NEW YORK – LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena spoke to reporters following the Galaxy’s 1-0 defeat to New York City FC on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
On how difficult it was to play on this field at Yankee Stadium…
“It’s difficult, but both teams are playing on it. Obviously, both teams have a little bit of a problem with it, but it’s the same for both teams.”
On what went wrong for the Galaxy…
“Well, there wasn’t a whole lot of quality to our passing in the last third, and then you look at the game. It was a tight game. We could see the goal early first half; maybe Nigel has an open goal. Second half, Robbie Keane has an open goal with his header probably, but he’s a little hesitant to head the ball coming off a concussion and a orbital fracture, but those chances, they’re not going to come that often. They kept their players in pretty tight and took out some players in the midfield. The couple of chances we get, we have to put one in the back of the net. That’s the name of the game. The conditions were tough for both teams, and that’s that.”
On what his experience was like being at Yankee Stadium as a Yankee fan…
“I didn’t invest a whole lot of time in the Yankees today, to be honest with you. It was certainly a bit of an odd setting out there, but having said that I think given the circumstances and needing to play games, they do a remarkable job. It’s not easy, and they’re doing the best with what they have, and I give them a lot of credit for that. I didn’t think of Mickey Mantle or Derek Jeter at all today. I was thinking about our team.”
On Clement Diop’s MLS debut…
“He was okay. He made a few inexperienced mistakes; he almost gave a goal away at the end of the game with the ball to Villa, but he did okay. At the end of the game, where we were throwing everyone forward, he did a good job on a couple plays to stop them. He did fine. On the goal, they were offsides on the goal; that’s not an easy play. I don’t think the linesman saw the play properly with our goalkeeper out. He missed the play, but that’s life. We didn’t do well on it anyway. We have nothing to complain about.”
On NYCFC’s midfield…
When you have the quality of Villa, Pirlo, and Lampard, that’s a terrific starting point. Those guys are great players. I thought Pirlo was outstanding today, and Villa was good and got the goal. Those are quality players, and their backline did a good job. They had a good day. I think given the circumstances I thought the game was OK.
