LA Galaxy Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 3, Houston Dynamo 3
Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017 – 5:30 p.m. PT
2017 MLS Regular Season
BBVA Compass Stadium – Houston, Texas
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH SIGI SCHMID
On the team giving up a 3-1 lead:
“We definitely tired at the end of the game, with the heat and this is our fourth game in ten days. We don’t have a lot of depth, so we have to play a lot of the same players, so it was a bit much on them and we started making some errors. It was tough at the end, like I said we made some mental mistakes, gave the ball away when we shouldn’t have, due to fatigue.”
On forward Bradford Jamieson IV:
“He’s doing alright, getting better and better. We’re throwing him in right now. Probably at times it’s a little difficult for him, but he’s a player that’s got potential. I’m happy for him that he got a goal today; even on their own goal he made the run across to the near post so he caused the havoc in there, and I’m happy with how he did.”
On Gyasi Zardes playing right back:
“I thought he was solid. Obviously, we needed him to play right back, we didn’t have a lot of options there, and he came up and he played like a champ. I appreciate what he’s done and the sacrifice he’s made for the team.”
On their upcoming game against Real Salt Lake:
“It’s going to be a difficult game for us, because obviously they didn’t play midweek so they’re going to go into the game rested with pace up front. We have a couple of guys who came off the bench, so we have to see how guys recover from tonight and we’ll see what we can put on the field on Saturday.”
On what he liked from the performance:
“I thought we started off well and got those two goals early, and we did a much better job of pressing the other team and making it difficult for them to play. Besides the goals, we had some good opportunities. We need to shoot sometimes a little bit more, and still that final movement has to get better. Like I said, with a different cast of characters it’s hard, but certainly the coordination was better. Then as fatigue set in we sat back a little more, and that handed the game to them.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER JONATHAN DOS SANTOS
On his overall thoughts after the game:
“It was a tough game. We almost had the game in our hands, but we let it go due to some minor mistakes. In the end, we make a mistake, and it leads to the second goal and on the third one we weren't focused. The team played a great game. We have to dust ourselves off, even though we are in a difficult situation and you might get frustrated. We have to move forward because that’s what we need to do.”
On being able to play in Houston:
“It’s a city with many Mexicans. My uncle, Beto dos Santos, played here. It was pleasure and honor to come and play in this beautiful and great city. We wanted to get the win, but you can’t have it all in this life.”
LA Galaxy MIDFIELDER JONTHAN DOS SANTOS (in Spanish)
Sobre que opina del partido de hoy:
“Fue un partido muy disputado. Ya teníamos el partido casi en las manos y por pequeños detalles estos partidos se te van de las manos. Al final tuvimos un error en el segundo gol y en el tercero un despiste. El equipo en general hizo un buen partido. Hay que levantar la cabeza. Es muy difícil salir de esta situación, te sientes frustrado. Ha seguir adelante que es lo que tenemos que hacer”.
Sobre el poder haber jugado en Houston:
“Es una ciudad donde hay muchísimos mexicano. Aquí jugo mi tío Beto dos Santos. Es un placer, un honor el poder venir a jugar aquí en esta bonita y gran ciudad. Queríamos obtener la victoria, pero al final no se puede tener todo en esta vida”.
LA GALAXY FORWARD BRADFORD JAMIESON IV
On how the match finished:
“I think it’s no excuse really. I’m still proud of the guys for the effort that we put in and the changes we’ve been trying to make, so obviously proud of the team for working hard and we came out here and showed some good things for a few stretches of the game. Obviously, we wish that we closed the match out a little stronger, but like any other match we’re going to try to improve on it and work on 95 minutes at 110 percent, solid attacking and defending.”
On head coach Sigi Schmid’s trust in him:
“I’m obviously really happy with that, it’s really encouraging too, to have a coach and coaching staff that are putting a lot of time into me, into all the players really. The coaches have come in and really tried to give time to each player, pick out the good things and the things we need to work on. Like I said, every day we’re trying to make strides to perfection. Basically, it’s just been getting minutes and getting more familiar with guys in the high tempo and in those moments where you have no time to think. We have stretches where it looks super fluid, it’s like water, and everyone switches and everyone adjusts. That, and a few of our goals looked like they came straight off the training pitch.”
