LA Galaxy 5, San Jose Earthquakes 2
Friday, July 17, 2015 – 8:00 p.m. PT
MLS Regular Season
StubHub Center – Carson, California
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On Keane and Gerrard:
“They played well. Our first 20 minutes of the game was not good, it was sloppy. The last 20-25 minutes of the first half got better, and the second half was a pretty solid half. I thought our guys responded real well. I think we were fortunate to get that penalty, and the second goal was important for us to get us back in the game, and I think we played well in the second half. Robbie and Stevie looked like they’ve played together before. Obviously two very good players and this is why we have Stevie Gerrard here. We think he is going to make our team better.”
On Gerrard’s free kicks:
“If you look at Steven Gerrard’s history, we’d probably like him hitting free kicks.”
On Sebastian Lletget:
“Another good game. I thought in the first half, he brought a lot of energy to get us back in the game and he played a terrific game. He has a great combination of speed and power and balance. Technically he’s very good, and that would have been a great goal, the one he hit off the cross bar. He’s been very good for us.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD ROBBIE KEANE
On being sick:
“I was struggling before the game, in bed until 2 o’ clock. My wife said, ‘You’re not going to be playing much,’ and I said, ‘I’ll be playing.’ I was struggling to be honest, but I was fine once the game started, and I felt a bit better. I got some stuff from the doctors just before the game so it was all good. It was a stomach issue related to food. I had the flu last week, but then I was fine. It was something I ate at lunch time or something like that.”
On his connection with Steven Gerrard:
“You can see the combination, the one-two combinations that we are playing, and the way that we played with each other was very good. As the game went on we got better and better. We were finding Stevie more through the gaps. We had a few good combinations, and for the second goal as well. For my second goal, we whispered to each other before we went over, and we had a plan. It was all about the ball and managing it.”
On coming back from being behind two goals:
“It shows a lot of character when you are two goals down. We were not playing that well, and you concede the two sloppy goals. But it showed that the team was able to fight, and we had a lot of fight. Once we got the first goal, you could see the calmness creeping back into the players and Stevie scoring the second goal gave the players and everybody a lift of courage.”
On missing players:
“We just continued on and continued plugging away with the players that were not here. We had players missing like Omar Gonzalez, Gyasi Zardes, and we have Gio dos Santos to come in as well. Certainly the next half of the season is looking good for the players and we’ve got everybody healthy now which is very good. It has been a big factor in the last few weeks.”
On personal performance level:
“I didn’t feel my best to be honest with you, I was getting sick all day today at home. But, when you are striking and scoring goals, and you continue to score goals, it gives you confidence. They always say when you are scoring a lot of goals they just keep coming, so hopefully they’ll keep coming.”
On initial reaction about Giovani dos Santos:
“I’ve been speaking to him quite a lot; we’ve been texting back and forth, so we’ll see. I know Gio quite well. He was an 18 year old kid when he came to Tottenham. He’s a good kid… and he is so excited and looking forward to being a part of the team. He’s going to be great for this team.”
On his hat trick:
“It’s a team game; we’re all in it together. We’re going to continue to be in it together from now until the end. It’s good that we have a lot of leaders now out on the field and a lot of experienced players, so I think it’s important that everybody sticks together because this is where we need everybody. In sports it is a team effort.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER STEVEN GERRARD
On tonight’s match:
“I think as a team we started the game quite slowly. Credit to the opposition, they waited for the counter attack and they punished us on a couple of occasions. But I thought as the game went on as a team, we grew and got stronger, and we got more confidence and belief and we started passing the ball forward. I think the key to our team is if we can get the ball into the forward areas, we’ve got players that are very dangerous, and I think it was shown tonight.”
On his first performance:
“I can feel my fitness getting there, 87 minutes under my belt. I’m very pleased, starting to feel a little bit sharper so I’m very close to full fitness. Performance wise, usually experts will judge me, but I’m pleased with how it went and I’m happy with the win. I was quite disappointed in the two previous games, not to get goals. I had two good chances, but I have belief in myself, if I keep getting in the right positions, I know the goals will come. But it was very pleasing to get off the mark, even more pleased for Robbie [Keane] to get another hat trick. You know, this team is capable of scoring very heavily, so we just need to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. Bruce was shouting on, “How you doing?” from about 60 [minutes in], but I pretended that I couldn’t hear him, and just kept looking away. I felt like a kid out there again. I don’t want to come off, I want to play as much football as I can. One of the reasons why I came to this team is to start all the games and play as many minutes as possible. I was determined not to become a squad player, I still feel like I’ve got energy. I still love the game, I’m enjoying training, I’m settling in pretty nicely. So, so far so good, but I need to keep working and stay focused.”
