LA Galaxy II Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 0, Seattle Sounders FC 0
Saturday, July 29, 2017
2017 MLS Regular Season
StubHub Center – Los Angeles, Calif.
LA GALAXY HEAD SIGI SCHMID
On his first game as head coach:
“Obviously Seattle has won like four in a row. The team, when you look at the goals allowed over the last four or five games for the team, the only way we were going to stand a chance of being able to win the game was to make sure we stop that. I thought we did a good job defending. The game got open in the second half but on the same token we had a couple of good chances. Our offense will get better, but I was happy with the effort and the fight that everyone put in for each other.”
On the team:
“Right now we are still in the process of learning each other so they are getting to know me and I am getting to know them so with every game you learn a little bit more so they understand a little of what I want in terms of defense and in terms of commitment. It not so much defense as it is commitment to help each other out in that part of the field. I think our ball movement needs to get quicker and that will help our offense. I think we possess the ball and sometimes we connect passes, I don't know what our passing accuracy was but it was decent. But it has to move quicker because we have players in [Giovani] Dos Santos], [Romain] Alessandrini, [Emmanuel] Boatang and even [Gyasi] Zardes who can take people on and beat people, but the difference of the a half-second and getting the ball to them and not to them is the difference of them being able to beat people or not, so that is the part I like.”
On Van Damme getting a red card:
Obviously it's disappointing that [Jelle] Van Damme was in that situation, but we have to move forward and that means somebody else has to come in there and play and they have to do a job. I'll talk to him and we'll see. There is nobody in the locker room that is more disappointed about what happened today than him. He is a pro, he cares about the team. Obviously, I am getting to know all the guys. I've met with a few of them. I've had small talks with almost all of them, but I still need to sit down a little bit. He and I will sit down and sort it away. Last year he was a finalist for Defender of the Year and I think he can get to that same level.
On Pele van Anholt
“I thought he did alright considering his training time. I know Pierre,our fitness coach, wasn't sure he'd get much beyond 45 but he got a good 70 minutes in. When they brought [Jordan] Morris on the flank I thought well maybe now is a good time for him to come in. [Bradley] Diallo has pace as well to deal with it but I thought his defending was good, his decision making was good. I thought he did a good job with his passes, there are certain things we'll tweak. I thought we gave a really good effort. I really didn't know him. I watched him a little bit once I was named coach so I knew what he looked liked and how he played a little bit and talked to some people that I knew that had seen him play but I thought he did well.”
On the team's struggle to win at home:
“Obviously you can contribute today's game and you can add it to the struggle list if you want to, but for me when I look at the last few results the team has had at home I consider this a little more of a success. Even though it is one point and one point at a time is not going to get us to where we want to go, but it is certainly something we can build upon. The struggles at home for this team are always a little bit of bad luck. But it is also the defending at home. It just hasn't been as focused as it needs to be and the team got caught in times of transition. When you are at home you sometimes are more attacking minded and then when you get caught on transition your numbers are down and the other team gets at you and that results in good things. A couple of times tonight Seattle got at us in transition as well and that is something we still need to work on.”
On the offense struggling to score goals:
“We just have to continue to have confidence, continue to shoot. If you give Romain two-three shots from where he hit a couple of those he's going to put one in the back of the net. He scored an unbelievable one in training on Friday. Sometimes you are not going to get time in the box to control the ball and let it settle and bang it into the back of the net. You just have to take the risk. It either goes in the back of the net or it doesn't. You have to hit the thing first time so we have to be willing to do that and we'll work with [João] Pedro with his long range shooting because he might have had as many shots as anybody but he's a good kid, he'll get better.”
On Jermaine Jones:
“I thought Jermaine Jones was really good tonight. I asked Jermaine to play a more defensive role, to sit and stay connected with the two central defenders and he was very disciplined and he did that job. For our team that is where he helps us the most and it allowed [João] Pedro to move a little bit. There were a couple of times where Jermaine could go. As their cohesion develops or as we continue to develop how I want us to play there will be more moments for him to get involved as well offensively but what I wanted from him today he did everything I asked of him and I thought he gave a great effort. He even went back to play center back for me at the end. He is a guy that is coming off injury, he hasn't played 90 minutes since he has been off injury, it was a tough game today but it shows what kind of warrior he is being able to play those 90.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER ASHLEY COLE
On how the team responded to the managerial change:
“I think whenever you change a manager the next game you either win or you play well so that’s how things happened today. But we’ve got a long way to go. It was fine for the players, but so far so good.”
