D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen:
Thoughts on the match:
We’re happy with the point. Traveling from east to west, it’s never easy. A zero on the road is always a good thing, you give yourself a chance.
On why Whitecaps FC are good against Eastern teams:
I think Carl has done a good job here. I think he‘s got a bunch of young, exciting players. At times, they’ve been a joy to watch. Obviously, they’re on a tough run now, trying to get into the playoffs, but Carl’s a good coach and he’ll get this team where he needs to be.
On the stretch drive and what the club needs to do to maintain their #1 seeding:
I think we can be a little bit more consistent, but we’re pretty pleased with this win. We’re weathering storms, we have a little bit of an injury bug - as does most of the league right now - but we just have to keep staying hungry, having the right edge to us, maybe get a little bit better with some of the soccer stuff. Overall, we just have to keep the right mentality.
D.C. United defender Sean Franklin
Thoughts on the match:
It’s good. It’s always good to get a point on the road. It was a tough game, they had some chances and we did too, but at the end of the day we came out with a shutout and a point, and that’s big for where we stand in the Eastern Conference.
On the backline’s growth:
We’ve been working hard, and we’ve talked about not giving up goals. If we do that it gives us a chance to get three points or a tie, and I thought today the whole team was good, I thought Bill came up with a couple of huge saves, and that’s what it’s going to take from here on out.
On the team’s intensity down the stretch:
Every game is important. Every game is a playoff game to us. Everyone is trying to catch us, and first place is what we want to get. Ultimately we want to finish in first place and hopefully win the Supporters’ Shield. Our team knows we’re about a game or two away from being in the playoffs, and that’s our biggest goal right now, the playoffs.
D.C. United midfielder Perry Kitchen
Thoughts on the match:
Huge point on the road for us. I don’t think it was our best performance, but we had 11 guys that believed and followed and we grinded out a good result on the road. Definitely a big point for us, looking forward to a big game on Wednesday.
Head Coach Carl Robinson
Thoughts on the match:
We’ve been through some tough streaks, we got a clean sheet today which was good. They’re a very good team, top of the Eastern Conference and they come in with a game plan. But we weren’t able to break them down so credit to them tonight.
Thoughts on the play of Ethen Sampson:
He was excellent on his debut. No fear. I think he showed what he’s about, he’s competitive and I love players like that in my squad…you know where it means everything to play for Vancouver Whitecaps. I think Ethen showed that in his 50 odd minutes that he played.
Taking Ethen Sampson off for cramps:
Well he said he couldn’t run anymore and I didn’t want to take a risk because D.C. are decent on the break so that was the thought there. Just flipping Jordan Harvey across and have Sam Adekugbe come in. And Sam was excellent he gave us a great outlet down the left and created one or two chances for us.
Changes to the lineup for Wednesday’s match:
I think a few of the guys looked a little bit tired after 60 odd minutes. I look at Pedro Morales and Mauro Rosales picked up a little knock as well. I was tempted to try and make a tactical change then, but you always know with Pedro that you can do something, same with Mauro as well and he picked up an ankle knock. But I’ll reassess them Monday. But there will be some fresh faces in on Wednesday I think we need some freshness in the team with three games in a week.
On Mauro Rosales:
He was excellent, he’s been excellent since he’s come. The 45 minutes with LA, last week with Portland he was probably our best player. And today he was excellent as well. With three games in a week I have to keep an eye on Mauro because he is going to be a big player for us.
On football intelligence and if players can be taught that intelligence before the season is over:
It’s part of my job to teach them. Whether it’s by the end of this year or next year it’s something I’ve got to do. Ideally it will happen tomorrow. You know I’ll get them on the training field tomorrow and teach them. But with young players they learn at certain times and at certain stages. Some are able to take the concepts on board straight away and others it takes a little bit more time. We will work with them because there were periods in the game where they did make some good runs, but there were other periods where we were in very interesting positions but we weren’t able to have the final movements. We’ll get back to work on Monday and try to work with those forward players.
On the lack of shots on goal:
Yeah, I think Russell Teibert put the ball up two or three times on the edge of the box and rather than take a chance, buy a lottery ticket and take a shot on goal, he would pass back. You know when you put Kekuta Manneh on and you pass it to Kekuta on the edge of the box and Kekuta passes it to Russell on the edge of the box maybe you think it might not be your day. But you’re right I think we do need to take more shots on goal. And hit the target. Because you know he’s a super keeper Bill Hamid but there was once or twice where I think a rebound might have been able to be snatched up.
On Jordan Harvey moving far up into DC’s box:
He was great, he’s been excellent all year, and he’s really been fantastic. Again like we talked about Ethen he’s a warrior he’s a competitor and you need players like that in your squad and he put on a very polished performance today.
Update on Steven Beitashour:
He’s still got the hip problem he had last week prior to the Portland game. I wanted to play him for the Portland game because it was such a big game, but after 50 minutes he picked up a little niggle. I don’t think it’s a major thing but it’s an annoying thing. I could say he will be fit for Wednesday but you know he might not be fit for the following Saturday. It’s one of them that you just don’t know because we tried all week, he was 99% yesterday and then he pulled out. So it’s a tough one to take with Gershon Koffe being out and Beitashour being out, but it gives other players opportunities and they’ll be more players getting opportunities on Wednesday.
Jordan Harvey
Thoughts on the match:
I thought we played well. I thought we were going to be the only team to win tonight. Other than in front of the net, I thought it was a solid performance, just couldn’t put it in the back of the net.
Thoughts on tight standings:
I think we’re even with Portland right now, so it’s just going to be a battle down the stretch. We’ve got to win more than we lose and get some points. Like I said, we’re playing well, we just need to be more clinical in front of the net, and that includes everybody. Everybody on the field I feel like had a chance tonight. I had a few so that’s everybody.
Thoughts on his play:
I was just kind of feeling the game. We kind of had them pinned in for the second half, so I was just able to get forward and try to do that little extra. That’s what we were talking about before the game, was to do that little extra little bit, making that extra run, extra pass, and eventually it will pay off.
Thoughts on Ethen Sampson:
He did really well. Obviously debut, we gave him a clap after the game. It was unfortunate that he came out, I’m not really sure what happened with that, but yeah, he was solid. Obviously he’s really feisty defensively and he showed that tonight.
Mauro Rosales
Thoughts on the match:
I think we did a very good job coming back from the last game we did. We fix many things and the mentality of the team just stepping out, good concentration, being focused, we created many chances to score, we just need to be more calm in the last part of the situation that we create, and we will be okay. We did a very good job. We played against the top of the conference and we showed against any team, we can be a dangerous team, and we can be one of the best, but we need to score. We’ll take the point that we got today, but we also we’re a little disappointed about the end of the game, but I think we could have taken the three points today.
Thoughts on playing with Morales:
We didn’t have much time to work together as we have many games ahead, but we can see in the game that we can connect and we can also connect with the forward, and just trying to make offensive plays and to just give to the strikers, to give them the option to score, to give them the option to the team to connect and to make good possession of the ball, and we have to improve and to keep moving. We know we are on the good way. I just feel sorry that we just have eight games left. I wish I could be here before and just train with them, take time with them, to know each other much better, but it is what it is and I’m going to work very hard to be part of the team, and to try and help the team rise up.
Thoughts on lack of finish:
We’re a little disappointed. We were playing against the top team in the other conference and we still are disappointed because we just got one point. We should take the three today. The chances we generated seems like it was enough to generate one goal, but we just have to be positive for the next game and to try to be more calm in the last part of the field. But with this concentration and with aggressiveness, we can move forward.
