Portland Timbers Quotes
Head coach John Spencer
Overall thoughts on the game:
“I don’t think it’s a fair reflection but it’s what the result is. They scored three goals, we scored once, and that’s what it is. For us, we had chances in the first half and a couple half chances in the second half. Second half you start the game over, slower game, and came into a couple of half chances that maybe could have affected the score. We never did it. And then we have to win our individual battles at the top of the 18. Juninho wins it, takes a touch or two and it’s in the back of the net. So it’s disappointing.”
On if his offense has quality:
“I think I still believe that we have quality, and we have quality to win the games. For me confidence is obviously a big factor when you have a losing streak and it’s the same the other way when you go on a winning streak and you feel unbeatable. I think we performed at times, played some real good football tonight and it’s unfortunate with a 3-1 scoreline against.”
It looks like the team hasn’t lost confidence:
“Of course, it’s a long season and obviously you want to be winning. Like Sporting KC, you want to win four, five or six in a row. The guys in there will be able to look back at this month and it will be a distant memory. Hopefully we’ll be in a position for to make the playoff and we’ll look back.”
On change in momentum:
“Goals change games. Change outlook of games, change perspective of games. I think we were well in control of the game in the first half. I think we had a couple other chances that were never capitalized on. Most good teams will come back and punish you if you give them an opportunity.”
Goalkeeper Troy Perkins
On how to overcome the loss:
“Forget about it. We can’t come into the locker room and say, ‘oh, we should have done that, we should have done that,’ you know? Cause it’s over with. You can’t change any of it. That’s the thing we’ve been preaching all week, is show it on the field. You can’t say, it’s my fault, or your fault, so forget about it.”
On what was being done to shut down Galaxy:
“I think we were kicking the ball better. Our movement off the ball was better and made them have to come back and defend. But you can’t do it forever. You’ve got to be smarter in certain situations.”
Forward Kris Boyd
On how to overcome the loss:
“We have to stick together. We’ll come out of it and I’m sure we stay positive and hopefully, again next week, we go at it and hopefully we get three points.”
On facing the LA Galaxy:
“I go into every game looking to score a goal. Our possession is key. The Galaxy are one of the better clubs in America but no different than any other team. Like I said before the most important thing is to get the three points and we’re disappointed not to get that.”
Forward Darlington Nagbe
On the first half compared to the second half:
“We were just kicking the ball better and everyone was moving better.”
On Galaxy’s defense in the second half:
“I don’t think it was anything better, it was just up to us and we just missed our chances. But we were creating chances so it was a good thing.”
On how frustrating the loss feels:
“It’s just as frustrating as the other ones. It’s time to stop talking and just get winning. Eliminate mistakes.”
LA Galaxy Quotes
Head coach Bruce Arena
On tonight’s game:
“Well, obviously it was a good win for the team. Certainly a game we needed to win. Overall, I thought it was a good performance over the 90 minutes. Not perfect, but certainly improved from our previous one during the MLS season.”
On the third goal, David Beckham:
“He hung in there for 90 minutes, was obviously a great role and sealed the win tonight, three points. It was big for the team and big for the player.”
On the teams performance:
“I think inside the team they have probably what they did individually, as a group, as a team it was better. I think at the end of the day, you have to be a good team and we haven’t been a good team in the early goings. Tonight we were a good team.”
Midfielder Landon Donovan
On the result:
“I thought we deserved it, and I thought the way we played deserved a win. I’m glad we got it.”
On the importance of the win after a slow start:
“It’s important, because you can’t sit on the bottom for too long, so it was good to get ourselves out of the cellar. We played better last week, today was, I think, our best performance all around of the season. We’ve got to keep carrying it to the coming weeks. It’s not good enough to have a couple better games then have a bad game; we have to be consistently better.”
Midfielder David Beckham
On the importance of the win:
“It’s a big win obviously because of the run we’ve been on, the way we’ve been playing. I think overall, our performance was 100 percent better than it has been all season. We played as a team, we attacked and defended as a team, and we deserved to win tonight.”
On his goal:
“It was a terrible first touch, but it took me into a shooting position and I knew as soon as I hit it that it was going in. I enjoyed it.”
Defender Todd Dunivant
On the team effort:
“I thought all over the field we had a good bite tonight. It really tired them out. Once we got possession we opened up and I thought we did a great job of keeping the ball. The mood of the team felt a lot different than it has. We can build on that. [If] we come to play like, we’re not going to lose many games.”
Notes
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The Timbers scored the game’s opening goal for a second straight match. With the loss to the Galaxy, Portland is 11-3-4 all-time when scoring the opening goal of a match.
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The Timbers have lost four straight, setting the club’s new MLS mark for consecutive losses.
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The Galaxy are 2-1-0 in the all-time series against the Timbers, including a 2-0-0 record at The Home Depot Center.
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The Timbers faced their third straight Western Conference opponent Saturday against the Galaxy, having played Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA in the previous weeks. The Timbers are winless (0-3-1) against conference opponents in 2012.
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Portland’s backline featured three different starters than the unit that faced Chivas USA in the club’s last match April 7. Defender Eric Brunner was the only carry over, and was joined by Mike Chabala, Hanyer Mosquera and Steve Purdy.
- Kris Boyd’s goal was the first scored by the Timbers at The Home Depot Center; the club was held scoreless in its first two visits to the venue in 2011.
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Boyd’s goal was also just the second first-half goal scored by the Timbers this season. He has scored both of the club’s first-half goals and has scored them in back-to-back games.
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The Timbers’ eight saves – six by Perkins and two team saves – set a new Timbers MLS record for saves in a single match. The previous mark was seven saves – all by Perkins – accomplished twice during the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2011.
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The Galaxy put 11 of their 17 shots against the Timbers on target and had seven different players with a shot on goal.
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Of the 11 goals allowed by the Timbers during the 2012 regular season, five have been scored in the final 15 minutes of matches. Those five late-game goals have all come in the last three matches – all losses (3-2 L to Real Salt Lake on March 31; 2-1 L to Chivas USA on April 7; Saturday’s 3-1 L to LA Galaxy).
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Galaxy forward Landon Donovan scored his third career goal against the Timbers Saturday. In total, he’s recorded three goals and two assists in three games against Portland. Donovan recorded two goals and an assist in the first meeting between the sides April 23, 2011, at The Home Depot Center.
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Defender Steve Purdy made his season debut, starting at right back; his last MLS start was July 10, 2011, against Seattle Sounders FC. He’s the 15th different player to make a start for Portland in 2012.
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Defender Hanyer Mosquera returned to the Timbers starting lineup against the LA Galaxy. He missed two matches due to a concussion sustained against New England March 24.
- Defender Lovel Palmer had a string of 15 straight starts for the Timbers come to an end Saturday. His 15 starts was the longest active starting streak among Portland field players, goalkeeper Troy Perkins has the club’s longest active streak, making 34 consecutive starts.