On how much Sigi was able to change the match from a tactical or motivational standpoint:
“I think it’s everything. I think he comes in and sees how many goals we’ve conceded and says he needs to shore up the defense and the team as well. Of course we didn’t concede today, but we have to keep doing this now. We’ve worked hard in the fews days he’s been here. Next week we have to do the same and win. We need points.”
On if the managerial change takes some pressure off the squad:
“I think me personally, and I hope the other players did it, but we spent a long time looking in the mirror because a guy’s just lost his job. And at the end of the day, we’re the ones on the pitch so we let him down and I just hope we don’t let this manager down.”
On how the team builds off this performance:
“We probably produced our best performance of the day so we have to kick on now. We have to let him get his points across about how he wants to play and his method and we’ve got a full week now to work on that.”
On if there’s a newfound momentum within the team:
“I hope so. If you look at the starting lineup, we have a lot of players back. That’s a big factor. And of course we’ve played together from preseason with the guys that are missing. The other guys have done the job but it was difficult for them at times, so now everyone is healthy and hopefully in the back end of this season we can push on and get where we should be.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD GYASI ZARDES
On how the team felt on the field tonight:
“It felt like we were very alive. We had numerous opportunities. We had a game plan and we stuck to it. Just being back with this group it feels good after playing with the national team level. It felt like I gelled with my teammates pretty well. The link of play was good so I’m just going to keep working.”
On how he feels coming back from the national team:
“I do feel more confident. I feel more aggressive whenever I get the ball. I want to go forward. My first thought is to go forward. Just being back with the team I feel great and I look forward to playing with more games and playing with more intensity.”
On if there is a learning curve still happening with some players on the team:
“There was a lot of injuries at the beginning of the year, but now a lot of guys are getting healthy so we are looking forward to getting more chemistry and playing with each other, understanding each other and playing within our roles. I think moving forward we’re going to be good.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER PELE VAN ANHOLT
On his performance and durability for this match:
“It has been a long time since I’ve played for a club, but I’m happy to make my debut for the Galaxy. But now I’m a little bit tired. I could have been better but for my first time it was OK.”
On if he was nervous:
“No, maybe a little bit before the game but when the game is starting it’s over. I feel comfortable with the people.”
On if the MLS is different from what he’s used to:
“The people are stronger and play more physical. They like to play soccer, and not just the long ball that’s what I like so it is a little bit similar.”
On his optimism:
“I think this is a good start with the new coach, a draw against a good team. I think they’re one of the best teams in our competition, hopefully now we can win a lot of games.”
On having to wait to play:
“When I arrived I wasn’t fit enough to play, so for me it was not a problem to stay on the bench. But after two or three weeks of course I want to play.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER JERMAINE JONES
On his performance and Sigi Schmid’s pre-game comments:
“He told me that he would love to see me more set in and play the six, and I’m comfortable with that. I have no problem with it. I played most of my career at that position. Today was more important to help the center backs and to stay zero and not give up a goal. I think that was more of my goal today.”
On the signing of Jonathan Dos Santos:
“I like it when new players come, it adds pressure to everyone who’s there already. I’ve played most of my career with pressure and that’s a normal situation for me. A club like the LA Galaxy wants to win titles so they’ll make a change when they have to.”
On if the atmosphere has changed with the change of coaches:
“Of course you can feel that Sigi brings in that experience of someone who’s won championships. What we’ve done already in training, he stops and corrects what he doesn’t like. I think today you can see that we played compact and it’s a small piece that we can look up to that will make us work harder.”
SEATTLE SOUNDERS HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER
On the result of the match:
“A point on the road is OK.”
On his team’s performance:
“They all put it in tonight. You saw them at the end of the game. The game got open at the end of the second half, midway through the second half. But our guys were better. Our guys were better than theirs. We were getting the cleaner chances. They had a couple of set pieces. [Romain] Alessandrini is a world class player, but I felt we had control of the game, and we just couldn’t score.”
On the impact Sigi Schmid’s appointment to LA Galaxy had on his preparation for the game:
“My preparation is always I shake the coaches hand before the game, shake it afterwards, and I prepare my team the way I feel it’s important. It didn’t change anything.”
