Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 0, Montreal Impact 0
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015MLS Regular Season
StubHub Center – Carson, California
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On David Romney:
“He played a good game. Solid, it’s probably his second start for us I think. He is a strong physical player, passes well, good in the air.”
On tonight’s performance:
“Bad passing, inability to beat players one-on-one, bad crossing, not aggressive looking at the goal. Not a good performance in the attacking end of the field.”
On the team’s momentum:
“We’re 29 games into the season and we have probably the second or third most points in the league. I don’t think the roof is caving in on us. We’ll be okay.”
On the heat’s impact:
“We weren’t good. I can say heat and humidity, this or that. We weren’t a good attacking team tonight. We just weren't sharp. We looked a little heavy footed, they did as well, and obviously you can contribute some of that to the heat and humidity. But on the night, we weren’t good so we’ve got to accept that and move forward.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD ROBBIE KEANE
On tonight’s performance:
“It was very frustrating; we weren’t at the races tonight. There was a lack of performance, but full credit to them. They made it hard for us and defended well, but we should have won in the races.
On the heat’s impact:
“I’m not too sure, it could have been a lot of factors I think. But we didn’t play as well as we know we can. We were sloppy at times in the first half, I think we could have been a bit more crisper with our passing in the final touch. And when we had the chance to counter attack at times, we should have went quickly instead of trying to use that extra pass which gives them time to get back into the defense. So I think we just need to be a bit more sharp.”
On second shutout:
“It happens to all of us, but it’s only a couple of games. I wouldn’t get too worried about it.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER OMAR GONZALEZ
On the defense:
“I think that is one of the positives to take away from this game is that our defense was solid and we put out a shutout that we haven’t had since early July. So that is one of the positives, and a little frustrating in the attack. We obviously wanted more, especially at home where we can be so dangerous. Tonight just wasn’t clicking and wasn’t going our way.”
On playing alongside David Romney:
“He seemed confident from the get go, and I made sure to keep on chirping in his ear to give him confidence. Told him to keep on stepping with them, and making it hard on him when Drogba stepped into the middle. I think Drogba will even admit that it was pretty tough playing against me and David so I thought that we did our job as well as the back other two. This is a good step in the right direction for getting shutouts.”
On Donovan Ricketts:
“They are going to get chances as good as you play, as much as you’re organized… They are going to get chances and when they do, you hope your keeper makes the save. Donovan was on tonight, and he did a good job”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER DAVE ROMNEY
On the defense:
“I watched the Montreal vs. Chicago game last night in bed, and just watched his movement, watched how he turned off the ball, stuff like that. So I just tried to play him as safe as I could, as aggressive as I could and things worked out.”
On playing against Drogba:
“It’s something growing up is never even a possibility, so just given the opportunity and trying to take advantage of it playing aggressive as I could. He got a couple of counters in the second half that were pretty dangerous, but outside of that I think we kept them in check mostly throughout the game.”
On his confidence:
“After the first 10-15 minutes, you kind of get your legs underneath you and you kind of get the game rhythm under the flow, and it feels like any other game. Just the confidence is getting there. I’ve still been playing safe, I haven’t been taking too many chances going forward. Just understanding my role on the team is first, defense is first. I have six guys in front of me that are world class so I don’t need to create anything for the team, I don’t need to force any turnovers. Just keep the ball with us, and they’ll create goals for us. They’ve proven that they can score three, four or five goals a game, so it’s not necessarily my job going to create some crazy attack going forward. Just defend, get a clean sheet, and they’ll figure out the rest. ”
On advice given:
“Stevie was talking to me earlier in the week, same with Keane, just to play him safe. He is good on the turn, he’ll be strong. If you try to make it a physical battle he will beat you, so just playing as safe as you can, but stay aggressive. I think we did that for the most part.”
MONTREAL IMPACT HEAD COACH MAURO BIELLO
On tonight's game:
“We probably played the best team in the league. I am very proud of the way we played. We were able to contain them for most of the game and also created chances going the other way. I am very happy with the effort we put in and we have to continue to build from a good point coming here in LA.”
On the team's performance:
“You have to manage momentum and in the end we were able to manage the momentum. When you suffer a little bit you have to try and break their rhythm and we were able to do that. If we feel that they were a little bit on their heels, that's when we have to increase intensity and push. We got some chances out of it, we were unlucky to finish a couple at the end but overall I am happy with the result.”
On Didier Drogba's missed opportunity at the end of the game:
“Those are things that happen. In the end Didier had a good chance and I'm sure he wishes he can have it back but in the end he worked hard and we are happy that he is going to contribute to this team.”
On getting a point on the road:
“I think it's huge, it's a massive result for us going forward and building on something over here. I think if you look at all the teams that have come here and took a lot of goals I think we were ready to face a team with a lot of fire power and we did an excellent job.”
MONTREAL IMPACT FORWARD DIDIER DROGBA
On the game:
“I think it was a good game. We didn’t concede a goal. It was a good clean sheet. When you play away, it’s important to defend well… I think we continued to play, to defend, to play as a team. A point is a good result here.”
How important is getting a point:
“It’s just one game where we took a point against the champions. It’s an important one.”
On playing against Steven Gerrard:
“It’s always tough to play against him. He’s a football legend and he did so much for Liverpool and for the Premier League. And he’s a fantastic guy, a fantastic man. It was nice to see him again and I’m really happy because he didn’t score and they didn’t win.”
On playing the Galaxy well:
“I used to play in Europe, but we also watch games from MLS so I knew about the Galaxy and knew how they were playing, so I was not surprised. They play very well and they are the best team in this league and for us to get a point, knowing that the last few weeks have been very difficult for us, is a good point.”
On if he was surprised by level of play in MLS:
“Not really because I played a lot of friendly games against teams here when I came with Chelsea. And I watch the league, so I know the competition is hard and I know the league is improving a lot. And to add players like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Andrea Pirlo and all these players coming from the European leagues, it’s going to help the league improve. There are also a lot of quality players here from this league. I think it’s going to be a good mix.”
MONTREAL IMPACT GOALKEEPER EVAN BUSH
On the result:
“I think it’s obviously a very difficult place to come and play, getting any type of result here is a fantastic result and to keep a clean sheet against these guys especially at their home is even more impressive for us.”
On his thoughts on Montreal’s backline:
“The backline did very well. I think that when you play guys like [Robbie] Keane, [Gyasi] Zardes and Giovani dos Santos, it’s in your mind to be a little bit more focused and be prepared for the unexpected. I thought we dealt with it well all through the first half, and through the second half we were even better. It was a great effort by the boys and not only in the back four but the two guys in front of them as well.”
On sending a message to the rest of the league after their performance tonight:
“You try to void from saying that we are sending messages. It’s more of a message to us, that we can come on the road and get results. These are the defending champions and to get a clean sheet here, you wonder how you gave up three goals at home to Chicago the week before. We’re just looking forward now and we’re happy with what happened tonight.”
On the Galaxy:
“I was watching a lot of video this afternoon on their recent games and they score like four or five goals each game the last like six games, it seems like. To come in here and put the effort that we put it, we’re almost ready to, I don’t want to say steal it, because we had just as many good chances. From what I was told the goal that was called back was an onside goal. To get out of here with a point, we’re happy about it.”
On the game being a confidence builder:
“It’s a big confidence builder. We have another game Wednesday, another important game that I think we are able to go get points there and we have a huge week coming up at home against three conference team. Looking at the results from the league, results are still going our way and I think that if we can win a few more games we will be solidly in the playoffs.”
