Quotes: Portland Timbers vs. FC Dallas
Portland Timbers Quotes
Head Coach John Spencer
Overall thoughts on the game:
“I thought we were very poor. From the first moment to the last, we never matched them at all, never got close to them, never tackled them, never ran with them, just a poor, poor performance.”
On getting back on track next week against Sporting Kansas City:
“It’s awesome. We return home and we are so good at home. You have to be a man to play on the road. You’ve got to man up and be strong. Most of these teams are going to be ready for you and Dallas was tonight.”
On the difference in tonight’s game:
“They score four and we never (scored). They had more shots on goals than us. Their players were running and moving off the ball better than we did from the start to the finish and played with a lot more confidence and desire than we did.”
On FC Dallas:
“I think they have some tremendous forward players on their team. They have four to five players that can change the pace of the game. They can cover 50-60 yards in a blink of an eye and when you’ve got pace like that along with a natural talent like Brek Shea and (Marvin) Chavez, they are going to cause you problems. If you don’t run with this Dallas team, track them and be physical with them and match their energy levels, they are going to do what that did to us tonight.”
Forward Kenny Cooper
Overall thoughts on the game:
“It was disappointing honestly. It was definitely not the result we were looking for, so it was definitely disappointing.”
On how to bounce back from this performance:
“I believe in this group that we have. I have a lot of confidence in our coaches and my teammates and I believe we are going to get back on track and hopefully we can do that next week.”
Defender Mamadou “Futty” Danso
Overall thoughts on the game:
“I feel like they were a better team today. In the first half both teams didn’t play to their best of ability but they (Dallas) finished their chances. They were definitely the better team in the 90 minutes.”
On how to regroup at home next week against Sporting Kansas City:
“We have to quickly turn around and get it out of our heads and try to move on to the Kansas City game. They (Kansas City) came and won here so they are going to have that courage coming in to our place to play well. We should not lose back to back games. We haven’t won in five games so we have to get off to a good start to the second half of the season.”
FC Dallas Quotes
Head Coach Schellas Hyndman
Overall thoughts on the game:
“Excellent performance tonight by FC Dallas against a very good team that has two good strikers and a team that plays a lot off free kicks and corner kicks. They had scored 18 goals total on restarts so it was something we were careful with. Our players all stepped up tonight. You can’t put your finger on any one who was exceptional. They all had a good game. We need those types of performances to continue to get those three points [each game]. We went with one striker, (Marvin) Chavez, who worked hard and made those runs. I thought Jackson and Brek (Shea) had good performances on the flanks. In the second half, Eric Alexander came to light with some nice runs and penetrating passes. Our defense had a shutout. [It was] just a very, very good team performance.”
On the two goals off set pieces:
“We made a change with Daniel Hernandez on services. Those two goals were great. I didn’t think we were getting the best out of services and we wanted to put someone there who could knock a dangerous ball in.”
On George John’s goal:
“We seem to do really well when our defenders score a goal. I think there is a lot of determination. The guys rally around it. Our defense showed great determination. When you look at the night Kenny (Cooper) had tonight, [it] was really not effective. Everywhere he went there was someone determined to stop him from getting a shot off.”
Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman
On another shutout:
“It's one of those things where we're back to a goal a game. We've had some barn burners -- we gave up four against [Sporting] Kansas City and we gave up three last time we played against Portland. I think overall it puts us in good shape to be giving up about a goal a game.”
On others helping out in the scoring department:
“When we found out Fabian (Castillo) wasn't going to be here on Monday afternoon, it was something we had to figure out how we were going to go about the lineup for the weekend. The guys had a reserve game away in West Texas on Tuesday and they didn't get back for Wednesday training, so we really only had Thursday and Friday to work as a group. I thought the guys performed pretty admirably and dealt with the situation.”
Defender George John
On the team's determination:
“The last game we played [at home] we got smoked by [Sporting] Kansas City, so we wanted to make a point today and treat our fans to a win. We wanted to prove that this is our home field and it's tough to beat us out here.”
On his goal:
“We were getting quite a few corners at that point of the game and I knew Daniel [Hernandez] was trying to find me. I was fighting for position and was able to get my head on the ball. At first, I thought it went in, but no one confirmed it then I saw Ugo [Ihemelu] laughing, so I was pretty sure it was a goal after that. It was good to get a goal.”
FC Dallas midfielder Daniel Hernandez
On the scoring outburst:
“I think there were several guys who really had excellent games. I think they stepped up and as a whole we all played a great game. We kept putting the pressure on Portland. It's a tough place to play with the heat and I thought everyone who participated tonight did a great job.”
FC Dallas defender Zach Loyd
On his first MLS goal:
“I was just really excited and happy. Daniel [Hernandez] played a great ball to the back post and I basically just had to jump and put my head on it. I was very happy with the goal and happy with the result tonight.”
Notes:
- Portland has yet to score the opening goal in any of their seven road matches.
- The Timbers have allowed seven goals in their last two matches after surrendering just six in the previous seven.
- Portland used all three of their allotted substitutions in the first 63 minutes, the quickest they have done so this season.
- The Timbers have not scored away from JELD-WEN Field since May 14 in Seattle, a stretch of 205 minutes without a road goal.
- Head coach John Spencer returned to the sidelines to lead the Timbers against FC Dallas after serving a one-game, league-imposed suspension in last week’s game against New York.
- Defender Mamadou “Futty” Danso returned to the Starting XI for the Timbers after missing last week's match with a left shoulder injury.
- Defender Steve Purdy rejoined the Timbers for the trip to Dallas to face his former club, after missing the previous four matches while on international duty with El Salvador in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He was an unused substitute for the match.
- Timbers forward and Dallas native Kenny Cooper made his first return to Pizza Hut Park since his four-year stint with FC Dallas (2006-09), when he scored 40 goals in 90 games.
- Timbers defenders Rodney Wallace and Jeremy Hall returned together to Pizza Hut Park, the site where they won the 2008 NCAA championship with the University of Maryland.
- The 93 degree temperature at kickoff is the hottest the Timbers have played under this season.
