LA Galaxy Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 3, Colorado Rapids 1
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
2017 MLS Regular Season
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park – Commerce City, Colo.
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
On Jack McBean’s performance:
“Anytime you score first, it’s a big deal in this league. Even though you look at the game, we conceded two chances in the first three minutes and they didn’t convert. Sometimes that happens, but we got the goal. I think we played a little too direct. They tied up the score but I think we had a good talk during halftime and we came out and we were excellent in the second half.”
On momentum switching after their goal:
“We talked about how we were getting hurt, how Colorado was having success in the first half, and we just dealt with that battle in the second and you can just see the momentum shift. With the goal, and then we put in two fresh bodies who were both good attacking players and drawing a penalty.”
On McBean’s role tonight:
“In the case of Jack, he had some opportunities early on and he scored last week in the Open Cup which gave him confidence. Winning the game from his opportunities – that’s what we want. He’s got experience, he can hold the ball, and he knows how to play. It’s just a matter of him finding rhythm and that confidence.”
On seeing his success as a local player:
“Any player that we’ve developed through our organization, all of us should feel it. The fans, our club, ownership, that’s what we wanted to do. To develop from within and still attract world-class players like [Giovani] Dos Santos, [Romain] Alessandrini, [Ashley] Cole, so it’s nice to see.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD JOSE VILLARREAL
On the importance of this win:
“Yes, it’s a tough place to play with the altitude going on, but guys fought through throughout the 90 minutes and it’s a big win for us.”
On the team’s balance tonight:
“We know what we are about. We are confident in any of the players that come in and step in for the other guys. We came to win, that’s the mentality and that’s what coach implemented in the game.”
On getting the start after scoring last week:
“It’s special. The other guy that plays that position is a special player. I look up to him so to be able to get that time and to get that number ‘10’ position is great. Anything to help out the team and overall just great team performance.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD JACK MCBEAN
On what worked tonight to get the goal:
“Just stick to what I’ve been doing. Last season I had a good season. Scored a bunch of goals overseas on a loan. Came back, first couple games of the season I didn’t score. Confidence went down a little bit, but it’s a tough sport and it’s one of those things you have to trust your abilities and that’s what happened with the first goal.”
On where he is mentally:
“It’s tough mentally when you know you play 5-10 minutes at the end of games, some games you don’t play, and some you can go weeks without getting 90 minutes. It’s tough but that’s the nature of the sport and when my number is called, I have to do my job.”
On what this means moving forward:
“Like I said, I had a good season last season. I wasn’t on the mainstage but I know what I can do and it’s more of a matter of my mindset and doing it myself rather than other people getting into my head. It’s a process and it feels good to get rewarded.”
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH PABLO MASTROENI
Opening statement on the game:
“In the early stages of the game we created some opportunities and if you don’t finish those, this game has a cruel way of making you regret those opportunities. It looked like we weren’t on the front foot defensively and what looked really successful for us in the early stages was threatening their backline. I think we gifted them three goals and it was one of those games that got away from us. We have to regroup here quickly and head out to Atlanta tomorrow.”
On the team’s second half performance:
“We were definitely flat. We almost started lulling ourselves to sleep. The passes were taking too long to go from A to B. The things that we did well in the first half were looking and playing forward, picking up second balls and bringing the fans and that energy into the game. The game got away from us because we had a lot of the ball and we were passing it sideways a lot instead of being on the front foot, being aggressive and trying to score that second goal.”
On what was missing in the last half hour:
“I don’t think we won enough second balls and really some tired decisions. They kept threatening over our backline and setting up camp right around midfield quite a bit. For us, it has to be energy, it has to be attitude and mentality.”
On Dillon Serna’s performance:
“Serna had a very good performance. I think him and [Joshua] Gatt were both bright spots in a team that didn’t get forward a lot. Serna has been waiting on an opportunity, working hard and tonight he showed his level on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he brought players into the game, put in a couple good balls, took some good shots, and obviously scored a fantastic goal. It’s good to have players step up, especially in the absence of [Shkëlzen] Gashi and quite a few other players that are going to be questionable moving forward.”
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER DILLON SERNA
On his first goal of the season:
“Josh [Gatt] was causing a lot of problems in the first half on the left side and I told him that once he beat one or two guys, the back post was wide open. He was able to find me on one and I put it away.”
On the Galaxy winning it in the second half:
“I think we had confidence going into halftime. We fought back and got the goal. They had a bit more possession going into the second half and once they got the second goal, we couldn’t really recover. We were then trying to push too much and they ended up getting the third.”
On quick turnaround to face Atlanta at the weekend:
“We can’t let this happen again. We’ll have a fire under us and we’ll go to Atlanta looking to bounce back and get three points.”
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER JOSHUA GATT
On his success on the wing and assist:
“It was just about being in the right place at the right time and having the sense to just go forward. I saw my space, I attacked it and Dillon was in a great spot to finish that goal.”
On the difference between halves:
“Defensively we just shut down in the second half – no other way to put it. We gave away some bad goals that shouldn’t happen. We have to be better, learn from this and move on. We still have some games, we need to suck this one up tonight and let it go tomorrow.”
On looking ahead to Saturday against Atlanta:
“Every game is a game. Definitely looking at it as a way to get three points and we’re going to focus on that. It’s not about redemption, it’s just about being better and being a better team.”
