D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
On making the playoffs
It’s good to get that out of the way. Enjoy tonight and move on. Fortunately, I think the team has bigger goals now, and there’s a feeling that they can do something. Whether it’s finish top three, finish first and make at run at this thing. We will continue to find out a little bit more about ourselves over the next couple games and get ready for the postseason.
On the feel to the game
There was a real edge tonight, and we knew that coming in, and I think [Kansas City] knew that coming in. Six points between us, we had taken six points, last game was 3-0, and we knew they were going to come out with a real fire. They also had a week to exhale, traveling North America, dealing with CONCACAF, so they had a little bit of a rest. I thought their energy was good. Their passing is always good. We held it in the first half, and the second half I thought we were good. Overall in the game we had better chances than them, but we weren’t able to finish any of them.
On the vibe in the stadium and city
There was a good vibe in the city, even driving here. I took the long way through the city, and I got a little bit of the Nats vibe. The city was vibrant. Take RFK out of it - you know it’s an old, beat up building, and I’ll be happy when it blows up – but there’s not a better show in town. When our fans show up and put on a performance like that, there’s nowhere else I want to play. It’s a great atmosphere, and I’m happy to reward them with getting into the playoffs. It means a lot to these guys and for those of us who have been around a while.
On Nick DeLeon and Davy Arnaud in the middle
There wasn’t a lot of passing going on. When you throw two new guys in the lineup, there are going to be some times when the rhythm is off and some of the patterns are not that comfortable. That’s part of the next couple games, getting Pontius his legs back, finding out who our starting 11 is when we hit the post season. The one thing you get in there with Nick DeLeon is athleticism. I thought at times he picked up 50/50 balls and helped us drive out of the center. When the game opens up, he’s a dangerous player to have in the middle.
On the turnaround from this season to last
I did not think it would go this smoothly. We looked at the board in the off-season with the team that we had, we were pinching ourselves a little bit. We were excited about this group; we literally had potential to be a playoff team. I maybe underestimated the grittiness and character the group would have, the way they get each others back, but overall I am very excited about the group.
On how they put the team together
I think we wanted to go with guys we knew a lot about. We knew a lot about Bobby Boswell, we knew a lot about Davy Arnaud, we knew Sean Franklin was a very good right back in this league. If you want to take that as part of the strategy. Dave Kasper does not get enough credit the way he guided in the offseason. So here we are with that group taking us to the playoffs. I think they want more than that.
On the three Sporting Kansas City shutouts
It’s a tough team to keep a clean sheet against. I thought the back four had a spectacular game tonight. Birnbaum is an absolute stud. I cannot believe the way he performs weeks in, week out at his age. Bobby led the back well tonight when we were under the gun.
D.C. United Midfielder Lewis Neal
On how they’ve played at home
Yeah we’ve been fantastic and obviously we give Steve, Bobby, and the rest of the guys in the back a lot of credit, but overall it’s been a real team thing.
Keys to where we are now
It’s that togetherness as a team.
On how he evaluates the season thus far
You know at the start of the year it’s everyone’s goal to make the playoffs and we’ve done that now, would we have liked to win? Well, yeah of course, we’d love the three points, but the main objective tonight was to make sure we had a guaranteed spot in the playoffs and now the next step is to go on and try to win the East.”
D.C. United midfielder Luis Silva
On how important is momentum going into the playoffs
Oh it’s very important. You don’t want to slack off or get too confident because you know playoffs are knockout games so we just got to take one game at a time.”
On his Chemistry with Fabi
Oh it’s great. I like that he’s always pushing me to my max and I’m pushing him too. He brings out the best in me and I do the same in him. It’s great, I think it really helps that we get along off the field as well and we got that chemistry too.
D.C. United Midfielder Chris Pontius
On the home crowd
It was really nice and good to see. Hopefully we can have a few more home games out here, but yeah it felt good to be out here with this crowd, you know we’d like to get a win for them, but we realized it was still nice to get this point to get into the playoffs.”
On how he feels
I feel good. The pace of this game was a little bit faster than the games I’ve been thrown into before and it took me a little bit to get up to it, but you know once I was there I felt good. You know that’s how games are going to be from here on out, you got to prepare for that and be ready for the next game.
On what’s special about this group of guys
You know for me it starts in training. There are guys here who are competitors and real winners. You know in 5v5 session and training and there are people who really want to win and I think that translates over into games. If you push guys and there’s that much competition and training then it can only translate into wins.
Sporting Kansas City Head Coach Peter Vermes
On race in the East
Yeah, look, it comes down to this every year doesn’t it? Towards the end of the season it’s a pretty close packed in-group and, you know, I always say every game is important, but obviously there is a little more significance when everybody sees what’s left and how much points are there and all that stuff. It is what it is, it’s really about getting to the playoffs and then it all starts all over again.
Sporting Kansas City Goalkeeper Eric Kronberg
On thoughts about the game
I mean the game went exactly as we thought. We wanted to keep a zero on our end, which we did. Unfortunately, you know, we couldn’t get one on the other. But, it was a good battle, tough conditions. I think we battled through, and it’s a good result for us. We would have liked to have taken away three points and start getting in a winning habit, but I think we played well and I think we’ve been playing well, so I think we need to keep on with the form we’re in.
On a playoff atmosphere test
Yeah, absolutely. I mean it’s two top teams in the Eastern Conference going at it late in the year. We are both battling for a playoff spot, and so obviously they clinched tonight and we need to maintain our form and make sure that we do the same. So to play in these environments, especially on the road, and not give up a goal is critical. I think we did a great job on that end, now we just need to get one and secure the win.
Sporting Kansas City Defender Kevin Ellis
On thoughts on the game
It was very physical. We said at the beginning of the game, ‘this is like a playoff game for us.’ It was a battle for 90 minutes and I feel like we did really well and we pushed the game. I felt like all they really wanted to do is counter, and I feel like we did a good job at the back and putting those fires out when they sent long balls. We were good in the air and we were on to the second balls, and we were able to turn and play again.
On center-back pairing with Matt Besler
Yeah, I mean I felt really comfortable. You can tell from the game, you know, when I went up he was right behind me covering and when he went up it was the same. And, I think we’ll become more familiar with each other the more we play with each other. I think that we did really well tonight.
