LA Galaxy Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 1, Orlando City SC 2
Saturday, April 15, 2017
2017 MLS Regular Season
Orlando City Stadium – Orlando, Fla.
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
On results of the game
“Disappointing because of how hard we fought to get the equalizer. It’s hard to get points on the road, travel all the way across the country. You go down early and you keep pushing, keep fighting. We had chance after chance and we just felt it was common and then it came and it was disappointing that we didn’t close it off properly.”
On LA conceding the first goal
“Every game is different. The crowd had a lot of energy to start, difficult environment to play, lots of travel, and they were better to start the game. We just kept grinding and grinding and it showed our fortitude and our will within. We positioned ourselves to get at least a point and then you just have to defend and defend well. Sometimes you get a second opportunity but that is not what you need to be focused on. You have to defend and get out of there with a point and get home.”
On improving set piece defending
“Obviously, but for me it’s more than that. You guys are all going to point fingers, that’s what you guys do but for me it’s not about pointing fingers it’s about you win together, you lose together, and you tie together. We should not have been in a situation where we gave up a corner kick. That’s something we have to tidy up and continue to get better.”
On how this week’s performance will affect match against Seattle
“You have to build, learn and get better. That is what our group does. It’s a long season. You’re going to have ups, downs and issues that you deal with but it’s how you respond to them, how you learn from them and how you grow as a group. We’ll learn from this and we’ll grow from this.”
On team’s performance after Orlando scored
“We kept fighting and if you looked at our game plan I thought we actually did well other than conceding. We moved the ball side to side well and we created chances wide. I don’t think we made enough runs in behind in the first half, we adjusted to make more in the second and I thought we were very dangerous in the second half. It’s really unfortunate we didn’t make a point.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER JERMAINE JONES
On Orlando City Stadium
“I think the atmosphere was good and the stadium in general I think was good with the fans.”
On the result
“To be honest, I think we have a lot of chances, but we don’t score. They score a goal where it bounced out and they hit the second ball in. I general, I think we played a better game.”
On team’s performance
“The important thing is don’t listen to what the people outside are talking. Just keep working hard. You know how the season can go. You saw Seattle last season. They hadn’t played a whole good season, but at the end they won the MLS.”
On giving up early goals
“It’s tough, it’s not easy. At one point, we have to talk about it and see what we can do better. I think it’s a process where we have to learn from and those mistakes cannot happen every game.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER JELLE VAN DAMME
On LA Galaxy's goal
“It was a good delivery. It was in front of Romain [Alessandrini], so he scored the goal.”
On how to improve the LA Galaxy defense
“I don’t know, I think we did pretty well. We started sloppy, the defense was better at the end of the first half. Then in the second half, I think we got forward and ahead of them. We scored to make it 1-1. With ten minutes to go we wanted to close the game, it was an away game and we would of liked to have a point. We go with nothing now, and that’s reality. It’s a shame. They got a corner with two minutes to go, and they were really dangerous.”
On LA Galaxy starting games slow
“It is personal, you have to be ready for it, you have to be prepared. We wanted to start strong.”
On why the LA Galaxy started this game poorly
“I don’t know, that is a personal question as well. We have to look at ourselves.”
On Orlando City Stadium
“It is a nice stadium, I love playing here. It is a nice crowd as well. It is a shame we could not get points out of the match. It is a nice club.”
On what he said to Bendik at end of game
“No, I was just talking to the referee. The ref said I was elbowing. However, I have never given an elbow in my whole career. I don’t give elbows, at least not on purpose. You can say whatever to me, I don’t care. Then once the game is over, it’s done.”
On potential positive takeaways from game
“Yes, we did very well on the goal. We dominated the second half. If we could get away with a point, we would of had something to build on. Now, it’s a shame we leave with nothing. We have a new week and three home games coming up.”
ORLANDO CITY HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
Opening Statement
“Obviously I feel as though maybe I should tape record this and next home game I’ll push play for you because for me it’s a lot of the same stuff: really, really good, lot of positive things and then some negative stuff that we need continue to improve on. I think we’re still a team that’s still figuring out how to manage a match. We need to do better with that. For me a lot of that comes with just time together, collective understanding, a little bit more communication, a little bit more urgency when we’re starting to give away chances to recognize we’re in a bad moment and we need to do something to fix it.”
On Cyle Larin
“This is a striker’s mentality. You see it so often that strikers can have - and when I say this I don’t mean that he did because I don’t know that I would agree necessarily that he struggled the whole game -- but strikers can have a game where they don’t touch the ball and they have a nightmare for 89 minutes and then one play that they score their goal, they walk out the hero and that’s what they have to do. They have to continue to believe, continue to stay focused and continue to take their attempts.”
On Carlos Rivas still searching for first goal
“I don’t know. I’m sure that he is a little bit [frustrated], but I would ask a little bit of the question of ‘is he in front of the goal for the easier chances?’ It seems like his chances now are from shots from distance. He’s playing a lot of excellent passes for the players around him so his role on the team is very vital, he’s been a top performer from my point of view. He doesn’t have a goal, I would love him to have one, I’m sure he would love to have one as well. But if he continues to work hard and make all those other plays for us, we’ll be just fine.”
