POSTGAME QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 3-1 LA GALAXY
SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2013
RIO TINTO STADIUM
LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena
On his quick, first-take reaction to the game:
“They got the goal at the end, and that made the difference.”
On the performance of the LA defense, which has now given up eight goals in the last two games:
“I don’t think our defense was that bad tonight. Certainly the second goal was the difference, and the third goal was a result of us pushing forward.”
On the team’s recent road trip:
“We’ve been travelling all over the country, so it’ll be good for our guys to get their legs back.”
On Marcelo Sarvas’ yellow card in the second half:
“We’re going to ask the referee to re-evaluate that, because I think he missed that play. Hopefully they have the intelligence to look at that play and take away the card.”
LA Galaxy FW Landon Donovan
His thoughts on the game:
“I thought we played a pretty good first half. We had a couple of pretty good chances. It was a good first half. Then their goal came a little bit out of nothing on that play, then a good reaction to get our goal back. We’re sort of facing the same problem where we have a lapse on the critical part of the game. It cost us again tonight."
On having time to decompress:
“We need to play, and play better. When you win it’s a little bit nice to have a break, but when you lose it sits with you for a while. It’s going to be good to get a little bit of rest. Then we’ve got two really big two games against Portland and Chivas.”
On what’s missing:
“In this league you don’t have a roster of 20 or 25 guys that are sort of all the same. In other leagues in the world you have more of that. In this league when you miss 3 or 4 guys that are instrumental, it makes a difference. We can still be better as a group with the guys we have. We have done enough for the most part to get some points in these games, but we’re falling short when it matters.”
On giving up late goals:
“On the surface it’s five goals in two games, but maybe not all. When you’re pushing to get goals sometimes you open yourself up. Those goals are I’m less concerned about. It’s the goal in the 83rd minute tonight, the 2-1 goal that is more of a concern. Those are the plays we have to be better at when you’re pushing to tie a game. Sometimes you open yourselves up, and when you play a good team, they make you pay.”
LA Galaxy DF Sean Franklin
On conceding late goals:
“It’s about making plays when they count on a game like this, we could have escaped here with a point. We did a good job of getting that goal right before half. We played well the second half, and they didn’t have too many chances, then they get their goal with two minutes left in the game. On a day we can’t give up points like that. Either we walk away with 3 points or 1 point.”
LA Galaxy GK Brian Rowe
His thoughts on his performance:
“The first goal I think I could have done better on. There’s one when I dropped in place, a little inexperience. It’s only my second first team game, so I know I still have a lot to learn. I expect better of myself.”
Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis
On Olmes Garcia’s work ethic:
“Fantastic. It is so critical to the way that we play and the way that our forwards put in that type of effort to gain us ground. Even if they don’t win the ball, if they’re up there pressing defenders to play the ball over the end line, or over the sideline, now we’ve gained a ton of space. Hats off to all the forwards, really. I think they’re all working extremely hard and they’ve all had moments the past several weeks where they’ve been excellent. I think we’re in a good place at that position.”
On the halftime mood:
“You know it’s an interesting situation. I came into the locker room thinking I needed to tell my players to not let that [Donovan goal] be a momentum changer because it could be. To give a goal away such as that, at home, right before halftime can be a real killer. Then I walk in the locker room and they’re already saying it. The players here are so experienced and so tactically aware of situations that I don’t need to say it. So my halftime speech was about where we could get at LA better.”
Thoughts on the possession of the team in the second half:
“I think that the chance when Rogers crossed the ball to the back-post was their only real chance in the second half. I think our defenders were a bit more organized and bettered postured with things to not allow some of their players to get some space in between our midfield and our backline in the second half.”
On the approach to the game from the coaching staff:
“We take this hard-headed approach to every match that we play. We did have a pretty stern talk yesterday about not making any silly mistakes because the past two matches that the Galaxy has been here they won both of those matches because we gave them goals. We didn’t make the Galaxy earn their first goal in either of those matches. Just simple mental errors and I felt like if we cut that out and we could put ourselves in a very, very good place and make them and our opponents earn goals then we put ourselves in a real good place.”
On why the team is scoring so frequently now:
“I think it is mixture of a lot of things. First and foremost you have the confidence issue, the mental issue. We’re in the first half of the season and when you get towards the latter half of the season teams get really focused on defending and there’s not a lot of space to break teams down. There isn’t a lot of play in transition and everyone has a very defensive mindset. On the flipside of that, your own team gets very defensive and cautious so I think the number of players involved in the attacks was the only difference that I see. I see when we have Ned Grabavoy, Sebastian Velasquez and Javier Morales involved in not some of the attacks but all of the attacks and Khari Stephenson on the outside of the diamond and an outside back getting forward in all the attacks, that’s when we create the most chances each game for me. It’s a numbers game for me and numbers mean commitments because there is a lot of ground to cover.”
On the potential of Garcia:
“First and foremost it’s how hungry he is. You can tell that this is a kid who really wants to do well and take the next step in his career and he’s been given a terrific opportunity to do that and I think that if he continues to show that sort of hunger and that sort of desire, then he has all the tools. He’s an excellent dribbler, excellent finisher, excellent striker of the ball, excellent with his head, excellent pace and excellent size. He’s got it all so for me the only question mark for me would be his desire and right now he’s showing that by the boat loads.”
Thoughts about Garth Lagerwey’s comments on RSL not beating marquee teams:
“He is right and I was thinking about that myself. You know when we’ve played bigger opponents, the Galaxy, Montreal, we haven’t gotten a convincing result against those types of opponents. FC Dallas as well, so this I think could be another step forward with our confidence.”
