D.C UNITED HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On what is missing from the team’s performances:
“We’re having trouble putting together full games, where the offense is doing their part and the defense is doing what they do, and that’s kind of been the theme. Today offensively, I thought we created a lot of chances and we were dynamic at times and that’s a positive. But the way we started a game, that’s just unacceptable. It’s very alarming that we started the way we started. I guess I can sit here and take blame, sure. I don’t know, but we’ll get back to work and we’ll search for a complete game. We’ll go back to the film, continue to hammer home some of the simple, basic things we’re not doing right now. We knew what that team’s about. They have a long throw-in, which is probably their best attack and they do a great job on the counterattack, but we gave them the first goal. The second one they got just on a counter – they did pretty well with it. The third one was a long throw-in, which is one of their best weapons.”
On what the team needs to do for the following matches:
“Again, we haven’t put together a group effort on both sides of the ball and that’s what we’ll push for in the next weeks.”
On why Casey Townsend did not make his D.C. United debut tonight:
“Robbie [Russell] is a big body, in particular for throwing balls in the box and corner kicks, and he has a way of getting his head on things – as does Casey. We hesitated because we saw [Chris] Korb cramping, so we changed it up there at the last minute. I know he [Casey Townsend] was very disappointed – I felt bad for him.”
On if Olsen thought the focus wasn’t there or that the team did not execute:
It was a good week of training. There was a good vibe in the locker room. The focus seemed to be there. We fouled on an early play. We gave a cheap one away and they caught us on the counter. We didn’t do well after that, between Brandon [McDonald] and Dejan [Jakovic], but those guys have been pretty good for us this year, so for me to sit here and cane them is not fair. I prefer right now to try to look at the positives and see that we got some guys on the board. I thought [Lionard] Pajoy had a good game in a week where [the media] was not, maybe, on his side. I thought it was nice to have Dwayne [De Rosario] back there. I thought Kyle Porter, for his first start, helped us out offensively, but in the end, all that stuff is for naught if you can’t make the simple plays and your concentration lets up a couple of times. They did a good job on punishing us for our lapses.”
On what one particular area the team has a specific need:
“We’re always looking to get better. With the injury situation, we’re looking to help out in certain areas. [Marcos] Sanchez went down this week, [Raphael] Augusto got sick on Wednesday for two days, so when those things happen, you look at your depth and if you can pick up a player here or there, you try to do that. I trust in that team and I think we have enough talent, even with six or seven guys out. You look at that team that played out there – we have 4-5 guys out, good players that might start for us and we still overall put up a pretty good performance. But the moments that count, three big moments in the game, they capitalized on it and that’s unacceptable.”
On what Olsen thought the Union’s game plan resembled:
“It’s difficult. I thought they obviously watched the New York [Red Bulls] game and said, ‘Here’s a recipe: sit back, counter, score. Sit back, counter, score.’ It’s what New York did. So, the ball movement, after the [score of the] game is 2-1, 3-1, is different because they’re sitting back. We had a little bit of trouble unlocking them in the first part, but I was okay with our ball movement and the chances we created.”
On if there is a sense of urgency in the locker room:
“There was a sense of urgency three weeks ago. There should have been a sense of urgency the first week of the season. That’s how this works. These are professional athletes and they should have urgency every time they step on the field in high concentration, but right now that’s not the case. We’ll have to, again, get back to work this week and fix it.”
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER DWAYNE DE ROSARIO
On his reaction to the match:
“I don’t even know what to say right now. I truly am just very frustrated right now. It’s tough, but I don’t know what else to say. Like I said, it’s very disappointing. We start lumping the ball, and there is no need for that. We’re playing in to our weaknesses instead of into our strengths.”
On if the team is reaching a point where it will be hard to turn things around:
“No I mean you can always turn it around. No because if that’s the case then I will just stay home. There is no point. Obviously you get sick to your stomach, but we still have a lot to play for and we still have a long season. I’m not going to give up. We still have to go out and fight. We’ve got the fan support still. We have people out here supporting the group, and we’re going to fight right through to the next game. Like we say, it’s too much now. We’ve been three chances and three goals. It’s frustrating in all aspects of the game. I don’t want to say the wrong things, and I don’t want to get myself in trouble. I just can’t help it, and I don’t understand a lot of things that are happening.”