On what they want to accomplish the rest of the season:
“I think as a team, closing out matches, getting points in games, and keeping our heads up from minute one to minute 95. I think that’s a big thing for finishing this season and starting next season, the unity for our team. We have a lot of great guys, so as a team I just want us to solidify our trust in each other. We have it, we have it in us, so it’s just making it a split-second thought in our heads. And personally, just to get numbers on the board and increase my confidence on and off the pitch.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO HEAD COACH WILMER CABRERA
On overall thoughts of game:
“As soon as I noticed that the referee was Fotis Bazakos, I knew. I told the players, ‘Be careful. We have a problem. We have a big problem.’ And we had a lot of problems. We made a lot of mistakes as players; as a team, we made a lot of mistakes. We gave up too many goals. But this referee today was really not at the level of a game like this. The first situation, it’s unbelievable. The goalkeeper goes out of the box with the ball in his hand and he said to the players that he misunderstood the call. That’s the first time in my life that I noticed that when the player made a mistake, we got punished – the other team got punished. He walked out of the box with the ball. He called that a dropped ball. We got a PK, but number 21, and he [did not get]the yellow card. If you tell me that is not a yellow card for that foul, I haven't played soccer in my life and I’ve been in soccer 30 years. He showed the yellow card to the goalkeeper for wasting time, and after he showed the yellow card he had to blow his whistle five times to push the goalkeeper to move on.
“We didn’t play well. We made too many mistakes defensively. But we lost against Sporting Kansas City in the U.S. Open Cup because not only did he not call a PK, but he didn’t show a yellow card to a player from Sporting Kansas City. Who won the U.S. Open Cup? Sporting Kansas City. And they did well, but who was the referee? Fotis Bazakos. Now we need to continue. We need to continue pushing. He didn’t score. But he was really bad. Today, we gave up too many options. We even scored on ourselves. Because we didn’t start well in the first half. We didn’t start well in the second half. But he cannot make those mistakes. Because that’s why we have VAR. And he cannot say that the goalkeeper misunderstood. Are you kidding me? This is not even development academy. This is professional. Our lives, our profession is on the table. For a referee to bring that type of performance, that’s not right. That’s not good. And every time he comes over here with us we know it’s going to be a big problem.
“About the game, technically, they were good the first 10 or 15 minutes. We knew that. We knew to be careful, they were going to come with everything. We need to be aggressive. We need to be focused. We didn’t do it. And that’s my responsibility, but I spoke with the players because we knew it. And that’s not the way you play in a final. You play for your life. You play for a spot in the playoffs. Even though we reacted well. Then starting the second half the same thing. The same issue. (Defender) A.J. (DeLaGarza) made a wrong pass to the middle, a square pass, and they were good. They are very good players, talented players. For tonight, we showed character. We showed personality and we showed heart. And that is something that we are going to grasp and we are going to take for the next game and for the games remaining. But definitely we need to work more defensively because we cannot be bad. Those goals, especially at home, this is the only one that we came back and we tied and we could have won. But that won’t happen again so we need to be sure that for the next game we focus on what we need to focus. We need to be better defensively and we cannot give up those easy, silly goals.”
On what specifically what he warned the players about in regards to the referees:
“I told the players that with the referee, he is not at the level. So I said, ‘Be careful because he makes too many mistakes technically. So don’t trust.’ Let’s be sure that we don’t make mistakes and we don’t rely on his decisions because it’s going to be a problem.’”
On his plan going into the second half:
“The plan was to keep the team to one. I said we need to be patient. We needed to be patient because we are going to score some goals. We were creating chances. And we are not a team that we possess the ball and pass fifty times, fifty passes. We don’t have those type of players. But we are a team that we fight. We have the speed. We have players going one v. one, and with that we knew that we would have options and possibilities to score goals. Sadly, we gave up another goal to start the second half right away. So 3-1 was a tough moment. We dealt with it within 20 minutes. We tried to come back and it was important to put some fresh legs: (forward) Vicente (Sánchez), (forward) Mauro (Manotas). It was important. (Midfielder) Alex came in also in the first half helping us because we lost (midfielder) Juan David (Cabezas) and it was very good. So I have to say that the players, despite all the mistakes that we made, they all put a lot of effort, double effort, which is what you don’t want. You don’t want to put double effort. I didn’t want (defender) A.J. (DeLaGarza) to put double effort going forward and getting back marking and going forward. But he had to do it and he did it. He did it very well. The same thing with Beas (defender DaMarcus Beasley), even Leo (defender Leonardo) was up front pushing. So we showed that character, desire, passion and energy. But today we lacked good shape defensively especially to contain them. That’s something that we need to fix for this next game.”
