Quotes: Portland Timbers at Chivas USA
Portland Timbers Quotes
Head coach John Spencer
On what he said to the team about keeping an even keel:
“We’ve lost two games in the last two weeks, and it’s the first time since the first couple games of the season. Chivas USA get a lot of praise for the way they’re playing. We’re sitting tonight after two losses tied on seventeen points, if you look at the other conference New York is probably on eighteen or nineteen points. We’re in good shape. I said to the guys, ‘don’t be happy that we lost, I don’t expect you’d be happy that we lost’. Could we play better? I know we can. But for a new team we aren’t doing so bad.”
Overall thoughts on the game:
“We had opportunities to score, they had opportunities to score a couple more and we were still hanging around with a chance to tie the game up until the end. So (the players) got to get their heads up, can’t feel too sorry for themselves. After twelve games we’re in the mix, sitting in a decent position and not looking too far up to the top of the conference. There are a couple teams looking up at us from sideways and above. We’ll get back home, work hard this week and get prepared for the game at home.”
On Troy Perkins’ performance:
“I thought he was excellent. I thought he pulled off two world-class saves. That’s why we brought him here, that’s why we put him back in the team, and I thought in the last couple months he’s been excellent.”
Goalkeeper Troy Perkins
On losing back-to-back games:
“A little bit, I mean obviously the older guys have been around and we’ve all played on teams that have been a lot worse and have gone through a lot worse. For a young team such as we are, the guys have to learn from it. We’re not losing six, seven to nothing here. It’s one to nothing. It’s just simple mistakes that we need to learn from. We’re going to grow and we’re going to get better. We can’t be hanging our heads.”
About if the team has hit the wall:
“No, I just think it’s one of those things where we’re learning still. Everyone thought everything was sunshine and rainbows, we were winning at home and we go to Seattle and do well, but it’s a tough league. We still have a lot of games left and a lot of road games left. So we can’t be hanging our heads and feeling bad for ourselves.”
Chivas USA Quotes:
Head coach Robin Fraser
On the game:
“A 1-0 victory seems like not that big of a deal, but the way we went about it, I was really proud. We put ourselves into dangerous positions often that we could’ve scored maybe a goal or two more, but I just felt like our mindset was right and that’s the way it has to be.”
On Marcos Mondaini’s performance:
“Marcos was very good from his first touch in the game; he took on a few guys and got around the corner and getting into dangerous crossing positions. In spite of the incident that happened with himself and Javier, Marcos is a wonderful person and he feels a responsibility because he feels like he’s let the team down. The fact that he came back with this attitude that he really wanted to help the team and I thought he was really good in that respect.”
On team’s mental approach:
“The win is important, but the thing I’m most excited about is our aggressive mindset from the beginning. We have not always seen that at home and I felt like tonight, the way we came out and played, was exactly the way we need to play, in terms of our willingness to get forward.”
Forward Marcos Mondaini
On his performance:
"I felt very well. The last minutes I felt a little tired. The four games that I was out affected me at some point, but I am very grateful that I am back, that I scored, and that we won. During the four weeks that I was without playing, I never had that experience before, but it was one of those things that life confronts you with, and I am just glad that I’m back.”
Notes:
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Defender Eric Brunner missed his first match of the season due to illness. Entering Saturday’s match, he had played every minute of the regular season on the Timbers’ backline. He was replaced in the lineup by David Horst.
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Portland matched a season-high with nine corner kick attempts against Chivas USA, holding a 9-2 edge in that statistical category.
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The Timbers fall to 0-5-2 in matches when their opponent strikes for the opening goal.
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Midfielder Sal Zizzo made his second straight start for the Timbers and faced his former team Chivas USA, whom he played 10 games for in 2010.
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The Timbers were shutout for just the third time in their first 12 games of the season by Chivas USA. Portland was shutout in each of its two regular-season visits to The Home Depot Center, falling 3-0 to the LA Galaxy on April 30.
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Coming on as a sub in the 75th minute, Timbers forward Eddie Johnson made his first league appearance since April 17. He missed five games due to an Achilles injury.
