D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
On the result, overall:
“It was one of those nights where everything you wanted to get out of the game happened – getting those guys out at the right time and then those subs…I thought the subs did a great job. All three of them put in really good shifts – obviously [Conor] Doyle with the goal and the assist, but [Sainey] Nyassi gave us a real spark. Collin [Martin] was really fun to watch, too. For a youngster getting into a tough game late, I thought he was very composed and it was just fun to see him out there.”
On building momentum ahead of an Open Cup semifinal on Wednesday:
“We were looking to get two things out of tonight: first was getting a winning mentality, so this [win] will help with that. We’re also looking to get a rhythm because – I don’t want to mention injuries – but DeRo [Dwayne De Rosario] and Luis [Silva] hadn’t played together. Perry’s [Kitchen] back in. We’re trying to get all these guys to log as many minutes together as possible, so it’s strange to say over halfway through the season that we’re still trying to find our rhythm and the way we want to play, but that’s the case. Tonight, we tweaked it a little bit. We put Perry [Kitchen] defensive and more central, rather than a two-way mid and I thought it, at times, looked good. There were some holes and miscommunication – in particular that second part of the first half, they broke us down a couple times. I thought we started very bright the first 20 minutes. We were aggressive – the way our outside backs went about the game, to me, was probably the difference in the way we played.”
On Conor Doyle’s performance off the bench:
“He scored a goal and had an assist, so it’s a good start. He’s a nice pick-up. We haven’t used him as a sub, so it was nice to see that he can do that for us. Whether that is his role or not in the future, I’m not sure. But it’s nice to know that he has the mentality to come in and change the game.”
On Dwayne De Rosario and Luis Silva’s partnership:
“I thought it was good. The first 20 minutes were very good. We put a lot into that and then we got a little stretched – [Montreal] took over the game for that second part. But overall, it was pretty good. They’re very likeminded players, so the trick there is spacing and making sure we can stretch their center backs at times…That allows them to continually push their line because there’s no real threat high. When we did that, I thought [De Rosario and Silva] were good. Again, that’s the first time [they played together], so you need four, five or six games together to really get that understanding. Saying that, I was very pleased with it.”
On playing Joe Willis tonight in goal instead of Bill Hamid:
“Joe [Willis] got us into the Open Cup semifinals and I’m going to play him on Wednesday – I’ll tell you right now. It has nothing to do against Bill [Hamid] and the faith that we have in him. I wanted to get Joe one more game going into Wednesday. And I thought he had a pretty good game.”
On the positive impact the outside backs had on the result:
“We had the ball more. You have to have possession to really allow your outside backs to go. I think we match up well against Montreal. The fact that they didn’t press us very high, we had a little bit more time to get that possession and build a rhythm out of the back. Our outside midfielders did a great job of tucking in and making them make tough decisions. In particular, [Chris] Korb has to realize that he’s a good player. When he reminds himself that he’s fast and that he’s a good talent, he’s going to make it and he can be a starter in this League. And I thought we saw that tonight. He was just aggressive and confident and he has to continue with that.”
D.C. United forward Conor Doyle:
On how it felt to come on as a sub and score:
“It’s what you want to do when you come on as a sub and that’s to be an impact player and score a goal, and I was able to do that, so I was happy. That was my first official professional goal so it was a pretty happy moment.”
On the communication between himself and James Riley on the near post run:
“We have been working on it all week. We talked about it in film where the first guy needs to make a hard run to the near post to create space behind, and it just so happened that James put the ball in the right spot and I just put it in the back of the net.”
On how it felt to score his first professional goal:
“It’s been a long time and a tough road. I’ve been frustrated and down a lot, and to be able to go get that first professional goal is special.”
On how this builds for Wednesday:
“Obviously, to get a win is good. It builds team morale and to go into Wednesday with a win is a big confidence booster for us all. Going into a semifinal with a win behind us is a big deal for us.”
On the contribution from the new faces on D.C. United:
“[Luis] Silva has been great since he’s been here. Scoring three goals in three games is pretty impressive. For Jared [Jeffrey] and I to get on the score sheet tonight is special since we’re both from Dallas. Getting fresh faces in changes things up a bit and gets the team going again, so it’s been a good injection of different faces.”
D.C. United midfielder Luis Silva
On how it felt to play with Dwayne De Rosario:
“It feels great. He’s a smart player, a good player and he’s looking for me and I’m looking for him. The more we play together, the better the chemistry is going to get between us, so that’s a good thing.”
On the work of Conor Doyle coming on as a substitute:
“He’s a good player. He did what he has to do and that’s score goals, and tonight he did a fantastic job of putting that goal away and a great assist as well.”
On how it feels to score three goals in three games:
“It’s a great feeling. At this moment, it’s me scoring but I know other teammates are going to step in and then it will be there turn. As long as we win, I’m happy and that’s what was good about today, we won. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me.”
On how the new, young faces for D.C. United have helped the team:
“It’s just changed the team chemistry, and we have young bodies with coach’s confidence to come in and produce and play our game. There’s nothing better than that. Today the three new guys came and we all scored a goal and that’s pretty special.”
On the flair the team created today:
“We created a lot of opportunities and we’re attacking from different sides of the field and it makes everything easier for me and our other players.”