On the positive takeaways from the offensive side of the ball:
“Yeah definitely. It’s nice to see [Lionard] Pajoy score and Perry [Kitchen] push forward. He is in a rare spot, but again that’s what we need. We need those aggressive guys with self-belief and guys doing what it takes to get in a good scoring spot. He did that at the defensive midfielder. He was aggressive, pushing initiative a times we needed it and found himself in a good spot and finished it. That’s what we need. B Mac [Brandon McDonald] again, second half coming up and taking two shots. It’s good. We need that kind of aggressiveness moving forward, and we need that mentality. We also have to remember that we have guys that can play and we have our playmakers. We need to give them the ball as much as possible, and we need to create space for our forwards. In that respect there still needs to be decision makers. We need to be mindful of our space.”
On if the team struggled getting the ball to the strikers:
“We scored two goals, but we needed three. It’s tough. I think the first half we did well. Again, we scored two goals from crosses, and then we stopped passing the ball. For whatever reason, I have no idea. We had a couple good chances to cross the ball, and we stopped crossing and getting in the good areas. We’re playing safe, safe pass instead of being a little more aggressive going forward and taking a chance of whipping the ball in or playing it to the forward. It’s been a long first seven games.”
On opponent’s strategy against D.C. United:
“Teams Barcelona plays, but you can’t stop them. You’ve got to find a way. We have to find a way. I think we’ve done that going forward, but we have to find an answer. Sure people are going to know how we play. We know how other teams play as well. Other teams are scoring on us, so what’s to be said about that. There is still a long way to go. My main thing is to go home and take a nice cold shower and try to get this off my mind to prepare for Columbus.”
D.C. UNITED GOALKEEPER BILL HAMID
On the team scoring two goals today:
“We scored some goals today and we can be happy about that – we’re finally tucking some away.”
On going through a streak like this:
“We need to keep our heads up. We need to keep being a team. If we continue to support each other, we’re going to be fine. We all know that. Like I said, we’re close. We have been putting together stretches of games where we look great. We have come here with the right mentality, we play with heart, its just unfortunate that we haven’t gotten the results.”
D.C. UNITED FORWARD CARLOS RUIZ
On his reaction to the match
:
“It’s difficult in this moment for everyone: the coaching staff and the fans. The only thing we can do is to keep working and think about the next game against Columbus. We need to try to make the right decisions in that game and play to win. The only way we can respond to what the press says or what the fans say. We can’t say any more. We just have to keep working.”
On the difficulty as the weeks go on:
“It’s getting more difficult because now the teams think D.C. United isn’t playing good. The confidence of the teams we are playing against is higher than we expect. Philadelphia for example, they scored two goals in the first half was something unbelievable. The only thing I can say is we try to work and to make things right in practice. We talk a lot about the situation. This is one of those moments in soccer when you cannot find the way to win, but it’s going to come. We are working hard like I said. I’m honest, and it has to come sooner or later.”
On how the offense can build off tonight’s match:
“I think we need to send a little bit more crosses, so that’s the way we can create more opportunities to score. I think playing the offensive part, always trying to tie the game is hard. Philadelphia played good on defense, and after the game you can see what happened. We tried to send long goals like Perry [Kitchen] four yards, but it’s hard to create opportunities to score like that”
PHILADELPHIA UNION HEAD COACH JOHN HACKWORTH
On getting the win
:
“Well my first thought is it’s a huge three points. And it’s on the road and in a place we’ve never won before and that’s massive for us. A little bit of a crazy game, but you’d expect nothing less coming down here and having these two teams play. I thought we did some really good things. [We] didn’t really hold [possession] the way we wanted to the whole game. But we got the three points and that’s huge.”
On the goal scoring from the Philadelphia Union
:
“The execution was fantastic. And I think from Jack [McInerney], him finishing two – I believe both of them were left footed goals – and Conor [Casey] getting one. It was just a day that we took care of business in front of goal and it was really great to see. It set us up for the result.”
