LA GALAXY HEAD COACH SIGI SCHMID
On the substitution of Alessandrini…
“We opened up both flanks and started playing the 3-5-2. I was pleased with his performance and it helped our team.”
On the first half…
“I thought we struggled a bit. We gave a lot of possessions away and Fafa [Picault] had the best of Tomas [Hilliard-Arce]. We needed to make sure that matchup changed. In the second half we made a switch and it changed the pace and helped.”
On having Alessandrini on the bench…
“Romain is not a sub, he’s a starter on this team and this is one of the few times we have had all our guys on the pitch. I consider Romain a starter.”
On Jonathan dos Santos…
“He inserts himself in the midfield and is one of the guys who can connect the game for us. He opens up space and breaks lines for us in a different way, sometimes passing, sometimes dribbling, but he is very important.”
On the importance of the win…
“For us, we want to continue rising in the standings, and if we do that, we put ourselves in a position to get into the playoffs.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC
On the goal he scored tonight…
“Romain had a nice connection play before that and he took it with him, I think he got it in the space from Jonathan who then gave it to me. I just shot and it went in the goal.”
On how they changed the momentum in the match…
“Obviously they get a goal and when you have 1-0 it is easier to play and we were not hungry enough to press them. I think we kept too much distance from man to man, than we closed the gap in the second half. We knew the chances would come; we just needed to score them.”
If he has changed U.S. Soccer…
“How have I changed it? I don’t know if I’ve changed it. I just keep doing my job, and they are lucky I did not come 10 years ago because I would be the President.”
On how the young Philadelphia centerbacks played…
“I think they did a good job. It is not easy, two young guys, not so much experience and then the weather and conditions were not the best also but that comes for everybody. I think they did a good job.”
On the upcoming game against Los Angeles FC…
“It will be a new show and they play at home and we prepare for that game now and I think it will be a busy game. I am sure we will have some sun and we will do everything we can to win.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER CHRIS PONTIUS
On the match…
“They put some pressure on us but I like how we didn’t collapse and how we responded even being down a goal at halftime. We knew we could get back into this game and our big-time players took over.”
On what reaction he expected from the Union fans…
“Some tough love and many people thanking me. I enjoyed my time here and I only have good things to say about this club (the Union).”
On his performance…
“I thought I was average, but the team did well, and that’s all that matters. I almost found it easier playing against the wind in the second half. I think that was the difference, and we were able to get balls over the top. It opened up underneath for us and that changed the game.”
Philadelphia Union Head Coach Jim Curtin
Opening Statement…
That one hurt. If you look at it in all the games against the teams that are towards the upper echelon, whether its Atlanta, Toronto, or the Galaxy we have come up just a little bit short. Finding ways to win these type of games are what turn a good season into a great one and we have not been able to take that step. I thought we played a good first half. We moved the ball well, created chances, and maybe had an opportunity to get a second goal, but we did not do it. We still played well. We had a fortunate mistake in midfield, a giveaway that we got punished on by a top player. The second half was disappointing from the standpoint. We did not look like ourselves in terms of our passing. I do not know whether it is the weather. The field conditions were tough, but we just did not stick to putting passes together and making them defend us. We let a good team hang around and then they punished us in the second half and made some plays. Disappointing, but now a quick turnaround to get things ready for Houston.
On Roman Alessandrini second half substitution
Their formation stayed the same, but they put in a player and moved Dave [Romney] to the other side and the formation stayed the same. Again, Alessandrini is a nice piece to bring off the bench and a really talented player. Again, I still look at us and what we did or maybe did not do in the second half, which was not keep good possession. We made a mistake and a turnover. I do not think Alessandrini changed the game a ton for them, but we kind of let ourselves down. A silly restart and giving up a goal on a corner kick. I think we have a lot to look at ourselves and not much on what they did. Their formation stayed the same. A personnel change and that’s a good personnel change to make. After we had some success of Hilliard-Arce in the first half, we really targeted him and went at him. They took him off and Fafa [Picault] did a good job. Then we were just not able to have enough joy in the second half with the ball.
