Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 3, Colorado Rapids 1
Saturday, August 1, 2015 – 6:00 p.m. PT
MLS Regular Season
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park – Commerce City, Colorado
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the game…
The guys get an A+ for their effort. I felt that if we gave an effort as a group tonight, as a team tonight, over time the quality would show and make a difference in the game and it certainly did.
On getting their first road win of the season…
It’s good but I would’ve survived either way. It’s certainly great to get these three points.
On the play of Sebastian Lletget…
Good game. I thought for the majority of the game, he really won his matchup there against James Riley, who is a good player. Pretty impressive, he hung in there. I’ve heard he struggled with the altitude early in the game, and he got his legs back a little bit, not that he got them back completely but he hung in there and did a good job.
On the play of Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard…
That’s why they’re here. We expect them to be difference makers for our team and they’re leadership is outstanding. Their effort together for that third goal was incredible.
On what it was like to coach against Marcelo Sarvas…
We love Marcelo so I’m happy he’s doing well here. We miss him but he’s moved on and he’s doing well.
On if the Rapids goal was a wakeup call…
I think the last 15 minutes of the first half we had control of the game, so I wasn’t surprised how we were able to take control of the second half, not that it was easy. Certainly, Colorado put us under pressure, and I think the wind was a big factor. Sometimes it’s not a real positive on this field when you combine it with the altitude and the hard field; it’s not as easy for the team with the wind to their back. That made it a little bit difficult for Colorado to pass some balls over the top and all. Overall, I think our second half was outstanding.
On if the positive second half performance was due to settling down…
Games have ebb and flows to them and you’ve got to deal with the good and the bad. We were able to get through the tough moments in the first half and take control of the game in the second half.
On some players playing together for the first time…
Yes, we have another player coming as well, but Steven Gerrard met four players that played tonight for the first time. So, we have a way to go to get our team ready and to get our team better, so hopefully over the next month or two we’re going to get better as a team.
LA GALAXY FORWARD ALAN GORDON
On first road win…
It feels good. Everybody fought hard tonight. It was a great team win, and we had a lot of strong leadership in the second half from our big guys. If we play like that, we’re going to win a lot of games.
On confidence going forward…
It’s a big step. We can’t get too excited; every week is going to be tough. Nothing is going to be given to us. We’ve got to have some better starts, but the way we responded and the character we showed is similar to what we did here last year, and set us to set us up for a nice run.
On Gerrard…
It’s impressive to see these guys battle and fight. If they do that everyone is going to come along with him.
On Marcelo Sarvas…
He didn’t let us down. He’s going to battle on the field, and that’s what you want. He’s a great teammate, so we had to match it. We’re going to have to expect that every week. Teams are going to come at us, and it is not going to be easy. We’ve got a big target on our back. This is a good sign that we’re ready for it.
On second half…
We had to step it up a little bit. We were a bit conservative, stepping back, holding our line a little high. We had to step up and put the pressure on them.
On his goal…
I thought Steven was going to clip it back post. He put in a great shot and I was able to finish it up. I was in the right place at the right time.
LA GALAXY FORWARD ROBBIE KEANE
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On first road win…
It feels like a relief. I always knew it was going to come - I wasn’t too worried about it. I said during the week that away from home, the mentality has to change. It certainty did tonight. We reacted very well.
On playing with Steven Gerrard,,,
We’ve been in these games before. We know what it takes to get back into the game. There was good leadership out there. I think that was important - we got a win away from home which I think we deserved towards the end.
On Marcelo Sarvas…
He’s got a lot of energy. He was running all over the place. I thought he was good for them tonight.
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER STEVEN GERRARD
On the team finally getting a road win…
I think it was one of the things on my mind when I first came into the team. I knew the record on the road hadn’t been too healthy of late, so it was important that we got back to trying to win on the road. It’s a big three points tonight and a wonderful second half team performance. First half was a bit of a hit and miss, we were slow off the blocks again, but we showed immense character to come back into the game.
On Keane and himself taking control of the game…
That’s what our responsibility is with two leaders on the team. Bruce has added me to the setup and wants me to perform like that and try and help the young players on the team. It was nice to set Keane up again tonight, that is my job, after all. The most important thing tonight was the team’s response at halftime, the character we showed, the determination to stick together and get the vital three points. The manager has been banging the drum all week about winning ugly.
On meeting some teammates for the first time tonight…
I think it was difficult at first. When you put a group of new players together, it’s always going to take a small amount of time. These are terrific players and they are certainly going to strengthen the eleven on the squad. We’ve got Giovani Dos Santos to add to it as well, so it’s all healthy, the future is bright and we know when we’ve got a fully fit strong eleven, we know that we’re a very good team.
On playing against Marcelo Sarvas…
Listen, he’s a good player. I watched him in many games for the Galaxy before I arrived. I’ve got respect for the player. It was a good battle with him tonight. That’s all I want to say on the matter.
On playing at altitude…
It was tough. The first 15-20 minutes my throat was very dry and the lungs, I couldn’t get my second wind, but I felt like I got stronger as the game went on. What I’m very pleased about is my fitness level now that they’re getting close to 100%. I think I showed in the last 30 minutes of the game that I’ve got the fitness now, so I’m getting close to maximum fitness.
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH PABLO MASTROENI
On tonight’s result…
Everyone wants to be the guy that puts the team on his shoulders. This isn’t about individuals, this is a collective effort. That first goal was a culmination of great team play. Today we got hit with a sledgehammer to remind of us of who we are, what we need to do, and how much work we need to do in order to get where we want to go.
I’m most disappointed in the way we conducted ourselves when we had the ball - we were cheap with it, loose with it and made some terrible decisions in possession to force it. Defensively Bobby [Burling] and Jared [Watts] did a fantastic job keeping [Robbie] Keane, [Alan] Gordon and [Edson] Buddle at bay.
On sloppy passing…
We want to be a very good passing team. We’ve got a week to regroup, get our heads together and keep working on it. The first 20 minutes of this game I thought we played fantastic. I don’t know why that didn’t trigger them in the rest of the game.
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER SAM CRONIN
On Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane…
They’re obviously great players, but we completely gave them the game. We let them get back into it. It wasn’t because of brilliance of play by them by any means. We had guys on our side of the field that didn’t want to fight, didn’t want to compete, and didn’t want to impact the game. When you have 11 guys on board giving everything that’s what happens. We got exactly what we deserved.
On how to prepare for Columbus Crew…
We need to take a hard look in the mirror - every single individual. It’s nothing tactical - it’s just an ability and desire to want to fight and compete. If you don’t want to compete, then we don’t have any chance.