On the results on the road:
“We’re tactically playing better. We understand what we need to do when we come on the road, in these really tough environments, and everything is gonna go against us and how we’re gonna have to try and manage it. Our team is growing up. And, you know, as a result you’re really starting to see us compete for points on the road.”
On Union forward Jack McInerney’s first goal of the match:
“Yeah, you know, probably the most impressive thing is that he slowed up and then cut the ball back and beat guys. On the bench we we’re saying ‘why did you slow it up’ because it looked like he had a step on them. But Jack is capable of those kind of goals. I know everybody says kind of more of a ‘tap in’ specialist and that kind of thing, but he has a lot of arsenal in his bag and he can certainly hurt you from distance and hurt you in different ways and he showed that today.”
On Union’s transition play:
“Yeah, I thought we did a really good job, especially early, obviously, in the game. We dropped our line of confrontation a little bit, we tried to squeeze in a little bit in the space that they love to play and we knew we were gonna have a team that was gonna come at us really hard with a lot of energy. And when you have those kinds of situations set up you know that that leaves them a little vulnerable behind them. And we certainly took advantage of that today.”
On Union forward Conor Casey’s impact:
“He’s the player. He’s the dimension that we haven’t had. And not only does he do it with his back to goal, he finishes a great chance, but he’s defending on restarts and all those little things. He’s good in possession when you need him to be. He’s getting out of tight spaces. So, [it was] a huge game from Conor. I’m not surprised because I always believed that he could do that. I’ve seen him do it a number of times. I’m just happy he’s doing it for the Philadelphia Union now.”
On not using some of the bigger names on the squad in tonight’s match:
“Sure, but you know… look, all the guys – [Jose] Kléberson, Roger [Torres], [Sebastian] Le Toux – all really good players that we didn’t use today. But that’s indicative of our team. We have a lot more depth now, we have choices, and when a game dictates a certain change, we’re able to bring in a guy off the bench that can do that. Certainly Kléberson was a thought, and we talked about it a lot on the bench, but it wasn’t the right opportunity to bring him in the game.”
On Union forward Jack McInerney’s play this season:
“Yeah, I think that’s six goals on the year, and fantastic for him. He’s capable of that and doing it in different ways, so real happy for Jack.”
On Union midfielder Danny Cruz getting an assist against his former team:
“Yeah, Danny was always gonna be super-motivated for this game. He played a really good game. Put in a tremendous amount of work, but really he was out threat going forward and initiating our quick transition. And he did it well and gets the assist, but he also did so much work on the other side of the ball today.”
PHILADELPHIA UNION FORWARD JACK MCINERNEY
On the second goal:
“Yeah, I think he flicked it and it fell right on my right foot, and I just took a touch and volleyed it out of the air first time.”
On leading the League in scoring:
“It feels good. I was kind of hoping I got three tonight. But, if I keep scoring every game, that means we’re probably going to be winning and the goal is to make the playoffs, and if I’m the one scoring, then good for me, but as long as we make the playoffs.”
On the Union finishing their opportunities this week:
“I mean, you just said it, it’s just finishing our chances. Things like last week are going to happen. You can’t put them away every week, but you now when we do, especially on the road you know, getting these points were huge, and if we keep making it, if we keep doing that we’ll be alright.”
On scoring early in the game:
“Yeah, coach Hack [Head Coach John Hackworth] showed us some quotes that almost guaranteed a win— kind of pumped us up a little bit. You know it’s going to be a battle, especially with the rivalry, so we came out just firing.”
On his first goal:
“The two center backs were split, and Conor picked me out just right between them with a run in between, but he kind of played a slow ball. I saw Danny making a run on the right, so I knew they were going to cheat right, so I had a lucky strike with my left foot.”
On the team’s mentality:
“We knew that this game was going break us away from the pack, especially if we got a win since we had this game and next game on the road. We needed to get a result. I think it’s huge for us.”
