SPORTING KC MANAGER PETER VERMES
On whether it hurts to lose in stoppage time:
“Yeah, it does. I don’t think it was a lack of effort. I think we made some poor decisions during the course of the game. Credit to them [LAFC]. They forced some of those decisions. They had some good moments in the game. We had good moments too, but we gave away a little too much in certain situations. And then when we had a chance to break them, we needed to finish them off, and we didn’t. We had a couple of good counters.”
On the choosing lineup for today’s game:
“For me, when I’m making a lineup, I look at three things—climate, travel, congestion of schedule. The first two games against Toluca were a week apart. That’s a normal work week for any team. You prepare, you play the game, you recover. You build up, and you play the next one a week later. That’s normal, but there’s no cumulative effect there. So, to be able to play 72 hours later, that was not an issue. Where we’re going to have to start monitoring that really closely and probably rotating it around is Wednesday and Sunday. It’s cumulative at that moment.”
SPORTING KC MIDFIELDER ILIE SANCHEZ
RE: Overall thoughts on tonight’s match
“We could have played better. In the end, it was a close match. Los Angeles [FC] is a good team. We knew what we were coming into and how difficult it was going to be. We talked amongst ourselves how the ref punished us a lot with all those yellow cards but that’s also because we didn’t have the ball that much. We suffered a defeat that was tough especially for the first game of the season but on Wednesday we have another game in Panama. I’m confident we will be ready.”
On the challenges of playing in multiple competitions at once:
“We’re now going to go back to the hotel to rest and have dinner. We will travel tomorrow. There’s no time to dwell on this. We’ll land in Panama on Monday. We’ll prepare for the next game as we did for this one. For us all competitions are important and I feel we work to focus equally for each one.”
On this season’s expectations:
“Last year, New York City FC came into our house and beat us 2-0. In the end of season, we finished first in the conference. Main goal is to win, if not, a tie. I know we’re a good team but we have to keep working hard.”
LAFC HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On the high number of fouls:
“We get that game a lot and it’s up to the referees to make sure that if every time we create an advantage, if there’s a foul then they have to be able to take control and tonight they did. We spoke about the fact that we have to continue to be aggressive, we have to continue to go by people, dribble, and that when they have that many yellows at halftime, that’s not easy so we knew that was, at that point, something we had to continue to use in our favor.”
On the fan base:
“The fan base has been incredible from day one, they’re there for us and we love it. The sense of how we’re rolling this together and what we want to be as a team so that they are excited about our football and proud of what we put into it, that’s on us every game because what they put out there every single game is just unbelievable. That part of it is just so special that every time we play a home game we continue to have that first game feeling every time, even in that exhibition against Vissel Kobe it was like, “wow, this is something special.” Once you have them every game right there, loud, with you, you've got to play the kind of football they appreciate. That’s what happens with good teams, good clubs, so we’re just trying to make sure that somewhere in our DNA as we’re going forward that that is what's happening.”
On rivalries:
“Leagues get judged by the number of really good games, leagues get judged by the quality of the football, the tempo of games, the intensity of games. We’re long past the idea where we judge games just where if there’s goals it’s a good game and if there’s no goals it’s a bad game. We are now, as a football nation, we understand better and we need as many good games and when you have good games, that means you’ll have good rivalries. Obviously, the one with the Galaxy is special. I’m ending El Traffico. No mas, it’s La Classico. L-A, La Classico. Throw that El Traffico thing out the window, we didn’t win one game in El Traffico, now it’s called La Classico. It’s important to have rivalries, we have another great rivalry with Kansas City already. Why? They have a really good team, they compete, they play good football, and it’s a pleasure when you get to play Kansas City. That’s what the league needs.”
LAFC FORWARD CARLOS VELA
On the fouls and pressure put on the team tonight:
“I think it was a good game. They are a really good team but wanted to start the season by showing the league that we’re going to be a top contender to the league. We have to win games as tonight’s and continue to be a strong team. This is just the start. We have a lot of things to improve on but we’re really happy to be back and play in front of our fans. Winning games like that is always positive.”
On the situation with Giovani Dos Santos:
“I don’t know much about his situation but he knows in the good and bad that I will always support him and be there for him. I’m calm because wherever he goes, he will demonstrate the type of player he is. I assure you that the Galaxy will regret letting him go.”
On Bob Bradley wanting him to play like Messi:
“I try to just play football. It’s difficult. Bob says he want me to be like Messi. We know Bob [Bradley], sometimes he’s crazy. I can’t say nothing.”
LAFC FORWARD ADAMA DIOMANDE
On his game-winning goal:
“It was like the last game of the year where we faced them last year, especially when they got the red card, I was thinking “let’s go for it.” Then we got a good counter attack, see a long ball to Jordan [Harvey], I just snap it from him because I know I’m in better position than him. I see the defenders follow me but we still have Jordan on the outside and I’m took a good touch in and hammered it in behind the goal.”
On returning from illness:
“I’ve been given limited training and limited game time in the preseason. I haven’t played as much as a I wanted, I’ve been sick and of course I had that hernia thing in December. It’s just good to be back, I’ve been training fully with the team for six weeks now and I’m in a better situation now than I was when I first arrived here. I’ve been rested and able to spend time with my family and it’s just good to get going again and have fun.”
On competition with Christian Ramirez:
“I knew I was not going to start the game for three weeks now, I knew that and I’m a professional guy, it’s good for competition. I don’t want to be the lone striker on the team and I’m happy to have a completion with Christian [Ramirez] and of course we have other strikers too that can play the same position. I’m professional and I’m always supporting Christian, we talk a lot and support each other. It’s a team game, it’s not a single player game and I’m just happy to be a part of it. I was ready today to come off the bench and I was hungry for that goal and hungry to help my team. Especially at the end of the game too, scoring a fantastic goal, I’m just happy for the fans and for the first game of the season.”
LAFC DEFENDER JORDAN HARVEY
On how he felt after the match:
“We felt good. It was a tough match. Guys were pretty tired. It being the first game of the season, we still are getting our legs under us. So, that was quite a test to start us out. Kansas City brought it hard. They brought their full lineup, and they came at us right from the beginning. I thought guys battled so hard from top to bottom. Carlos (Vela) was buzzing everywhere out there. When you see someone like that working as hard as he can, everyone else follows suit. It was a huge team effort, and one that is a great start to our season.”
On expectations for playing Kansas City:
“We honestly didn’t know what to expect. Watching other teams within the league who have Champions League later next week, they switched things up. So, you never know what teams are going to do. When they came with that lineup, we knew that they could possibly lose their legs later on in the game. But I don’t think they did. They’re a fit team. They’ve got quality. Guys who came on like (Daniel) Salloi were dangerous players. It was a real test for the first game of the season and we’re really proud to have stepped up to it.”
On the goal that LAFC conceded in the first half:
“I’d have to watch it again. I know we gained possession. I’m not sure who it was who tried to play it out of the back. It banged off of the referee. I was moving forward at that point. It got played into the middle, out to the side. I was 1 v 1 with (Johnny) Russell. He’s a dangerous guy because he’s on his left. At that moment, I’m waiting for him to either cut in and try to block a shot or drag it down the line. What he did is just take a short step and pass it off that short step with his left. (Krisztian) Nemeth had a good finish. He popped off the center backs and really struck it well.”