On Will Johnson and Antonio Nocerino
“I thought it was a really strong performance by everybody in the match. Those two, I wouldn’t necessarily want to single them out. I think all the guys on the team put forth a tremendous amount of effort. Really pleased to see Will take that goal so well, he also assisted to the second goal. As I said, it’s nice to see people that work so hard have some statistical success. Nocerino was a player that only as of about Thursday, or actually yesterday did we make a decision that he would be in the lineup. And he’s another vocal leader type guy in the middle of the park. It’s important to have him out there. I think he had a good performance, not so sure that it was one of his best but he was there when we needed him to be, for sure.”
On Will Johnson
“Yeah. You could see how quickly he wants to close things down and how much effort he’s willing to give, the capacity for the running is top, top level. And just a real sense of urgency when we’re under some stress. Those are the reasons why you bring a Will Johnson in and I think his attitude and his work rate are infectious.”
On having players that have played for him before
“I’m not so sure whether it’s a question of played for me before or not. I think it’s more just a question of their character and their attitude, leadership ability, never-say-die attitude and a really competitive streak in them. Obviously when you’ve worked with people before you’ve got a lot better handle on that than you do with players you haven’t. Those are some of the things that are very difficult to ascertain or to judge when you’re scouting to bring players in.”
On the effect of the stadium
“I think, for me, there are tactical moments and things that you want to have happen to your team as you go through a season. One of them is to allow a goal late and see what the reaction is like, so I’m really, really pleased because if you went back and looked at it immediately after we were scored on we had a goal chance against them. That shows to me a really positive reaction and a belief within the team.”
On team’s identity
“I don’t know if I want to be too focused on results, saying that the winning is the identity, because it’s not. I think the winning comes from what we want our identity to be, which is a willingness to give anything and everything for our fans in this building to make sure that we win games. The winning will come because of that. And so I wouldn’t say that the winning is part of the identity for me. The identity is the willingness to do whatever it takes.”
On the level of aggression from the start
“No, our idea is to always be aggressive at home in the opening stages of the match. We’re always looking to dictate the terms in our building -- this is our home. I thought we did a nice job of it today, created several goalscoring chances, and I think it’s critical to score a goal. Often times you can have those goalscoring chances and all that momentum, if you don’t actually take your chance then you put yourself in a really precarious position because you’ve expended a lot of energy to get there. And so happy to see another goal for us tonight.”
On Joe Bendik
“Massive. Absolutely massive. It’s great that every single week we’re sitting here saying, ‘Wow, can you believe that? That save that he made and this save that he made and the fact that he’s everywhere and off his line quickly,’ and all that stuff is great, but I’m still waiting for the day that we don’t have to say any of that and we can say we won the game handedly. Really, really happy for Joe but I’d like to make his job a little easier.”
On Giles Barnes
“Another guy that I think has really bought into what we’re trying to do here. Smile on his face every day, brings a fantastic attitude to the group and a willingness to work. We saw that tonight. Really putting in an effort for us defensively and when he gets on the ball it’s important that he does what he does, which is run the ball out of space occasionally because we don’t have a lot of guys that can do that. When he runs the ball vertically towards defenders they have to make choices.”
ORLANDO CITY FORWARD CARLOS RIVAS
On fourth consecutive home win
“It is extremely important for us as well as the Club. Now we have to keep focusing on giving our best effort as we have on every game.”
On crowd chanting his name
“It makes me extremely happy because they used to do the same thing in Colombia, but never with the same excitement as they do here. I feel that the fans really appreciate and support me and that is really important.”
On teammates’ opinion of his performance
“They tell me I have to play well on every game. The same effort I put into training I do so at the games so the goal will come when we least expect it.”
On being undefeated at home
“We feel really good because you always have to respect your home. You always have to win, it doesn’t matter if you played well or not.”
On team’s improvement since last season
“It’s a completely different team. We have a lot more attitude, ambition to qualify and that’s really important.”
ORLANDO CITY MIDFIELDER WILL JOHNSON
On what allows him to have success on a team like the LA Galaxy
"We put a lot of value into our set pieces -- understand that games are won and lost -- both goals come off of set pieces, so that's a big focus for us. We talked about it in preseason -- being much better on set pieces than the team was last year. Getting in good spots you need to be good with the ball and make sure that you get good opportunities to get set pieces, and then when you get them try to take advantage."
On importance of results at home
"It's huge. In this league, it's no secret that it's pretty difficult to win on the road. Our fans here are fantastic. I think that was the loudest they've been all season when Cyle [Larin] scored that goal in the last four minutes of stoppage time. It was incredible. That's the type of atmosphere that gives you that extra boost when you feel like you have nothing left. To be able to give a little bit more to see the result out -- thank you to the fans, that was awesome, and we've got to keep it going."
On playing with a sense of urgency
"Yeah, I love walking out and leading a group of guys into an arena like that -- it's fun. I've had the privilege of doing quite a number of times now, and it brings out the best in me. I want the guys to see me willing to put in a shift -- work hard, and try to make a ton of plays and hopefully, that rubs off on the other guys. My experience is that usually, it does. Guys see me trying to make plays, giving a little bit extra. And hopefully, they dig deep and give a little bit extra too. When everybody does that it creates a pretty powerful team chemistry and gets us results."
