scored from…
“In quite some time, yeah. As I was stepping up, all I thought was ‘get it on target and see what happens.’ That’s all I was trying to do.”
On thought going into goal at end of first half…
“Yeah there were a couple times that I was getting closer in the half, and I think when that opened up, I think it was mine the whole time. Obviously I was looking for someone’s feet, but once all the lanes closed and mine opened up, I was just focused on hitting the target and putting it on frame.”
On having his first goal of season be a long distance strike…
“You’ll take them any way you can get them. I would imagine (his first goal of the season) would’ve been a header or some set piece, but I just go out there and play. I’ll take any opportunity I’m given. Offensively, it’s just a bonus. My job is to try and organize the back line and make tackles and put guys in good positions to make plays.”
On success at home…
“I don’t know if we look for credit, we just kind of expect to win at home. We expect to drive the game, we expect to dominate, and I think when we’re on the road, we have a lot of good things, we just haven’t been able to pull off a few of those wins like we would’ve hoped. But we come home and we expect those things. We bring a lot of energy, especially with the crowd backing us. We owe them a whole lot of credit for that. It’s not something we look at, to prolong the streak or whatever, we just expect to come home and win.”
Sporting KC midfielder Saad Abdul-Salaam
On staying sharp when not in the starting lineup…
"You just practice every day with the guys and the fitness coach. It’s a real tight knit group and when you do fitness after practice and you are not in the 18, you have to be professional and stay in shape."
On the goal…
"It’s a great experience. It bounced around the box, Dom [Dwyer] got his first chance at it, it bounced around a little more and I was just happy to be at the back post and put it in."
On the shutout…
"For the defense that is something you always strive for. Especially at home to get another shutout and another three points in front of our fans, that is something that that is really important to us. It means a lot to us and i know it means a lot to the fans as well."
Minnesota United FC Head Coach Adrian Heath
On the Miguel Ibarra injury impacting the match…
"I don’t think it affected one iota. We were second best from the very first minute to the 90th minute. We were out-fought, out-played and out-run. There was no desire and no enthusiasm. This was as bad as we have been since the second or third week of the season. Forget the scoreline, I was more disappointed with the amount of determination that the guys showed. I feel sorry for the 200 or 300 fans that made the journey from Minnesota. They deserved a lot more than they got today."
On the reason for the team’s performance today…
"I don’t know. We will find out and I am not putting up with that. I guarantee it."
On the team’s performance after having a run of strong results…
"Well today we were never at the races from the very first whistle. I don’t know how many shots they got. We were poor in all departments. We take responsibility for that because that is our job but I’m not putting up with that performance."
On the reason he named Brent Kallman captain today…
"I just think he deserves it. It means a lot to him to play for the club and he deserved it today."
Minnesota United FC Forward Christian Ramirez
On how the Miguel Ibarra injury impacted the match…
"I think we had to change the system and it took us a little while to get used to that when we weren’t playing with a natural 10 anymore. It was more like a 6 and two 8s. That was difficult because there was space behind their line of midfield that we couldn’t get the ball into because we didn’t have somebody there. So that was frustrating. That was the majority of the reason, but at the same time, we didn’t perform the way we are accustomed to."
On how the team puts together stronger performances on the road…
"Watch tape and put forth the effort that is needed. I think that was the biggest thing needed today. The effort wasn’t there and that is the first thing that should be there on the road. We, in the locker room, have to figure out how to get up for a road game the same way we do at home."
On the team making changes to the lineup…
"Anyone who steps into the lineup knows their role and knows what they have to do so we can’t use that as an excuse. There will be plenty of international call-ups. Guys need to step up and fill those voids. Those guys need to be ready and hopefully that will change moving forward."
Minnesota United FC defender Brent Kallman
On if there was a lack of energy...
"It felt flat. We definitely started the game flat. I just kept thinking we were going to snap out of it and that we were going to get ourselves going a little bit. We didn't come out of that, so yeah, I would agree lack of energy. We did not win our individual battles all over the field and I think that cost us today. I'm thinking we get back and we start training, we have to go really hard at each other because that can decide a game. It felt like we lost every single one today."
On the late first half goal...
"It's probably the third or fourth time this year where we defended a lot in the first half of the game and we're trying to get to half time nil-nil and then we give up one in the last couple of minutes in the half. It takes a little bit of wind out of your sails because you're so close to getting into halftime to make adjustments. We were bending, but we didn't break and then he hits that amazing shot so that definitely hurt a little bit."
On being named captain...
"I was excited for the challenge. I was happy to be named captain but I wish we would have preformed a little better."
Minnesota United midfielder Rasmus Schuller
On having to replace Miguel Ibarra due to injury in the 8th minute...
"It was hard. My body didn't feel physically ready to play 80 plus minutes. But Kansas was much better than we were today."
On what the coaches said to you when you were entering the match...
"That we will play a 4-3-3 with Ibson underneath Collen [Warner] and me and then three at the top."
On if that switch affected the team...
"We were chasing the ball the whole game and didn't chase fast enough. They could move it around like they wanted and they were having much more energy than we did. You could see that and then the goals they scored were pretty logical because we were tiring out and they kept on speeding up."
On why the side was lacking energy...
"I don't know, we have to figure that out because it didn't feel like we were ready to come in and it shouldn't feel like that."