Thoughts on the team’s view of the US Open Cup this year:
“The break after the game on Wednesday alleviates my thinking about the fatigue levels. But again it’ll be a conversation with the guys on Tuesday who have played 90 minutes again tonight to see whether or not they’ll be available for selection to start that match or whether they’d prefer to come off the bench. I have a feeling they’re all going to want to play because I think they’re as hungry for this tournament as I am. We’re all very much aligned in it this year with a little bit of a different approach to it this year.”
Thoughts on Javier Morales playing another 90 minutes tonight:
“You know he’s a guy that we have a very strong feeling about his fitness level. Meaning that when he is really, really fit is when he’s at his absolute best. There is just no other way to do that other than to play 90 minutes. Towards the end of the game he’s making really hard runs to defend and putting defenders under pressure and he’s showing that he’s at the top of his fitness and at the top of his game. Those things go hand in hand.”
Real Salt Lake DF Tony Beltran
On whether RSL had a more aggressive approach:
“No, I think it was just two aggressive teams, two very good teams and two teams competing for three points in the west. We both wanted it, we came out hungry. It was back and forth, especially in the first half, but in the end it was good to get three points. We deserved it.”
On the attitude in the locker room at halftime:
“Well, first of all, before the game we knew the last two times they’d come here they’d gotten a result and so we had to do something about that. But In halftime, you know, of course it’s difficult giving up the late goal. We’ve got to clean that up. But still, the game was there to be won so we put it behind us, we shifted some stuff around tactically and I think it was a little more effective in the second half and space started opening up.”
On what they shifted around:
“They came out in a little different formation in the midfield than we thought they would and so we were just utilizing the spaces that our outside diamond midfielders could get into and we could find them a ball that they could turn and run at.”
On pressing for that win at home and the effort it takes to get up the field:
“Yeah, I mean I’m used to it by now. I’ve been doing it for a while. But sure, yeah, it’s pretty demanding physically. It’s a lot of running. But you know, that’s what I enjoy. I love getting to the end line and love, just as much, love getting back and making a play. Defending, first and foremost is my job. If I’m going to get forward I need to get back.”
On the growth of Garcia:
“When he first came in, in preseason, we thought he was talented. But you know, he’s such a young player. To have the mentality to have the sharpness to come into these big games, to seize the moment, he’s very gifted. The fact is, he’s young and the sky’s the limit for him.”
Real Salt Lake FW Olmes Garcia
On how it feels to score twice:
“It’s something nice. In my soccer career to score twice, it’s something beautiful. I’m always thankful to the people who come support us. I’m thankful to my teammates too, they help me and they helped me tonight.”
On the first goal:
“When Kyle passed the ball to Javi, I watched the ball and asked him for the ball. He made a great pass and I touched it with my back.”
On the second goal:
“Yes, [Devon Sandoval] had the ball, he gave it to Javi. Javi gave it to me and made the finish in front of the goalie.”
On mind set coming off the bench:
“Always we’re a team. I am here to apply my skills and this is my job, to score goals. And thanks to God I had this opportunity to score.”
On how he feels after the injury:
“Very well, this week I trained 100 percent. Very good.”
Real Salt Lake MF Khari Stephenson
On his goal:
“It’s always good to get goals, and it’s even better when the team scores. That’s always a positive. They gave me a chance to shoot and I’m going to shoot. The guys on the team are confident in my shot so they say, ‘Shoot Khari.’ So I’m going to shoot.”
On the attitude in the locker room at halftime:
“We had the better of them in the first half. It was us just needing to keep doing what we’re doing. We needed to keep passing and keep moving the ball to give it to everyone else. And that’s what we do to get more chances and get more goals.”
On RSL’s emotions playing against the LA Galaxy:
“It’s same-old, same-old. It’s a Western Conference rivalry. LA has been one of the better teams over the years and we need to beat the better teams to be number one. That’s what we’ve been doing recently so we have to keep that going.”
Real Salt Lake MF Javier Morales
On his two assists:
"It’s hard because they came here and sat back. I believe that the goal was in the 80th. And I’m happy because the forwards had a good game, so I could really connect with them."
On LA’s tactics:
"They keep men back. We have to be good with the ball and be patient. We need to create spaces behind the midfielders or defenders. We worked really hard today and at the end we got the win.”
On RSL’s defense:
“I think [we played well] because that’s the way they [LA Galaxy] want to play here. If you come here, and you are the last Champion, and you sit back it’s tough because you sit back and you’re far from our goal. That’s their problem. I don’t care. We play our soccer that we like to play, and we made a decent game.”
Real Salt Lake GK Nick Rimando
On the US Men’s National Team’s win before joining the squad in Seattle:
“It’s an honor and something I’m very excited about. It was a great win down there in [Jamaica] That was a team that was hungry for some points. We’re top of the table in a group with three great teams. There are no light games. Panama is up there, and we’ve got a game back here in Salt Lake. We need to keep putting the ball in the back of the net and the defense needs to keep playing well.”
On playing with the US Men’s National team:
“You play with the best players in the US. You train with them. You try to prepare yourself. If something happens, you want to be ready. To train with these guys who are proven in Europe, confidence wise, it’s big for anybody that goes in.”
On his free kick save against LA’s Jose Villarreal:
“It was a free kick outside of the box. I put five guys in the wall. They [LA Galaxy] put three people and took one out. I still couldn’t see the ball. Juninho came up and faked like he was going to kick it. Villarreal kicked it and hit it pretty well. Luckily I was staying stuck in and made the save to my right.”
