D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen
On being encouraged by the chances created recently…
“I’ve been encouraged with the entire week. It was a difficult task and we certainly wanted more points out of the week, but we showed we could win some games on the road. It was a little dirty in Vancouver and I thought we played well in Orlando…we created a lot of opportunities and should have gotten something out of it. I thought we continued with our good form tonight, and if we continue to play that way the wins will start to come. Sometimes it just takes a game or one goal to kick start the offense, but we’re having a little bit of trouble getting that first one right now. It’ll come.”
On knowing they can push for more…
“I’m encouraged with the last two games…how we’re building up and creating chances. I think if we can continue to do that we’ll start getting the wins that we need to compete for a playoff spot. Yes, we’re frustrated and feel like we probably could have earned more points over the course of the season, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We’ll just keep trying to get better.”
On it not being doom and gloom…
“We just got four points out of three games; three on the road and one point at home. We don’t have the points we want at this point in the season, but overall it’s been a good week. We’ve played well and we’ve been unlucky in front of the goal. We also picked up an away win so it’s not doom and gloom. We are a couple wins out of a playoff spot and it’s important over the next few weeks to compete, get better and find out who our best group is. Over the course of this week we’ve seen a lot of good performances from different players. I still have belief that this is a playoff team and that we will get there. In my mind this week was a big step forward for us.”
On the defensive depth…
“When we’re healthy, I don’t think anybody is as deep as us at right back. Jalen [Robinson] had a very good night at center back. I thought his passing and ability to run with the ball was good and Kofi [Opare] had a great spell the last few games. Taylor [Kemp] and Jared [Jeffrey] had to be iron men the last couple games, so I’m proud of those guys. We’ve built some reliable depth so we have a lot of good decisions to make. That’s a good team we just played…a team on the rise with a lot of dynamic players. To keep them off the board and create the chances we did is a positive.”
D.C. United midfielder Lloyd Sam
On the frustrations of not scoring…
“Obviously we had the chances today and against Orlando too. So that’s definitely a good sign for us. Some of the guys were talking and we’re obviously unhappy to not win the game. We’re going in the right direction though. Our previous home games were nothing like this. We looked a lot better today; especially at home. So let’s take a positive. We got another clean sheet and hopefully I can get a goal soon or one of the attacking players can.”
On the result…
“No point in being down about this game. LA are a talented team. We played pretty well today.”
On the week…
“It’s been a good week. We got four points but it could have been nine. Then again, look at Vancouver and it could of gone another way. You never know. So we’ll take it.”
D.C. United midfielder Ian Harkes
On his near goal at the end of the match…
“I thought it was going in. I was in the right spot. I definitely want to keep getting those chances.”
On United not scoring despite their numerous chances…
“Obviously it’s somewhat frustrating. We’d like to put those chances away but tonight was also positive—we created a lot of chances and had a better showing tonight."
On preparing for the U.S. Open Cup match next week, then returning to MLS action at Toronto on June 17…
“[The Open Cup game] is a game we can’t look past. It’s a good opportunity to get refocused, raise the energy levels, and work on things we’ve been struggling with. It’s a good opportunity for us to decompress and then take it to a next level going into the second half of the season."
LA Galaxy Curt Onalfo
On the overall result...
"It's important and now it's kind of lick the wounds, recuperate a little bit and then get back to work and we've got to get better. There are things that we've got to continue to improve upon and we've got a stretch now where we can work on a lot of those things. At the same time, we can give some guys some well-deserved rest that have played a lot of minutes consecutively and we want to continue our momentum and continue to build on what's been a good stretch for us."
On United playing strong defensively...
"The times when we were able to get on them in transition and play quick--we had a couple of those opportunities--we just needed to do a little bit better on the last pass and to give ourselves a chance to finish it off and finish the play. The times where we were able to move the ball and get that extra pass, I thought there were some good sequences--but credit to them, they fought hard and they grinded out a result for themselves."
On Gio dos Santos...
"Touch of class. That's just what Gio [dos Santos] is capable of--technically gifted, physically gifted and tactically gifted, so when he's in form, there's not many that are better. We're starting to see that in Gio and if you just look at him, he's the fittest he's ever been, he's the slimmest he's ever been and he's been very good and we look forward to that continuing."
On Jon Kempin's performance...
"Great job. [Jon] Kempin stepped in and did what we ask of all of our players when they get called upon. He logged a shutout--a valuable road point, so that was good."
On capping a road stretch in D.C....
"I didn't put a lot of thought into it--I'm not a backward-thinking person, I'm a forward-thinking person. Obviously, what happened to me here in D.C. was unfortunate, but it made me a better coach, I dedicated six years to myself and to making sure the next time I get an opportunity that I make the most of it--but I love this area. I lived here almost 10 years, but when you've been through as much as I have in my life, you don't really think about this and you think about the team. It was all about getting a result today--I wanted to try to get three points today, obviously, but walking away with a point feels good and it's always good to be back in D.C."
LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jon Kempin
On the overall result...
"Whenever you're on the road, you always want to get a result, whether that's a win or a tie. Obviously, we came here to get the win, but we ended up with a 0-0 draw. It's always good when you don't give up a goal, so we'll take the result."
On recording the shutout...
"Both of these clubs have huge histories. To be a part of the LA Galaxy and to get a shutout is obviously great for me. I felt comfortable and I've been in this situation before. All of the guys and the coaching staff gave me confidence going into the game, so it actually felt like it was just a normal game."
On accepting the role as backup goalkeeper...
"Being a backup goalkeeper, it's obviously interesting because you never know when you're going to get to play, so you always have to be ready and take one day at a time and keep getting better and better every single day--you hope that when your chance comes you're there for a reason and you've got to do well."
On facing United...
"I think if you look at any of the other games that [D.C.] have played, they've always had chances and shots in front of the goal, whether it was a great save by the goalkeeper or off the crossbar or post or just wide--but they've had chances all year long. Maybe the goals don't show it, and we had trouble with it at the beginning of the year as well, just getting unlucky."