D.C. United midfielder Jared Jeffrey
On how it felt to score a goal:
“It’s a good feeling. Not just the goal, but also the win. The whole second half was big. Scoring that second and third goal was important, and we talked about getting a lead and being aggressive and not just sitting back. At the end of the first half we got caught sitting back a little bit and I thought we responded really well. It was the same story as last week as we went up 1-0 and gave up a goal, but we were able to turn it around and get the last two goals.“
On the feeling of combining with Conor Doyle on his first goal:
“It was a great feeling. I was a little worried he was going to shoot it being the center forward he is, but it was great. Just running over to the corner and celebrating with the guys was a special.”
On thanking Conor Doyle after he scored:
“Yeah, I had to thank him, to be honest. He could have scored and I could have passed it back to him, but he gave me that one for sure.”
On his thought of Conor Doyle’s contribution off the bench:
“I thought he brought a lot energy and he made some good runs. We got the ball in some good spots and made good crosses but just him making that near post, which we talked about all week to drag defenders, he did a great job with it.”
On the moment when he and Doyle scored their first goals on the same day:
“Absolutely it’s special because I think we will look back on this day and laugh about it. Right now the focus goes to Chicago and hopefully we can get a win Wednesday.”
On how this win gives D.C. United momentum going into Wednesday:
“Coach [Ben Olsen] was talking about getting into a good rhythm and having a winning mentality and I think it’s a great thing for us to experience winning and gain confidence going into a mid-week game.”
On how it feels to have young players contributing:
“It’s great for not only me but for all the guys. I thought in the second half we were combining with Nick [DeLeon] and and Kyle [Porter] too and they did a great job, and [Luis] Silva is pretty young too. But it was fun tonight being out there with all the guys and we hung tight and got the win.”
Montreal Impact Head Coach Marco Schallibaum
On whether this game is a missed opportunity:
“Winning on the road is a hard thing. Especially in the first half, we concede the first against a team that has endured bad results. Then we scored to make it 1-1, but as a phase we should not have conceded the second one. It was at the wrong time and then it was difficult to come back.”
On the performance of D.C. United:
“I think MLS is very balanced. Ben [Olsen] has a good team also. They forced many turnovers today, and they were more aggressive than us, you see from the yellow cards and offsides. You must be ready every time in MLS, and I think we were ready but perhaps not enough to make the break.”
Montreal Impact defender Jeb Brovsky
On the defeat:
“It hurts inside. As much as you love winning, you hate losing.”
On his first MLS goal:
“I would have traded that goal for three points. Hell, I would have traded it for one point. I’m happy that I got my first goal, but that goal didn’t get us any closer to the playoffs, so I’m not satisfied.
Montreal Impact midfielder Justin Mapp
On whether the defeat tonight hurts more than others:
“Yes, it does make a difference, the loss. With the team we have, we expect three points. It’s disappointing.”
On conceding the second goal:
“We got back in the game but then went down again, which is frustrating. At 1-1, you feel like you have more life and you’re not chasing the game. Going down a goal definitely changes things.”
On what is needed to get back on track:
“Just win games. I don’t think there’s one right answer.”
Montreal Impact midfielder Davy Arnaud
On the effect of D.C. United’s second goal:
“The second part of the first half was better, then we started the second half well and scored a good goal. Then we conceded a second one and our reaction from their second goal was poor. There’s no other way to describe it. We always need to be honest with ourselves in terms of when it’s tough or when things don’t go well. OK, we concede the second goal but we still could be in the game. The way that we reacted, we didn’t deserve to get back into the game. It was like we were hoping instead of going out and making something happen.”
On whether Montreal’s players were mentally prepared for the game:
“To win, especially on the road, I don’t care who you’re playing, you’ve got to have 11 guys who are up for it and ready to grind out a result regardless of who you’re playing. I thought we had it in spurts at the end of the first half and then we got the goal because we were playing well. But then we conceded a second and it went away. As a group, our reactions were not good.”
On how hard it is to be consistent across a 34-game season:
“It’s hard to win 34 straight games. What should be there, what should consistently be there is a willingness as a group in good moments and bad moments and to have the same attitude and approach and the same commitment and attitude to go about things in the right way. It doesn’t mean you’re always going to get the result but that consistency needs to be there. You’re not going to win every game, I think everybody knows that. But in terms of us and the way that we approach the game, from the first minute to the last, we have to become more consistent in that department.”
Montreal Impact goalkeeper Troy Perkins
On the game:
“We had the conversation with the Head Coach [Marco Schallibaum] during the week about how even when a team has so few points they’re still a quality team. At the end of the day, things just haven’t gone their way and you see tonight they’re a capable team who come out and are willing to fight. Against them, we didn’t quite fight and this is what happens.
On D.C. United as a team:
“To be fair, they played well tonight. With [Dwayne] De Rosario back in the lineup, they look sharp and they look dangerous. We couldn’t manage big chunks of the game well so we have to come out and be better and come out with a little bit more edge to us. We came out flat.”
On the response after conceding the second goal:
“The way that the second goal comes is too easy. It’s an easy ball in and then the guy’s [Conor Doyle] all by himself. That’s happened to us too many times now and the reaction was not good. Too many guys quit.”
On why results have been poor in recent games:
“We have to be mentally tougher, it’s as simple as that. We’ve got to be stronger and we can’t have these kind of lapses. And when we do, we have to be able to get through it.”