On what he saw on his goal
"When you take the set piece and the ball gets knocked out, a lot of times, the guy who takes the piece isn't accounted for. So I just tried to time my run, stay on side and once it sat up for me on my first touch, I knew that I could try to get it over him, to the back post. I'm thrilled to just score my first goal for Orlando in general and then obviously with the quality of the strike -- kind of the cherry on top for me."
On putting other teams on notice
"Most teams do pretty good scouting jobs, teams will probably start to mark us. Lucky for us, we've been able to catch some teams early and that's resulted in points. So we'll have to get a little more creative, and make sure we keep the opposing teams on their toes."
On why Jason Kreis brought him into team
"I think you know what you're going to get every week. Some guys in this league, they show up one week and then the next week they don't -- they play better at home than on the road. For me, I'm Will Johnson. You get the same guy 34 weeks straight. I give it to you straight. I give you everything I've got. I'm not always the best player on the field, but every now and again I have a game like today. And you always get a lot of quality in terms of leadership, aggressiveness, and holding everybody accountable to a standard that represents this stadium, and represents this Club the right way."
On what he told his teammates about playing for Jason Kreis
"He's a perfectionist. He's going to demand the most from you, and he's going to get the most out if you listen to him and buy into him we're all going to be in a good place."
On how important is a good start like this to the rest of the season
"A good start is great. It's a bit false in terms of being top of the table because we haven't played many road games yet, so let's sort out our road form. The performance in Columbus wasn't great, so for us to be a good team and stay top of the table we've got to get points on the road as well."
On assessing Scott Sutter's impact to the team
"He's a good player -- a lot of experience. It's pretty funny, Chris Wingert and I did the same thing in Salt Lake. We played on the same side, and Scott's kind of like Chris a little bit. He gets up and down -- serves a nice ball, and so I like playing with guys like that. We get along very well, and we saw each other pretty well on that goal. He's done pretty well for the club. I'm happy with him -- happy with the guys."
On FOX broadcast saying we might be seeing the start of something
"Maybe so. There's no trophies in April, or May, or June or whatever. We're setting ourselves up to do something special, and I think that's a good way to put it. This has the potential to be the start of something pretty cool here. But there is a heck of a long way to go. We know that -- you guys know that -- everybody around the league knows that. It's early."
ORLANDO CITY FORWARD CYLE LARIN
On crowd’s importance after the equalizer
“Very important. They were there from the first minute of the game until the last. I think after the other team scored they kept going and we calmed down and started playing again. I think LA is a great team and they had their spot where they started playing and got comfortable. And then we got our own chance in the 90th minute and we finished it.”
On the team’s feeling after LA Galaxy goal
“It’s hard knowing that we had been working the whole game. That was the one chance we gave up to them. It was hard, we just got back together and started playing again, and get this last goal so we could win it.”
On if this game would have been a draw or loss last season
“I don’t know. But I think this year we are a lot different. We work for each other and we don’t give up. We don’t give up on any plays ever in the game. And we keep fighting even if we are losing or the game is tied we don’t stop. I think it is the mentality of the team that is a lot different. We always want to win and have a winning mentality. And I think when you have that and you win a couple games the contest grows. I know we have to get better with the ball and we will keep working on that in practice. The more we work the more we get better, we have a lot to do”
On finger wag after the goal
“We had been working the whole game and I was just waiting on the chance for the ball to come to me. And it was a tough game. Van Damme played very well against me, and he is a great defender. He was cutting out a lot of passes when Carlos would try to get me the ball. I was just happy I scored.”
On being a difficult but rewarding game
“I just kept focus. I knew I was going to get my chance. I told [assistant coach Bobby Murphy] I was going to score. And I scored, and it was just a happy feeling.”
On placement of ball on game-winning goal
“I think I saw the goal, and I held Jones with my left arm. And I saw the ball kept coming to me, and I made sure I got my foot to it before Jones did. And the whole game he was defending me well in the box. And I got there before him when the ball came to me.”
On his offseason conditioning helping him play well at end of game
“Yes. [Jermaine] Jones is a strong player, and I was able to hold him off. Then the ball came to me and I finished it.”
On what Carlos Rivas needs to do to score
“I think [Carlos Rivas] played very well, and he’s been working very hard. He causes defenders problems and he opens up space for me. I think he will get a goal if he keeps working. I train with him. We’ll work on it.”
On the strong start to season
“I think the offseason really helped. The team was together, we grew together, we got to know each other on and off the field. Now it is paying off. We will get better throughout the year. We will just keep working.
On Will Johnson’s impact
“He works very hard, he doesn’t stop. We need a player like that. I’m happy he is here. I’m happy he scored as well. He’s been working very hard.”
On setting MLS record for most goals by a player under the age of 22
“It motivates me to keep working hard to score more goals and help my team. The most important thing this year is helping my team by working hard and scoring goals. The most important thing is putting the team first, and if I can do that I think I will always score.”
