Head Coach Ben Olsen
Overall thoughts on the match…
"I think we played okay but okay doesn’t cut it against Atlanta. You have to make plays that matter in both boxes, defensively and offensively, and I didn’t think we did that enough to get points out of tonight. They are a dynamic and well-coached team and they’re in the spot they are for a reason."
On Wayne Rooney’s performance during his first MLS start…
"He did fine. He did a great job on the first goal and to go on the road against one of the better teams in the league was a good experience for him to get another look at what MLS is about. Each time he’s going to get better and better and we’re very lucky to have him."
On Wayne Rooney’s chemistry within United’s attack…
"He’s been with enough teams and around enough high-quality players that gelling and connecting with the attackers around him isn’t an issue. It can get better and as he gets more familiar with the players, those connections will improve. There were a couple times when it wasn’t perfect but overall it was a really good shift from him. He put in a lot of work on the defensive side, especially when we were pinned back defending. We substituted him to manage his minutes and we’ll continue to do that until he’s fit enough for 90 minutes.”
On Yamil Asad’s performance…
"Yamil’s been great for us. I think people expect for him to make plays all the time on the offensive end, but he gives so much more than that with his effort, connecting passes and composure on the ball. All that was there, offensively we weren't clicking enough to get him opportunities to score or set things up. We’ll put this to bed and now we have two home games this week at Audi Field. We have two games at home with our own fans and we’ll continue trying to make Audi Field a fortress and a place that we pick up a lot of points."
Forward Wayne Rooney
On how the game played out today...
“Today was a difficult game. Atlanta, they’re on top of the league and they’re a good team. We knew it was going to be a difficult game. We knew it was going to be tough. We had to hang in there at times and unfortunately, we didn’t quite do that good enough today but there’s still a few positives and I’m happy about more minutes today on the pitch, which will help me. Overall, disappointed with the result on a personal level. Happy to get a few more minutes to help me with it.”