On if he is disappointed with the way the offense performed tonight:
“I have to be honest with you. When you score three goals at home, you have to win. You cannot give up three goals. So right now, today, if I am honest we have to do better defensively. Because if you say okay we score three goals, in 90 minutes we score three goals. Could it have been more? Yes. But we scored three. And when you score three goals at home, you have to win. But today we gave up too much and defensively we weren’t at the level that we are supposed to play. They were good. They are a good team. Good players? Yes. But we cannot give up three goals.”
On if he plans to use the same formation into the playoffs:
“We haven’t qualified for the playoffs yet. I hope we can qualify. We’re pushing. Today we lost a great opportunity. We gave up too many points. We showed character to come back and we have to take that. But we are still not in the playoffs. We have to go fight. And we have now again on Saturday against a team (Minnesota United FC) that is playing very well lately and is they were watching on TV because they didn’t have to play. And we had to make double effort today. Physically and mentally, that’s a big effort and a lot of stress and a lot of passion. So, now we need to rest. We need to recover. We need to calm down because that’s a lot of adrenaline for the players. And we need to analyze what is the best line up and what players are ready to play on Saturday.”
On what he saw in forward Alberth Elis’ effort:
“Alberth is one of the best players in this league so far. He is 21 years old. And we got his speed, we got passion to play, we got his heart. He is good in the air. He is quick. He likes to go one v. one. He just needs to continue maturing, and if Alberth is on the field it’s because we are better. The team is better when Alberth Elis is on the field. So that’s the reason. And he proved himself right there that he brought two goals. He took the PK with personality. And that is important for him. He’s growing. He’s only 21 years old, so we need to be patient with him because he is going to make a lot of mistakes, yes. At this point, it’s fun to watch and I’m totally sure that any team in this league would love to have Alberth Elis on their roster.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO DIRECTOR TÉCNICO WILMER CABRERA
Sobre a que se debió la falta de concentración durante el primer tiempo:
“La responsabilidad recae en mí, tiene que recaer en mi porque yo soy el que los prepara y el que los manda al terreno de juego. El primero que tiene que analizar lo que está pasando soy yo. Yo tomo la responsabilidad. Durante la semana les mostramos a los jugadores lo fuerte que era LA Galaxy los primeros 10-15 minutos, le hablamos, les dijimos y les comentamos. Lamentablemente entramos dormidos, entramos con falta de agresividad, entramos con falta de hacer las cosas bien tácticamente y nos castigan. Vamos a revisarlo, tenemos que seguir hablándolo. Tenemos que estar seguros de que no puede volver a pasar. Estamos en una situación en donde nos quedan cuatro partidos por jugar, tres en casa y los playoffs están en la puerta.”
Sobre si siente perjudicado por el arbitraje:
“Naturalmente, el arbitraje no estuvo standard. El arbitraje hizo unas cosas que no pasan nunca. La jugada en el primer tiempo donde el arquero sale es una jugada en donde nunca había visto un árbitro decidiera de esa forma y que dijera que fue porque el jugador del otro equipo se confundió. ¿Cuándo uno hace un autogol y se confunde deben llamarlo para el otro lado? No entiendo. La realidad es que no entiendo, en 40 años que llevo en el fútbol nunca había visto un árbitro que explicara que el jugador del otro equipo se confundió y por eso no es mano y el balón es neutral. Las cosas tienen que mejorar. Tenemos que mejorar todos, empezando nosotros los técnicos. Yo, como técnico tengo que mejorar. Nuestros jugadores, el club, pero este arbitro hoy estuvo por debajo del nivel. Siempre que viene aquí a Houston, en la Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, en todos los partidos, nosotros tenemos problemas con este señor, Fotis Bazakos.”
Sobre que rescata de este partido:
“Hoy perdimos dos puntos porque hoy teníamos que haber salido a jugar, con mejor orden y disciplina defensiva. No podemos recibir tres goles en casa. Uno puede perder, 1-0, como paso contra Colorado porque es una situación normal. Que nos hagan tres goles porque estamos durmiendo, porque no reaccionamos, porque nosotros mismos no estamos haciendo el trabajo, es algo que no puede suceder y no podemos contar con ello. No podemos decir, ‘a nos salvamos y ganamos un punto’. No, hoy perdimos dos puntos.”
