One thing that I've truly enjoyed about this team is the great leadership. Every single time this team's back has been against the wall, the leaders managed to come through. Now is no different. |
Only after we've had the opportunity to play at home and play away, will you really be able to measure the differences between the two teams, ... I look forward to them having the opportunity to prepare ideally for the next match and for us to be able to prepare ideally for the next match and to see where it lies after that. |
Our players have had the challenge of, like every other club in the country, to meet the physical challenges of travel and on many occasions, Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday games, |
Overall, I was very disappointed with the end, but not disappointed with everything we saw tonight. I thought we put on a good enough performance to win if we just finish our chances. |
Playing matches like this is great preparation for us. We know very quickly the things we need to work on. We're much further ahead this year at this time than we were last year, but we had to be, given the early competition. I like most of what I see with my team and I think we're going to be very difficult to beat in league play. |
Something has to be done where the champions of MLS are allowed to prepare more effectively. We put ourselves at a disadvantage right from the get-go. Thank God we have players who have been with the national team who are now fit. |
Sometimes that's even more difficult because these are the guys on the bubble as far as making the World Cup squad for Korea. They're going to be fighting the hardest to win a spot; sometimes they're the most dangerous teams to play against. |
The only thing a coach can do is to continue to train, build players' confidence, continue to believe in them, or make personnel changes, ... Players with the kind of experience that we have should be finishing their opportunities...that's what they're paid for, that's what they're here for, that's what they're on the field for. |
The bigger the field the better as far as we're concerned. It's a beautiful pitch, and great atmosphere. This team's mentality now going into away matches is so different than it was a month and a half ago. |
The three points is very important to maintain at the very least second place and to try and gain some ground against San Jose. We know we have a lot of ground to make up. |
Their decision to go after Landon early in the game resulted in two yellow cards. This is a guy who takes a lot of beating when he plays for the Galaxy. I think quality players have to be protected - and tonight, he was protected. That made the difference in the game. |
There was one series (on Saturday) that was absolutely beautiful one-touch soccer. That's the type of football that I want to play. It's necessary that we have the ability to attack in the middle channel, that we have the ability to attack on the flanks. So yes, we continue to work on varying the way we attack. That's the only way we're going to repeat as champions. |
This course is extremely difficult and when you factor in the hot weather all the kids out here from every team, you could just see the pain on their faces, ... You feel bad for them?but it's great watching them work so hard. |
This is a part of that. Our ability to play well Wednesday night is not only important to winning a cup, but also to gain that form that we're looking for leading into the playoffs. It's part of the process, and it's very important to us. |
This man, I talked to four or five times a day. Philosophically, we knew where we wanted to go with this team. I'm going to miss those conversations. I'm going to miss his leadership; the players are going to miss his leadership. |