LA Galaxy Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 4, Orlando City SC 2
Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016
2016 MLS Regular Season
StubHub Center – Los Angeles, California
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH AND GENERAL MANAGER BRUCE ARENA
On the circumstance that had to be in place for Landon Donovan to play and what he thought of his performance:
“First off, I really don’t think that’s the story of the game. And I don’t want to be critical of your journalistic qualities and all, but the certain conditions would be a 4-1 lead with about 10 minutes left. You see he has a long way to go; he’s on the treadmill now. It’s going to take a while, we knew that. Probably no other circumstances would have allowed me to play him today, but I wanted him to get out there and reward the crowd for showing up and all. It helps Landon see how far he has to go.”
On the performance of his players over the age of 30:
“Two goals from guys over 30…is there a rule against that? Manchester United has a pretty good striker that’s about 35-36 years old. This age stuff is kind of stupid I think. To a certain degree, you’ve got to understand there are some issues associated with older players in professional sports. You see it all the time, but at the club level in soccer it can be done. It’s done all the time. I can probably name a dozen players of high quality…easily a dozen players of high quality in their thirties and some that are in their mid-thirties. You don’t want to field a complete team of players of those ages, but I don’t think we spend a whole lot of time thinking about that, although it is a point of consideration for sure.”
On the impact of Jelle Van Damme as a playmaker:
“Well he had a good game. He’s been a good player for us all year and he’s a real leader. He obviously has a great presence on the field. Even though we screwed up a little in conceding that goal– of which Jelle was probably a little bit responsible for – but he’s a great leader and a great player and the team feeds off him. You could argue he’s been our best player to date this year. He has a real presence and he’s an important player on the field.”
On if he was surprised by how fast Van Damme was able to return from injury:
“It’s been two weeks. I think they told us 2-3 weeks and we saw early in the first week that there was a chance that he could be back for this weekend. So it was a pretty quick recovery.”
On the performance of Rafael Garcia:
“He played very well. Jeff Larentowicz played two full games this week if I’m not mistaken, against Columbus and Salt Lake. For the last 4-6 weeks, I think Rafael has looked very good in training. We got him a game with Galaxy II about a week ago in Arizona. That was important for him. I thought he brought some energy and could get around the ball a little bit better than we’ve seen since Nigel de Jong departed and that was the case today. I thought he played a real good game as did Raul Mendiola. That’s his second start with us in his career. I think those players did very well. Emmanuel Boateng continues to grow. Heck of a ball he played Giovani dos Santos for the second goal. Giovani continues to grow. He’s getting fitter. I think his effort for his first goal was pretty special – the way he got up the field. I think the younger players are getting better. We’ve got a long way to go though. We’re still making some mistakes we shouldn’t be making, but hopefully we can get a little better as we try to close this season out.”
On Giovani dos Santos’ defensive effort over the past few games:
“He’s doing very well. This was a little bit of an issue, but I think he’s now a year into playing on a full time basis. As heralded as he was and is, he has not played on a regular basis in his club careers. Now he’s a year in and this season is probably the fullest season he’s had in his career. And now he’s a year in. This season is probably the fullest season he’s had in his career. And you can see that he’s now getting fitter, getting more experienced, understanding this league and understanding the things that he needs to do to make himself a better player and also make our team a better team. And you can see that happening. He has 14 goals now. For that position, that’s pretty good. In that position, strikers usually score that many goals and he’s not a striker. It’s pretty good stuff.”
On the level of trust he has in starting Raul Mendiola and Rafael Garcia at this time of the season:
“Real good people as a starting point, but you don’t win any games that way. But they work real hard in training and they have a great work ethic. They understand what they can bring to the team and they force themselves on you. These are the guys, when you pick sides, you don’t mind picking them because they compete so well and they know how to play through mistakes and they give you great effort. And on any team in any sport you need great players with those kinds of qualities.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER LANDON DONOVAN
On the night as a whole:
“It was really enjoyable. It was fun to be back in the stadium with the atmosphere and the crowd and being with all the guys again. Great to win obviously and that made the day a lot better. I realize I have a long way to go. I might have played five minutes or so and maybe completed one pass. It makes you realize it’s a whole different level. I have to get myself going again so I can really contribute, because not every week is going to be a charity five or ten minutes.”
On if he went straight to the treadmill afterwards:
“I did. Did you watch me play? I need to get fit. I came into a game where both teams were exhausted and I was the slowest player on the field. So I need to get myself ready to compete in a real way. Bruce and the coaching staff need to know that when they put me in, it can mean something. So tonight worked out well. But I need to be able to contribute.”
