Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 5, Central FC 1
Thursday, August 6, 2015 – 7:00 p.m. PT
2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League
StubHub Center – Carson, Calif.
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the debut of Giovani dos Santos…
"It was good to get him thirty five minutes, he did a good job. He obviously has got to get better, he has only been in training a couple days and he missed the last couple weeks. It is good to get him back on the field and I am sure in a short period of time he will get back to his full fitness."
On the injury to Raul Mendiola…
"I don't have anything official, it didn't look good."
On the referee's decisions during the first half…
"Welcome to CONCACAF."
On playing more reserve players tonight…
"We have a game Sunday at 1 p.m., and we certainly didn't request this schedule. The schedule is such that it restricts you from obviously playing your full team."
On how the team responded to first half adversity…
"It was a good test for those players. Obviously when that penalty is called, maybe you can lose your focus and concentration and perhaps not be the team that goes into halftime with a lead. At least we managed to get a 2-1 lead out of that, in a half that if we probably play a little bit better we are up 3 or 4-0. They were handicapped a goal today, and it didn't make it easy for us, but the response from our team was good."
On the play of Sebastian Lletget…
"He did a good job. We have seen enough of him the last couple months, Sebastian is a good player and certainly had an impact tonight."
On the importance of winning the CONCACAF Champions League…
"Well, we are a long ways away from winning this tournament. We need to position ourselves to win the group, and that is not going to be easy. CSD Comunicaciones is a good team, we see them in a couple weeks, that will be an important match, and then obviously we need to go to Trinidad and then to Guatemala. It's not going to be easy, our goal is to get out of the group, and once that happens we can start thinking about next year and trying to position ourselves to win the tournament."
On the possibility of starting Giovani on Sunday…
"We will think about it over the next couple of days. Obviously, in time, he is going to be on the field on a full-time basis."
On the play of Garcia, Maganto, Mendiola, and other reserve players…
"They did well. I thought [Dave] Romney and [Tommy] Meyer did a good job, the whole back line. It was a good effort by the entire group, under circumstances that could have been difficult. They managed to play through some calls in the first half that could have unbalanced us, but we kept our composure and won the game."
LA GALAXY FORWARD GIOVANI DOS SANTOS
On scoring his debut goal…
“Well I feel good. I think we had a great win. I am happy to score my first goal for the club and I’m looking forward to keep that going.”
On level of fitness going into Sunday’s game against Seattle Sounders FC…
“I’m fit, so it depends on the manager. I know it’s a difficult game against a great team and I’m looking forward to that game. It’s going to be my first MLS game and I think it’s important for the team to get the win.”
On chemistry on the field…
“I think it was easy, [my teammates] are top players it’s easy to play with good players. I think everything was perfect for my first game. My team won and I scored a goal so everything is going good.”
On playing with Sebastian Lletget…
“He is a good player; he plays at a high level. He is a good friend of mine, so I feel like we connected well in the game.”
LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER BRIAN ROWE
On the game…
“You never know what you are going to get with these other teams that come in. We just wanted to start off getting the first goal, which we did, and I think we did a great job after they tied it up to get a couple goals.”
“We kept to our game plan and moved the ball around. I think they were a little tired; they are just coming into their pre-season right now so we were just able to wear them down. The guys all stepped up and got those couple goals which really helped us keep going”
“It was definitely a physical match but we did a great job playing and getting out of tight spaces. The midfielders, defenders, and outsiders did a great job getting out of tight spots and opening the field.”
“The goal differential was big and the fact we were able to win 5-1 and get three points at home. It will be good to have another game at home before we travel, so just trying to get as many points here as we can.”
On the penalty…
“The ref said I grabbed the forward’s leg I think, so I am not quite sure what he saw, but it is one of those that I thought was a clean play. I ended up with the ball after the play. It is frustrating, but the guys did a great job fighting back after that to score a bunch of goals and keep going at them.”
On referees…
“We know from the past what to expect with the refs, I mean there are some good calls and bad calls and it is something that we can’t control. It comes with the game and you can’t get too frustrated and distracted by what is going on with the refs. You have to keep playing and keep going.”
“I think it frustrates the guys, but they just want to keep fighting. It is important that you don’t think about it or dwell on it and just keep playing. There may be calls that you don’t quite like, but there’s nothing you can do about it, it is out of your control and you just need to focus on what you can do.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD ALAN GORDON
On the match…
“They made it tough for us in the first half. But credit to the guys, we dusted ourselves off and kept going and eventually we broke them down.
On the physicality of CCL games…
“That’s what we’re expecting, a physical team. They did their best to disrupt our flow and did a good job of that. But we kept at it, kept our heads, stayed composed and the goals came.”
On scoring so many goals…
“Everybody was scoring. This is good for everyone’s confidence going into an important game this weekend against Seattle, so it’s good all around.”
