LA Galaxy Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 1, San Jose Earthquakes 1
Sunday, May 22, 2016
2016 MLS Regular Season
StubHub Center – Carson, Calif.
LA GALAXY GENERAL MANAGER AND HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On what it was like for LA to try and create chances against San Jose’s defense:
“They played well defensively. I thought our second half we played very well. We created enough chances to score a couple of goals. Then we got caught on a corner kick. Lost our concentration a little bit and number 27 scored and ran past three of our players. At that point in the game, we’re tired. We’ve got to concentrate and just take the three points and get out of here.”
On if he feels that a draw was a fair result:
“Whatever. We played very well in the second half. We could have won that game.”
On if he feels that they stole a point:
“Stolen? It was a good game and we played very well in the second half. That’s not stealing a game. Stealing a game is when you’re just crap for a game which we see often in our league and you win. We weren’t crap on the day.”
On Nigel de Jong’s performance:
“He did a good job, first game back in a long time. I thought he did really well.”
On Daniel Steres’ part in holding Wondolowski goalless:
“Well he didn’t match up with [Chris] Wondolowski most of the night. It was a shared responsibility with our two center backs. He did well. Wondolowski is a good player. In the second half, Wondolowski does a wonderful job for their team defensively. Very few forwards in the league work as hard as he did. He really helped to contribute to their defense.”
On what it will be like to lose Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes to international duty and if it can help down the road:
“I think so. Robbie [Keane] will be gone probably until July and Gyasi we don’t know. We have other players that are ready to step up. This isn’t anything that surprised us so we’ll have a team ready to go.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER STEVEN GERRARD
On the team’s concentration in the final moments:
“I think we were four minutes away from what we wanted which was three points and that clean sheet we spoke about during the week. But by no means did we play to our standards. I thought we were average early and lacked a bit of energy and a bit of creativity in the final third. But I thought it was a fair result. They had a couple of chances; we had a couple of chances. No complaint with the result really.”
On the team playing without Robbie Keane, Gyasi Zardes and Baggio Husidic the next few games:
“We’ve got no choice. We have to be prepared and we have to share the responsibility around the squad. Of course, the likes of Gyasi [Zardes] and Robbie [Keane] are going to be big misses for the squad because they contribute so much to the team. But other people have got to stand up and play. Players complain and moan when they’re not in the 11 and when they’re not in the squad so let’s see what they can do.”
On the team’s difficulties in finding open spaces:
“I think you’ve got to give them credit. They’ve come away from home to a very difficult place. Usually we’re lethal at home and we score really heavy so you’ve got to give them credit. They played really well and we were a little bit off today. Having said that, we’re four minutes away from three points and a big clean sheet so there were a few positives today, but we fell a little bit short of where we wanted to be.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER MIKE MAGEE
On the team’s performance:
“We were a bit lethargic. We kept mentioning to each other that we need to play with more energy. I think it came on late. Sebastian [Lletget] came on and made a great play for us. We should have been able to close it out.”
On what he attributes the sluggish start to:
“I don’t know. I have no idea. This is usually a game that doesn’t need much motivation or anything extra to get us going and for whatever reason, it just wasn’t there.”
On how their defensive approach affected their strategy:
“Hats off to them. They were getting numbers around the ball and getting a lot of second balls. We recognized that and couldn’t really fix it so hats off to them.”
On his confidence going into a period without Gyasi Zardse and Robbie Keane in the lineup:
“You don’t want to lose those guys, but we’re not worried about it. We’ve got plenty of guys that have more than earned games and minutes. Guys have been chomping at the bit so we’re not worried.”
On how his role will change in the next month as a veteran player:
“I have no idea. Hopefully I’ll play forward.”
On if this feels like a loss:
“For me, yeah. I didn’t play well. I thought I would. I felt good before the game and for whatever reason I just…I’m not going to say I let the team down but I let myself down for sure. At weird moments, when I’ve never struggled, tonight I was struggling. So I don’t know if my legs were heavy or it was luck or whatever. Tonight just wasn’t my night.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER ROBBIE ROGERS
On the game’s result:
“I always feel like we should win, especially at home. I thought they were better than us in the first half, and in the second half I thought we were better than them. You could say it’s a fair result if you look at it that way, but we have to win all of our games at home. We always think we need to win; it’s the kind of mentality here. We didn’t start with the right energy so it feels like a loss to me.”
