United head coach Ben Olsen
On the importance of getting a win and scoring a goal…
“There were two things we wanted to get off our back. Obviously, one was scoring a goal and the second was getting a win. We crossed both of those off the list tonight. It’s important to pick up points at home and overall it was a good performance. There’s a lot we need to work on and get better at to continue to win games, but today was a gutsy performance. Today showed that we have the character we thought we had.”
On starting Bobby Boswell…
“There was nothing negative to say about Sean [Franklin]. Sean [Franklin] over the course of the three games was good. I thought the team needed Bobby [Boswell] out there; he's a winner with a real personality, and that was the reason I started him."
On José Ortiz’s performance…
“He scored a goal, right? That’s the first thing you always check off the list for your forward, so he got a good rating for that. We need to work on some other stuff with him moving forward, but his work rate was very good.”
On what José Ortiz needs to improve…
“He needs more time with players to build connections on the field. He hasn’t played a lot of minutes with our first team, both in trainings and games, so that will all get better with time. He’s a competitor and courageous so that’s a good starting point. Again, a goal always helps a forward and he had a good day, but there’s still some stuff to work on…and that’s no different from the entire group right now.”
United defender Steve Birnbaum
On the team scoring…
“We knew that our team was capable of scoring. We had chances leading up to this game, and it was good for José [Ortiz] to score. We had a ton of chances to score at the end of the first half, so the goals are coming, but obviously it took a little bit of weight off our defense and we saw it out.”
On dealing with a pressing Philadelphia offense…
“We didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball in the second half. They had it most of the time and were keeping us pinned back, but we defended the box well and had a seasoned backline. I thought we communicated well and stayed with the runners. Bill [Hamid] came up with some big saves, so that’s always good.”
On C.J Sapong…
“He’s a good forward and a workhorse out there. He fights, picks up of second balls and creates a lot. I thought we did a pretty good job taking care of him. Obviously when they got that goal, they pushed us back a little bit, but I thought we responded well.”
United midfielder Patrick Nyarko
On the team's first win of the season...
"It's one of those games that, after the start to the season, you just want to get through because it's been tough and when you get two quick goals, you want to see the game through. We sat back a little bit, we were conscious about taking care of the ball and all of that and they came at us in the second half and it was tough to try and defend for 45 minutes--you get tired at some point. We can celebrate the win, but we've got a lot of work to do."
On working hard in the past couple of weeks...
"That's the grind of MLS. We pride ourselves in our working for each other. The other teams have special players and stuff like that--we know we all have to bring our A-game every game to get a win. We're all on the same page, we know we didn't play well enough in the second half, but we'll celebrate the win."
United midfielder Ian Harkes
On the overall result...
"It was definitely a good first half. To get after them right away, we had some high pressure to turn them over and put ourselves in good situations for those two goals, so it was good to definitely bring that energy at home and start off strong."
On what the group can build on from tonight's result...
"We want to be a little better at holding onto the ball and not turning it over in certain situations because they were coming at us and had a little bit of momentum in that second half, so it was a total team effort, defensively, to keep the win."
On receiving his third start in four games...
"Obviously, you just want to help the team as much as you can. I've been lucky to compete and get in there and have a spot right now, so I'm just trying to do the best I can. There are a lot of things I have to add to my game, but hopefully just helping the team as much as I can is the main goal and working on progressing my game as well."
On preparing for New York City FC next week...
"I think we've got to take a lot of confidence from this game, but we know that from the last time we met, there are a lot of things we have to change and be prepared for--so we're going to work hard this week to prepare for that."
Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin
On his reflection of the game…
“To reflect back on the game, we actually came out in the first 15 minutes and had possession like we talked about. We started well and then had two self-inflicted errors that were mistakes that we didn’t really recover from, and the rest of the half we chased things a little bit. Again, those things happen. This league is too strong and there’s too much talent to spot teams two goals. I know this group; the performances are not indicative of the point total that we are on right now. So again, we need to continue to work hard in training, fix some things and results will start going our way.”
On CJ Sapong bringing a spark to the team…
“CJ did a great job coming off the bench. I thought all of our guys came off the bench and impacted things a bit. Obviously it needs to be said, Jack Elliot in his debut, he came in and did a good job. But yes, CJ gave them some problems. He came into the game like a good forward does and left an impact right away. Obviously he got the tap in goal, which was good, and then from there it was a handful for them. Created chances, created shots, headed some balls, but overall disappointed not to get something out of the game.”
United defender Jack Elliott
On his MLS debut and what it was like going in on the situation he went in on…
“I had to do a job. Richie went out at halftime, I knew that and I stepped up. It felt great to finally be on the pitch for my MLS debut, but at the same time, we didn’t come out with the result so it was a bit bittersweet.”
On if he was nervous going in…
“Of course. Nervous for a lot of things, but after five minutes and making a few passes I settled down.”
On not allowing a goal while in…
“Yes it’s what I had to do. It’s my job and it helped us stay in the game. We were fishing for 45 minutes and we couldn’t get the result there.”
Philadelphia Union forward C.J. Sapong
On scoring the goal...
"Just coming in, I wanted to make sure I was around the goal and I saw Ale [Bedoya] create a little bit of space for himself to get a shot off…I just wanted to get close to the goalkeeper, and fortunately he wasn't able to keep a hold of it and I just put it into the goal."
On making a difference for his team and playing a new role...
"For me it's always been the same message--providing an impact for my team and I feel like, by coming off of the bench, it's putting me into a position to come at the game from a different angle and I think it causes a little bit of trouble for defenders to have my playing style come in late in the game. I think it's something that will start to benefit us as the season goes on. I'm always going to relish any time I'm on the field--any time that I'm fighting with my teammates. Again, for me, it's always been from day one to have an impact for my team and coming onto the field and feeling the energy of your teammates rise from you working hard, I will always cherish that. However that comes about, whether it's me starting or coming off of the bench, I'll definitely appreciate that role."
On the team's overall goal moving forward...
"At the end of the day, I want to win--we all want to win. The season, for us, we feel like our points aren't really indicative of what this team is capable of and what we're made of, so for me, again, it's impact, it's getting back to the nitty gritty and finding ourselves and realizing that we have the talent and the ability--it's just about maybe mentality."
On Hamid's save on his shot on goal...
"There was a lot going on in there. I figured, just get it on goal and I couldn't even see him. He came out of nowhere and made a good stop--that's how the game goes."
On mistakes made on the field...
"The way we look at it is that everything that went against us was inflicted by ourselves--everything was something we could've done better. It's easier, but sometimes harder, to come off of the field after the game and know that you're the one who put you in the situation, but, on the flip side, you eliminate those mistakes or you eliminate those things and you'll begin to see the results."
