[Despite its dreadful record and two-month losing streak, Real was troublesome in the early moments.] I wasn't happy at the halftime with our mentality, ... We were too careless with the ball and we were doing a lot of running without the ball. |
[Nonetheless,] international competition is a lot different, ... The referees are different, the environment is different, the players are different. So we'll see how this goes. It's very important, the first game. We want to take advantage of [playing at] home. |
[While his work ethic and defensive skills have been solid, Carroll has struggled at times with his passing.] We need to clean up a few things, ... Sometimes the distribution is not there, the passing could be better. |
Absolutely fabulous. Dema was coming (back) slowly after the injury. He played very good against LA and then he scored against Chicago; he scored last game against New York (MetroStars) and he finished his performance over the last couple of months today with another goal. Dema can play everywhere. He can move forward from the left position, from the middle, this was his role today. |
All the results we've had put us in a spot where we can fight for first place. A game like that shouldn't happen to us. It's a good cold shower for all of us. If we keep thinking it's going to be easy with cute soccer, we cannot win the games. |
As a player, I remember the great home-field advantage that United enjoyed, ... Those great fans have suffered with the team as of late and I hope our return to winning ways will allow us many chances to celebrate future successes together. |
Bryan played very well, ... He opened the whole side for [Freddy Adu's goal that made it 2-0] with the overlapping runs. |
C'mon, he's a 16-year-old kid. So this kind of stuff I think he needs to re-evaluate. I think we know that is not possible. |
Chicago didn't do much, ... We didn't create as many situations as we normally do, but this is the playoffs and every game is going to be tight. Defensively we were pretty good. |
Colorado planned today not to play soccer -- just disturb us, ... If you're losing, you have to lose with class. |
Every little distraction, every little thing that comes your way, you think, 'This thing's going to make us stronger, this thing's going to make us better.' But it's still very difficult to turn it around. Something's going to stick in your head, whatever you're going to do. |
Everybody was happy for him because he got rewarded for his hard work, ... Sometimes it's very difficult for these guys like Benny and Brian to get the recognition. Benny's ability brings the level of play a little higher, he has the fitness, the ability to read the game, and he can make corrections on the field. |
Everyone is getting better, including Ben, ... We have different options. There are a lot of guys who can step up on the field and make a difference. We didn't make a decision yet. I think everyone is ready. This is the most important thing -- to keep the group ready. Whoever will play, whoever will start, they have a responsibility to do the job. Everyone understands how important this game is. |
Everyone is reading about the situation in New York right now but this stuff is not important for us. My message to the players is very simple and very strong. This is not our distraction. This situation is dangerous because people's livelihoods are at stake. So the game is important to them and they will give everything. I don't want to have a bad feeling after this game that we came in too comfortable. |
Freddy is back in the group, preparing for this game, and we believe that with the right mind-set he can be helpful for us, ... We all know he's a great player, a great team player. |