On having a hard time finding space:
“We weren’t moving the ball quick enough. We weren’t getting into good spaces, weren’t moving for each other. Just a bit lethargic I thought. Of course you give them credit that they worked really hard and won all the second balls. I thought it was more us, just not playing quick enough and finding us in the right spaces.”
On his last shot:
“I was just trying to hit it across the box, and I should have probably hit it a little bit lower the way it came out. It was kind of just a miss cross.”
On if the team needs to be sharper and what has to change ahead of the Montreal game:
“I think [we have to be sharper] on both sides of the ball. Defensively we let one guy free in the box and we had three guys there, and we have to be a little bit sharper in front of the goal. Just all over the field. Winning second balls, you can’t go on the road and not outcompete the team. Sometimes you can get away with it at home, even though it’s rare, sometimes you can and we almost did tonight. But going on the road we are going to have to outcompete Montreal and turn it around.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On if San Jose’s defensive approach to the game was the desired style of play:
“I think we were more defensive in the second half. In the first half we carried the play and created more chances. As the game wore on we sat a little bit deeper and obviously scored late when we were kind of pressing forward. It was a bit unfortunate. David Bingham played good for us today I thought. We would have like to have cleared our lines and have a bit better possession in the second half, but sometimes the first half doesn’t reciprocate in the second and they had the better of it and had the better chances, but that’s just how the game went. But it wasn’t intentional; it’s just how the game played.”
On how the team rallied after the own goal:
“Well you can’t feel sorry for yourself with about eight minutes left. The one thing we did was throw Chad Barrett on right away and kind of went for it and lucky for us it worked out. It’s one of those ones where you can kind of sit there and kind of feel sorry for yourself or try and get after a goal and I think we did the second one which was good.”
On the performance of Simon Dawkins:
“Simon was good. He created some good opportunities. You’d like to see him get a goal and he found some good pockets in there. Like I said before, our possession was better in the first half and was getting to his feet a bit quicker. In the second half we were kind of getting trapped on one end. In the first half we were finding areas better and in the second half we weren’t doing that and it was taking away his effectiveness. But I thought overall he played a good game today.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER DAVID BINGHAM
On the breakaway chances by the LA Galaxy:
"On the first one, [Robbie] Keane breaks through, it was one on one, so I wanted to have a good angle and stay on my feet, if you beat me you beat me, but I was able to get a hand on it and pull it out. There was another one, I think it was Sebastian [Lletget] who tried to hit it across to his runner and I was able to hit it out so that was nice. I feel more comfortable in there every game so I am looking to build on this performance and play even better next week."
On getting the late equalizer:
"It's great, it shows the character of our team. A lot of teams could just hang their heads and walk out here down 1-0, but we didn't do that, we were able to pick ourselves back up and put one away, it's huge for us."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKE FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI:
On getting the late equalizer:
"It is just one of those things, you have to enjoy this locker room, we have that resiliency and it is nice to have that response. Right after kick-off we went right down there and tried to get that back, no one put their head down and that is what I love about this team. Once Chad [Barrett] came in, he pushed high and I kind of played a little bit underneath him while before I was a little bit higher up the field. I thought Daniel [Steres] did well, both center backs are very good players."
On the close chances for the Earthquakes:
"The Galaxy are a good team, credit to them, but I am frustrated at myself, I thought I should have finished as I had some good looks. Unlucky on the cross, I thought I could get that, and then the one off the crossbar, a bit unlucky there, but they had their chances as well so it is hard to say we should have come out with three points. I thought it was a pretty good 90 minutes that we put in, we had a couple ups and downs throughout, but I thought our first half was really solid and the second half we knew they were going to come out with some fire, but we matched them and had chances of our own."
On momentum for the next game:
"It is always a good thing to build off of, you know it is nice to get a point on the road, but we always want three so it is a bit frustrating. We will take it, but we are not complacent with just a point, but it is something to build on."
On joining the USMNT:
"I am very excited. You know, I think it is a great opportunity, it is the first time in my lifetime where we are hosting Copa America, it is a pretty special time and I am pretty honored to be along for this ride."