On if he feels confident after his performance:
“When you train a few times you feel like you’re sharp and you can do things. When you get into a real game at that pace, everything’s happening fast. So it’s just like anything: you have to get back into the rhythm of it. It’s going to take some time. The biggest thing for me now is to train. To train at that pace and at that level. My mind picks things up pretty quickly and I’ll get back into it, but it’s going to take a little bit.”
On if he was nervous leading up to the game:
“I was excited. It’s just weird to be back in this mold because it’s real. It’s really intense. The league has gotten dramatically better since I’ve been gone. When I looked at Orlando’s lineup, I mean they have really, really good players all over the field. It’s just amazing to see how this league has changed. There’s no room to be not fit, not sharp. I’ve got to be on it if I want to contribute.”
On his motivation for being on the field today and coming back to the team:
“I think I had much more impact today in the locker room and helping out a few guys at halftime then I did on the field. And if that’s the way I contribute, then that’s great. Obviously in a perfect world, I can help on the field. But you saw a team, without Robbie Keane for most of the game, score four goals. There’s a lot of talent on this team and Steven Gerrard’s not even healthy right now. There’s not a ton I need to do in that way… maybe a play here or there. But I can help in, hopefully, a lot of different ways. That’s a big part of the motivation and the reason.”
On if he has to be patient to try and not overdo it:
“Absolutely. And that was part of the decision tonight. We were right on the fence until last night whether or not it made sense to even be on the bench. I think we all agreed that if we could just get the first few minutes out of the way – for a lot of different reasons, the PR part, the media part, the ‘me just getting my mental understanding of the game again’ and just kind of get that out of the way – so we can focus on what we want to focus. Thankfully it worked out tonight and now it’s time to get all that stuff out of the way and go try to win a championship.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD GIOVANI DOS SANTOS
On his great level of play:
“I feel like I am in the best moment of my career, I’ve never felt this way. I feel very good, my finish is good. The team is doing good so I feel great right now.”
On how he feels the team is playing and whether he thinks they can catch up to Dallas:
“We want to win everything. Now we have the chance to catch Dallas, and we have to keep working on the same line so hopefully we can win the Supporters’ Shield.”
On having Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane back on the team:
“This is great for us, one of the greatest to be back with us. They are going to help us a lot this year and we are very excited for what’s to come in the next games.”
[En Español]
En esta ser tu primera temporada complete y por esa razón estar en tan buen nivel:
“Creo que para cualquier jugador la confianza de cualquier técnico, la confianza de grupo, el trabajar duro día tras día, me ha dado estos frutos. Yo creo que el equipo ha hecho un trabajo muy bueno y en lo personal estoy trabajando muy fuerte como bien lo dice el entrenador. Yo creo que es la primera temporada en la que he venido jugando regularmente, las lesiones también me han respetado, eso tengo que decirlo y físicamente me encuentro mucho mejor.”
Sobre sus cuatro goles en cinco días:
“Como siempre lo he dicho, yo no me fijo en eso. Me fijo en el trabajo del equipo. Creo que sacamos siete puntos de nueve de tres partidos complicados y eso habla de cómo está creciendo el equipo. Sabemos que estamos en la etapa final de la temporada y tenemos que apretar ahora más que nunca.”
Sobre estar a un gol del máximo goleador mexicano en la historia de la MLS:
“No lo sabía, es un dato nuevo. Y como te digo, vine aquí para aportar al equipo en lo que pueda hacer: crear jugadas, defender, trato de hacer lo mejor para el equipo.”
Sobre su registro de asistencias, y estar entre los líderes:
“Si se me da la oportunidad siempre trato de asistir en lo que pueda y siempre tratando de dar lo mejor para el equipo.”
Sobre estar listo para la selección:
“Se me hace que no es correcto hablar de la selección ahora por todo lo que se ha hablado, respeto a mis compañeros [del LA Galaxy], respeto a mi entrenador y como siempre lo he dicho, yo amo a mi país y ahora estoy trabajando lo mejor posible en mi equipo y obviamente si en un futuro el entrenador decide llamarme, con gusto. Creo que cualquier declaración que dé sobre la selección se van a especular demasiadas cosas y creo que por respeto a mis compañeros y a mi entrenador prefiero no tocar ese tema ahora.”
Sobre compartir cancha con Kaka:
“Es un honor compartir cancha con Kaka. Es un gran jugador, uno de los mejores, y bueno la verdad es un honor poder compartir campo con él.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER JELLE VAN DAMME
On coming back:
“I felt good. I’ve been working hard the last two weeks to come back. It felt good.”