Sobre si Juan David Cabezas podría jugar el sábado:
“Hay que evaluarlo medicamente, todavía no sabemos. Tenemos que esperar como se va sintiendo.”
Sobre que le falta al equipo para poder acceder a los playoffs) “Ahora tenemos que sumar de a tres puntos. Cuando uno está en casa tiene que sumar de a tres puntos. Hoy teníamos que haber sumado tres puntos y no lo hicimos. Estamos perdiendo posibilidades, nos quedan tres partidos de local, muy difíciles. Si queremos estar en los playoffs tenemos que sumar de a tres puntos en casa. El sábado es imperativo que sumemos tres puntos contra un rival difícil. Contra un rival que ya vino acá y nos robó dos puntos, también. Tenemos que prepararnos mental y físicamente para un partido difícil, pero sabiendo que si queremos estar en los playoffs hay que ganar.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO DEFENDER LEONARDO
On the resilience of the Dynamo in rallying from 3-1 down:
“I think it was a good game. It’s a tough game, they have very good players – (Galaxy FW) Giovani (dos Santos) and (Galaxy MF) Jonathan (dos Santos), (Galaxy MF) Jermaine Jones. Gio played like a fake striker, he was always coming to bring the ball from the back. Both teams had their moments; both teams scored three goals. There’s no excuse – they had their mistakes, they had their miskicks. I think we have to fix those mistakes Thursday and Friday and be ready for Saturday because it’s an important game, too.”
On what head coach Wilmer Cabrera told the defense:
“The first 15 minutes, this can’t happen again. We have to fix this and play very well on Saturday, not give up goals to them.”
On how he felt about the team rallying back in the last 10 minutes:
“I’m very proud of my teammates. We’re always going to fight and we’re going to keep playing. We had a lot of opportunities to score. We can never give up; we have to work every day, and we’ll see on Saturday.”
HOUSTON DYANMO FORWARD ALBERTH ELIS
On being able to score two goals in this match:
“We are at home, and we know that there are few games to be played; we knew that we had to win, and we didn’t do it, but we manage to get the point. Now we have to prepare for Saturday.”
On why the team fell behind so quickly:
“We were not focused, and that made us go down so quickly.”
On being able to score on a penalty kick:
“We practice penalty kicks every day, and I scored one tonight. Thank God I was able to put it in.”
On the passion he showed after the second goal:
“When we were in New York, I had two chances, and I couldn’t finish them. Thank God I was able to finish them today, and those were important for us.”
On if there is any pressure for Saturday’s game:
“We don’t feel any pressure. We all want to make it into playoffs, and to do so we have to win on Saturday. We have to be focused during the 90 minutes and give our all in that game.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO MIDFIELDER TOMÁS MARTINEZ (translated from Spanish)
On having scored his first goal with the Houston Dynamo:
“Very happy, but I would have been happier if we could have gotten the result that would have gotten us closer to the playoffs. Now we have a final on Saturday, and we have to win it if we want to be in the playoffs.”
On the way the team came back to tie the game:
“We were able to come back very well. We started down 2-0; that was a tough hit for us because we were already down in the first 15 minutes when they scored twice on us. Afterwards, they did not come close to our goal throughout the first half, and we were able to score one. Then as soon as the second half starts they scored their third goal. When we made the substitutions, we were able to tie it up. It’s a point; that’s not what we were going after, but we were able to come back from a 3-1, and didn’t lose.”
On how to flip the page to focus on the game against Minnesota United FC:
“We have to come out and win, and we have to be able to finish. It is going to be a tough game in which we have to take those three points. We have to prepare during these next few days so that we can get the win.”
On the performance of forward Alberth Elis:
“He’s a beast. He is fast; he contributes a lot to us up front with his speed. I think he scored two important goals for the team, which we needed. Now we have to think about Saturday’s game.”
On how he feels playing in MLS:
“I think it is a difficult league in which I am adapting. Today I started contributing more with my passes. I had three scoring opportunities; I made one, one hit the crossbar, and one was close to the bar. I hope I can continue scoring or at least be able to assist my teammates.”