On the intensity of the game:
“Those plays will be reviewed, because it could’ve been a red card on [Jermaine] Jones in the first-half. They’re targeting our players again. It was simple, we’ve called to the league, we’ve tried to make it clear. And we’ll keep doing it. We’ll keep pounding them, until we can get into soccer games.”
On his team’s first half performance:
“First half was OK. You have to take a soccer game for what it is. They’re were coming out with a lot of energy. They had some good moments themselves in the first half. We had to withstand that. We did and then in the second I thought we were in control for large portions of the game.”
On his players responding to Sigi Schmid’s presence:
“They didn’t think about the opposing coach. They were focused on their own games, that’s how they should be. They’re pros.”
On the return of Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris from the U.S. Men’s National Team:
“Good, good. We had the luxury of incorporating Jordan a little later in the game.”
On Stefan Frei’s performance:
“Stefan [Frei] has made a habit of coming up with big saves to keep us in games. That’s normal course of business for him.”
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER CRISTIAN ROLDAN
On the game:
“In a way it’s a result, it’s a tough place to play down in LA. Regardless of the team, regardless of who’s playing, coaching change… but in a way it’s a result. I feel like we could have been sharper in the final third and scored that one chance.”
On scoring many goals this season and what was missing tonight:
“For us, it was that final shot, that final pass, we were three fourths of the way there. For me, that one play that I had, I just had to kick it on target. For Will [Bruin] as well. Try to make a play and put it on target, that’s the biggest thing. Our crossing ability wasn’t there entirely tonight.”
On the game opening up at the 70th minute and whether that should have been the opportunity to score:
“To be honest, I think that type of style may have favored LA. For us, we have maybe one guy that’s a counter attacking player and that’s Jordan [Morris]. I think he was on at that point, I’m not really sure but I think it suited him a little bit more.”
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC NICOLAS LODEIRO
[Translated from Spanish]
On the game:
“It was an even game. It was a nice game. We needed to be more calm to score a goal and finish off the game. It’s a bittersweet taste because we were a man up and had a lot of time but I feel we deserved the win.”
On whether he has adapted to MLS:
“Yes, with luck I’ve been able to adapt, you learn something new every day. The league is growing and with luck I’ve been able to adapt very quickly.”
On how he has maintained his level of play throughout his career:
“Yes my style and characteristics have always been to have the ball, find spaces, to be near the ball, to create spaces for my teammates and to do the same thing I did with Boca [Juniors] and try to do it here. At times I do it well and at other times I don’t. But like I’ve said, I’m always trying to learn.”
On whether Seattle should be higher on the standings given the players they have:
“Yes. We have a good team and we deserve to be higher on the table but that says that it’s a very even league and all the teams are getting better and they play us different because they know we have a good team. It’s going to be difficult until the end and regardless of having great players we must win.”
SEATTLE SOUNDERS GOALKEEPER STEFAN FREI
On the result:
“I think it’s a good result. It’s a pretty fair result, but we’re a little disappointed, and that’s a good thing, because I think we had an opportunity to steal even more points down here. But it’s OK. We held strong in the back. They obviously wanted to set off this Sigi [Schmid] time on the right note, and that was really important for them, and they played a decent game. We’ll take that point home, and keep the confidence along with it.”
On defending against Romain Alessadrini:
“He’s a very crafty player. We know his tendencies, and we know how lethal he can be. Cutting in on his left and then going for goal. But, he’s also proven that he’s not afraid to go outside and cross with his right foot, and he’s more than capable of doing that. He’s definitely a weapon they have, and a very, very dangerous player. I’d argue one of the better players in the league. We contained him fairly well. So that was good.”
On wanting to win on the road:
“That’s a sign of a good team. If beforehand you say you’ve come down to LA twice and you get four points out of it, that’s great. I think at this point in our season and the way our confidence is growing, we are starting to click, we wanted a little bit more. It’s good to keep the train rolling, but it’s also good to want to be a bit more and be hungry, and get a little more out of this game. It’s good overall, because our attitude is right, but also we kept a clean sheet, and got a point out of it. “
On Chad Marshall and Roman Torres’ performance:
“Very good. I think Sigi [Schmid] knew that earlier in the season we were vulnerable to counters at times, or turnovers in our possessions in counters. So they tried to capitalize on that, but we snuffed out their counter quite well throughout the night. All credit to all the guys actually, for being aware of that. What used to be a weakness of ours is kind of disappearing. So that’s a good thing.”