On fitting into MLS:
“I’m pretty pleased with my contribution tonight. I don’t smile much in and around the place because I’m always focused and looking forward to the next job. But you know I’m really happy sitting here. I’m happy with the level, I feel very confident, I’m happy with my teammates and the level we’ve got. We’re only going to get stronger when we get more bodies fit and available as well. So I think the future is bright here so I’m pretty happy.”
On chemistry with Keane:
“We had that chemistry in Liverpool. I think when you play with good players, it’s easy to connect. He is a very intelligent player, and he has done it here for many years. For me it’s quite easy to connect because I know where he is going to be, we’ve got a great understanding and I’m sure that relationship is only going to get stronger. When we add Dos Santos into the mix as well, we can have a full front line going forward.”
On first California Clasico:
“I’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time. When I met Bruce [Arena] and Chris [Klein] back in the winter in England, they said to me look the number one game to get yourself ready for is this evening’s game. They were talking about derby matches, and how much it meant to the supporters. I love playing in derbies; I wish I played in them every week. I used to love the rivalry games against Everton and Manchester United back home, and I look forward to these battles moving forward. But I’ll be up for every single game that I’m selected for.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER SEBASTIAN LLETGET
On scoring another goal…
“I’ve just got the mentality that until the whistle blows, there’s always another opportunity to score and I’m going to take it. And I did tonight.”
On the chance that bounced off the bar…
“I was so disappointed it didn’t go in. It was so close. But you’ve got to forget about it and move on to the next one.”
On increasing chemistry with Steven Gerrard…
“I think that’s always going to happen with a new player. Luckily, he’s so talented that we just need to get on his page and once that starts, I think we’re going to play really well.”
On being in the same conversation as Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane…
“It’s a blessing to be named with those guys. They’re legends of the game and they’re showing it out there. I’m just doing my part.”
On having missing players…
“I think once we have everyone, the sky is the limit. Obviously it’s going to be competitive as far as positions, but as long as everyone keeps doing their job as a group, I think we’re going to get very far.”
On the form at home...
“We’ve done really well at home. We thank the fans. They’ve got our back and we really feel it.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On his thoughts of the game:
"Tough game, that is what I thought, tough game."
On the team's performance:
"The first 45 minutes were good, the second 45 minutes were not so good."
On what happened tonight:
"We gave up 5 goals, we lost the game. We stopped doing the good things we were doing early on, we got away from that, and they took advantage of the space we gave them, and they have good players."
On the upcoming games vs. Manchester United and Vancouver:
"We are going to try and win those games."
On seeing Steven Gerrard first in MLS:
"We didn't get the first look, if you are paying attention to soccer you know what he can do. He is a great player. Liverpool, Los Angeles Galaxy, whatever the jersey is, he is a great player."
On taking away a positive from tonight:
"Quincy Amarikwa scored two goals for us, I am happy for him, he got his first two goals for us this year."
SAN JOSE FORWARD QUINCY AMARIKWA
On scoring two goals tonight…
“I'd rather score no goals and two other guys score goals and we win 2-0. You're coming on the road trying and get points and unfortunately we were unable to do that tonight. I think we let the ref's decisions on certain plays get the best of us and rather than buckle down and accept that it wasn't going our way I think we kind of let that play into us a little bit and unfortunately we allowed LA to get back into the game.”
On the physicality of the game…
“I think they were letting them play a little bit rough and calling it really tight on our part but that is expected on the road against the Galaxy. You have [Steven] Gerrard, a big signing, so there is a lot of excitement around that and it is something that you expect and it is frustrating but there is nothing we can do about that. All we can do is control how we play and I think we did well the first 35 minutes of the game and that call for the penalty kind of changed our mentality for the rest of the game unfortunately. Hopefully we learn from it and come out against Vancouver, our next conference game, and come away with some points.”
On not celebrating his goals…
“Scoring goals one it's my job and two I want more of them. I want it to be business as usual. I am always for a good celebration but I knew one goal or two goals might not be enough against the Galaxy so I wanted to stay focused on the task at hand. I was hoping that it would get us as a team to know that there is another 70 minutes left in this game and that we need to stay focused to come away with some points and again unfortunately we weren't able to do that.”
