D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
Thoughts on the performance and effort…
“The effort was there, it was just a poor night of defending. I thought we had some good takeaways and I was pleased with some of the ball movement getting into the final third.”
On the goals…
“The goals were very preventable goals. Aside from those first two, I feel pretty comfortable about most of the first half. You feel like you can get back into the game and the team believed that but then you give up the third, that’s the ball game.”
On defensive breakdowns….
“It’s a good chance for us to take an early look at ourselves and get back to some hard work and training. But it’s early and we’re going to be fine. I believe in this group and I like what we’re about, and we’ll respond from this.”
D.C. United midfielder Patrick Nyarko
On how to take positives from the game and turn a corner...
“Just look at ourselves. We need to take much more responsibility. There’s only so much the coaches can do. They set us up during the week and give us a game plan and we need to execute. At the end of the day we didn’t do it today and we let ourselves down. This wasn’t good enough today, so we just go back to work next week and get better.”
On the final ball in the final third and how the forwards work best together…
“We created some chances for ourselves, so that isn’t my concern. I would be a lot more concerned if we weren’t creating chances but we need to defend first and we didn’t do that tonight.”
United midfielder Nick DeLeon
On conceding the first 2 goals...
"I haven’t watched the film yet but to me, it seemed to be just a simple breakdown. I can’t go into too much detail until I actually watch the film and break it down that way."
On the team's chances but not finding the back of the net...
"I think in the first half we had 9 shots and none of them were on target. We’re getting the chances, we just have to put them away. And we can’t give up goals like that...We just have to start putting away our chances."
FC Dallas Head Coach Oscar Pareja
On the team’s performance and the result...
"Well I’m obviously very pleased and happy to get a result away, to get another clean sheet, and again the boys are working; I was very pleased. I think they’re getting rewarded, and not just with the three points, but three goals such a solid performance. I thought we were very intelligent tactically...I thought it was a very good game in terms of the tactics the boys [are] developing in midfield. I’m very, very happy."
On players stepping up in the absence of some starters...
"It’s always one of the best things that we can talk about this group of players that I have the [blessing] to coach. The guys that debuted today did an excellent job. Aaron Guillen and Timo [Pitter], they just came on and helped us. And that’s great. [We’re] missing players for sure, but we always say that challenges always bring you an opportunity, and opportunity is taken by the ones that are prepared. And they are very well prepared."
On Michael Barrios’ performance...
"Yeah, Mikey is putting himself in great spots, and the last three games he had some options, and [was] always working hard. So I’m not surprised to see how the game rewarded him today, and [gave] him those two opportunities. I thought he finished them very well, and he was great today. But the effort from Mike is there all the time, so I’m pleased for him."
On the team’s tactics (particularly in the first half)...
"We knew that there’s a key player in [Marcelo] Sarvas, and when they want to build, normally they start with him. I thought Mauro and Maxi did an excellent job to clog him and make him drop 10-15 yards more than he wanted. And at the same time, we wanted to disconnect the fullbacks. For me, two of the best fullbacks in the league are Franklin and Kemp. They’re very good going forward, and we wanted to make the sacrifice with Castillo and Barrios, and that’s where the tactics developed today. And [we] just tried to close that outlet. And the way Fabian and Mikey [Barrios] ran today—that’s an example for us… not just that, but they attacked them, and Mikey scored two goals and Fabian and a few options. So the back-and-forth runs that they made during the whole game—it was impressive. So those were the highlights, tactically, that we wanted."
FC Dallas Goalkeeper Chris Seitz
On the overall result…
"For us, obviously, we came off with a real tough road result two weeks ago and obviously we responded at home and we wanted to prove that we’re a good road team. I think tonight was a perfect example of that. Everyone came together and played a pretty good performance. We’ll pick a couple of things apart and get better, but it’s a good first road win and we want to move forward with that."
On the shutout and rotating new players in on the back line…
"We’ve been working a lot on it. Through preseason and the beginning of the season, three clean sheets in four games is really impressive, so for us, we’re going to continue to build. Look, we can always pick it apart and learn from it and we’ll do that just as in any other games and look to build on it and have a good performance at home."
On his overall confidence…
"For me, I think about more of a big performance and a big picture thing and every time I can go out there and perform well and show the coaches that I should be out there is all I can do. That’s how I look at it. If I can put performances together and our defense and team is successful, I think that’s the biggest thing for me. Watching the guys perform and give it all throughout the whole entire 90 and get a huge, road three points is huge for us. Anything I can do to help, I’m here for all of them."
FC Dallas Defender Aaron Guillen
On getting a win in his first MLS appearance…
"It means a lot. It tells you what the club has done with the Homegrown program and hopefully more players come up from the Academy and the First Team could use them."
On preparing to face players like Nick DeLeon and Chris Rolfe…
"We prepared for it the whole week. Oscar had it in his mind how they played and everything, so we prepared well for that and, with the result, it worked out for us."
On bouncing back from the 5-0 loss to Houston two weeks ago…
"It just shows the heart, the passion and the worth ethic that the team has and the mentality that we have. We come out here every time to try and win and our goal is to win the Cup."