On getting CJ Sapong and Cory Burke on the field at the same time…
We had a plan in place with CJ [Sapong] and Cory. The minutes they have played in these last two games. I thought both of them have done a decent job for us. You can talk about different ways to get them on the field. At that stage of the game, I believe we are still in the game and pushing to get a goal, a game-winning goal. So again, in hindsight you can point to those types of things, but we are still a good team. We had a off night and off half and we will regroup.
On making different substitutions…
We made attacking substitutions with Accam and Cory. Once they get a third goal and Haris [Medunjanin] is on a yellow card, we made a decision to be safe and not have him pick up a second yellow and maybe save his legs for Houston. Warren [Creavalle] went in and did a decent job for us. We let the game get away from us and it is disappointing. Now there are questions and things we could have done differently. Certainly and I will take the responsibility for that.
On CJ Sapong getting on the scoresheet…
I think it was good for him to get on the end of a cross. Good goal for him. He continues to run in hard areas and does a good job for us. I thought he showed a lot of fight in the thirty minutes he played to win the Open Cup game and then showed some good things today again. Hopefully we can ride that momentum into Houston and get some more goals.
On giving Zlatan Ibrahmovic space…
He is a world-class striker, one of the best players our league has ever seen, and one of the best strikers are game has ever had. He is less likely to dribble and run by you now, so we preached to get close. On that instance, I think we did give him a little bit too much space. You can see Auston [Trusty] kind of almost in line with Andre [Blake] and just being aggressive and stepping. Again its hindsight now. There are things we could have done differently on the first goal even though we do have the giveaway. We could have recovered in a smarter way and not got caught square and flat-footed. Their timing was pretty good and Zlatan plays a good ball. Up until that point, we did a good job with him, but that is what world-class strikers do. They can pick their moments and dominate and win games. He is about as special a player as there is. We paid for it and we will learn from it. I still believe in our young backline. I believe in this team. I believe that we have played some really good soccer, especially at home. I know this one hurts for us and our fans. I know there is disappointment, but at the same time like I talked about this is still a good season we have going. Now, we are around the red line and we need to continue to push, but I will say in the games now where it is the one play games now. I call them one play games against these top teams. We have not made the big play to change the game. We have had it done against us and that is the Atlanta’s and the Toronto’s. People say Toronto is not a good team. They are. We are a little bit short in those key moments.
On possible rotations for Wednesday…
It is important. We had a plan in place with the Open Cup and the busy schedule that we have had playing Saturday and Wednesday. We wanted to have fresh legs to press today, so we had Marcus [Epps] come in. We had Cory [Burke] and CJ [Sapong] switch. We had Keegan [Rosenberry] get a little bit of a rest. I though Fabinho did a good job for us. It is just strictly rotation. It was not performance based on the changes that we made. Now we have a quick turnaround on Wednesday to make things right against Houston before the break.
On losing that last two that the Union has scored first…
Listen, we are a team that is built to play from ahead. So when we do get the first goal, I think we have been solid all year and have won the majority of our games and have killed games off. Tonight was different; we got beat by a team that has some playmakers on the field. We did an okay job in the first half limiting them, but once they got their rhythm and a little confidence it was a lot for us to handle. They have a lot of freedom with in their group and they have some really top players that maybe punished us on some little mistakes that we made. It is not the end of the world. We have to learn from it. We have to pick ourselves up and still know that we are a team that plays well, especially from ahead. It brings us into the things we do good, which is getting in behind teams, keeping good possession, creating chances, and defending as an eleven.
Philadelphia Union forward CJ Sapong
On individual opponents making plays…
That’s the game, especially in this league. It seems it’s getting better every game. They will punish you. We just need to stay focused and execute.
On Wednesday’s game
We are always trying to get results. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, every game we try to improve.