On his confidence level:
“Confidence is everything for a young player. If you don’t have it, you’re never going to play as good as you can. And I think scoring obviously it keeps raising my confidence. And if we keep winning games, and I’m scoring, it’s only going to get better.”
On talk of the Gold Cup roster and the Golden Boot Award:
“I just want to win. Scoring is winning. And those kind of things just come along. They’re not my choices or anything, but right now the goal is just to make the playoffs with the team, and that is what I am focused on right now.”
PHILADELPHIA UNION FORWARD CONOR CASEY
On Jack McInerney’s ability to score goals and their connection:
“It’s just coming very easy to him right now. It’s something that we are going to try to continue to improve in terms of our connection, trying to combine together, and just keep working on it day by day.”
On his goal:
“Danny laid a nice ball back to me, and it just seemed like everyone was going that way, so I tried to sneak it near post, and it found its way through their somehow.”
On the young players, such as McInerney’s chances of making the Gold Cup roster:
“For sure. Experience in the biggest thing. They’re young guys, but they have experience in the League, and the more successful the team is, the better chance they have to step into that role. So, it’s an exciting time for them.”
On his positive effect on this team:
“I think that there are a lot of very hungry guys on this team in general. It is a young team, but they play with chips on their shoulders’ and want to prove something. That is a good thing for this team, and that’s something that I kind of always brought to my game too—just a desire to win. They haven’t had a great deal of success over the years, but it is a very hungry team right now. We just really have to build of this start to the season.”
On his physical strength and ability to keep the ball:
“Sure, I mean I am a big guy, and my job is to hold onto the ball and keep it for our team when I get it. So it is definitely something that I expect of myself.”
PHILADELPHIA UNION MIDFIELDER DANNY CRUZ
On keys to the win:
“I think the coaching staff did a really good job this week. Everything that we said would happen happened. And there was a lot of space there and I think our center midfielders did a great job getting me the ball, and Conor [Casey] did a great job holding the ball up, and Jack [McInerney] did a great job finishing. All around in the first half I think we were very dangerous and we did very well. I just tried to play my part, especially defensively. It was a good defensive game today. On the road, that’s gonna happen, especially when you go up three to one. So, credit to us for holding on to it.”
On getting the win against United:
“I can’t really describe it. If any cameras got a hold of my reaction at the whistle, you would’ve been able to tell it meant a lot to me. But especially for the team because we separate ourselves from a bunch of other teams and that’s what’s most important and we go into next week playing a team that’s a little bit down right now who’s gonna be scrapping just like [United] did. So, were extremely excited. I’m definitely excited. Happy about where we’re going as a club, and I think a couple of guys told us that it’s the first win here at D.C. [United] as a club, first point as a team against Columbus. I think were doing the right things right now and we need to continue it.”
On playing a highly emotional, motivated New England Revolution team in light of recent events:
“I think we need to sit down and go back to the drawing board, as our coaches always do, and prepare for another fight and hopefully come out as hot as we did tonight.”
On Union forward Conor Casey’s impact on the team:
“Yeah, he’s brought a lot. Not only has he brought a big body for us that holds the ball up really well, he gives us a little energy and passion that we don’t always see. He gives us energy and passion that people don’t always see. He’s very passionate about the way he plays the game. He’s a rough, physical forward and we love playing with him. I love being able to lay the ball off to him and know he’s gonna either keep it or shoot. He’s brought a lot.”
On Union Head Coach John Hackworth’s confidence in his play:
“He’s been really important in my development, in my entire career since I was a kid. And he believes in me and any time a coach believes in you that’s all that matters. There’s not many people that I care about their opinions, but he’s one of them, and my teammates, obviously important as well. So I have tried to grow underneath him, grow under this team and hopefully try to get better every week.”
On Union forward Jack McInerney’s evolution:
“I think he’s just – as you probably already know – when a forward is feeling confident, it’s tough to stop ‘em. And right now, anything he’s shooting, he’s putting it in the right areas, and he’s doing a great job of creating the space for himself. I’m enjoying playing with him and I know the rest of the team is and hopefully he can continue to do what he does best and that’s score goals and there’s not a doubt in my mind that he will.”