On the offensive performance:
“We conceded a goal, but I think we had a good reaction on that. After we conceded, I think did a pretty good job. We tried to put them under pressure and we did well. I think we did well overall. We played very good at moments. I’m pretty happy with the game.”
On contributing offensively:
“I used to be a striker when I was young, so maybe that’s the thing that keeps me going forward. I like going forward when I can. In the last five years on my old team, I played as a fullback and that was very offensive. Once in a while, you like going up front. Bruce tells me to pick my moments, and that’s what I try to do.”
On Giovani dos Santos:
“Giovani is playing very well the last few weeks. I saw the game on Wednesday and he was playing incredible. I think he played even better Wednesday than he did today. Gio is a great player, and I think he knows as well, if he works his ass off, you deserve what you get. He’s doing great.”
On Landon Donovan returning:
“It’s good. It’s big. He still is a great player. I know him from his period when he was with Everton, so he’s a great player and he means a lot to this club. So he can only help the team and the club. And he’s a good guy. It’s always good bringing in people with good mentality and good quality, so it’s all good things.”
ORLANDO CITY HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
On the team’s performance:
“It’s really disappointing. I think we’ve been in a good moment with our form and with results and I really had hope for better tonight. But we don’t have our head between our legs and we’re not ready to quit. So we’ll move on quickly.”
On the team’s momentum falling off after the penalty kick and his thoughts on the penalty:
“We looked at halftime. We had video and looked at it and it was just outside of the box.”
On what he tells his team after a call doesn’t go their way:
“I think I explain it in one way: I think that when you are a newer team in this league, I think that you go through times where you just don’t get calls. I believe that a team like LA, with as much success as they’ve had, has a certain amount of respect. They tend to get calls, certainly in their own building. I don’t look at is as a particularly negative thing or something to dwell on, I just say we need to continue to fight for that respect.”
On Orlando letting the Galaxy play the way they did in the last ten minutes of the half:
“I just think we went a little bit shallow with our intelligence. I felt that we…Aja, in particular, on the play that does lead to the penalty kick, he does foul him. You could see it from 30 yards away that he was going to foul him because he was very angry with Gordon. We have to be more intelligent in those moments and we have to be more calm in those moments to not let things run away from us. Because, really, I felt like once the first goal came, there was three right behind it.”
On how important it is to have Cyle Larin and Kevin Molino back:
“It’s important. We need them fresh. I thought both players were a little fatigued tonight. And I think that decision lies somewhere between…it’s the coaches’ job. I feel like tonight we had quite a few guys that had a little too much fatigue.”
ORLANDO CITY SC MIDFIELDER KEVIN MOLINO
On tonight's game:
“We started off well by getting an early goal and then after in a spell of 15 or 20 minutes, give them credit they have quality players and it is a difficult place to play and when they score that goal they built momentum and they scored another goal. We lack concentration in certain parts of the game and as I said before it is a difficult place to play. We lost and we have to accept it and we have to move on and look forward to the next game.”
On giving up a penalty kick right before half time:
“In certain instances of the game first 15 minutes or the last 15 minutes before the first half a goal conceded is very difficult and going into the half down 2-1 it was difficult. We fought hard together as a team and unfortunately we didn't get a result we wanted but now we have to pick up our heads, go back to the drawing board and focus and look forward to the next game.”
ORLANDO CITY SC MIDFIELDER KAKÁ
On tonight's game:
“I think at the end of the first half the team was a little bit tired and it showed. We lost a little of our concentration and we paid for it. I think we played really good against Montreal a lot of good stuff tonight as well today but we have to get ready against our next match against Columbus and take advantage of what he has done well in this game.”
On how to bounce back after the loss:
“Take care of ourselves and be ready for the next game. It's is not easy when you have to play against the Galaxy they have a lot of motivation and also after a flight and a game that we had against Montreal. Of course we want to win every game but today it wasn't so bad.”
ORLANDO CITY SC FORWARD CYLE LARIN
On if he was fatigued from playing with the Canadian National Team:
“I don't think that I felt fatigued. For the first 30 minutes we played well and then for 15 minutes once they scored their first goal the crowd was in and they started attacking us a lot and we gave up 3 goals.”
On when the momentum of the game changed:
“15 minutes before half where they scored their first goal. I think we could have done better and dropped a bit and take the pressure for a bit and not give up another goal. It happens in soccer one team attacks a lot and another team comes back.”
