Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
Overall thoughts on the game…
“Feels like a loss. Very disappointing. Didn’t think we managed the second half well. This has now become a pattern. We’re in winning position and we don’t show a strong enough mentality. A strong enough urgency. For me when I look at how we played after we gave up the goal. That’s the way we should play every game for 90 minutes. There’s a pattern of this I would say mix of complacency with a few guys and a mix of fear with a few guys and we’ve got to change it because when the pressure tightened up in the second half we didn’t manage the game well. We gave the ball up too much. We fouled too much. We didn’t score the third goal when we should have. We should have showed more killer instinct. We didn’t manage the last 10 minutes well. There was some poor decisions on going to corners and keeping the ball. These are just things you have to manage as a professional player and as professional team. A winning team. This is a pivotal moment. This is either the turning point where we finally decide after the guys look in the mirror and they look at that second half and they realize it’s not good enough where it could be a turning point. Either a stepping stone or it’s going to be a stumbling block. It’s one of two things, but we’ve got to sort it out if we are going to win anything. Otherwise we will continue to fall short. We will always play pretty well because we’ve got a good enough team and we are organized. We’ve got our fans behind us. But to be a winning team we have to have a stronger mentality.”
On if it was one of the toughest finisheshe’s had since he’s been here…
“I don’t know about that. There were a lot of tough ones when you look back over the four and half years. I remember some late losses. Things like that, obviously we’ve had some tough ones recently in this stretch. But again I’m looking more big picture than today. The trend and the pattern and I know what it takes to be a winning team. When I say ‘winning team’ I don’t just mean winning a game. I mean winning something at the end of the year and this team has the potential to do that. My belief in their ability to do that hasn’t wavered, but when [Darlington] Nagbe went out of the game the game changed. That shouldn’t happen one player going out of the game. The personality shouldn’t change. When Nagbe took over the game after the goal. The game changed. We have to have a team of guys who are going to take over the game. We have to have a team of guys who can find ways to win games and make plays. In that second half there were three things we wanted to do. First one was keep the ball. We didn’t do that. We gave the ball away. Unforced errors far too much. We didn’t want to foul because we knew every foul would be a set piece. We lacked discipline and we fouled far too much. We gave them time and time again a chance to get their bigs up and get a chance. That wasn’t what we wanted to happen. Then the third thing was to score the third goal. We wanted to play the exact same way we did after we gave up the goal. The way we played to get two goals. The human nature kicked in and we didn’t show that killer instinct and we got punished again. So I’m hoping this is finally like I said the turning point and we can use it as a stepping stone where we can come together and have a stronger, tougher mentality because we need more leadership inside the lines with guys making plays and holding the standard high."
On what he needs to do as a coach to making this a turning point…
“That’s personality. I will continue to push them and challenge them. Tell them to watch the second half. It’s easy to stand up and say this and that. But go watch and look in the mirror. There were far too many guys that gave the ball away when they shouldn’t. Far too many guys fouled. Far too many guys didn’t make the right decisions. Individually and collectively we’ve got to figure it out. Leadership wise we need more guys that are wanting to hold people accountable. Like I said we will always be a pretty good team, but that’s not what we want to be this year and what we should be this year. To be a great team. To be a team that wins something we have to have more killer instinct. We have to have more guys that are finding ways to f*ing win games. Excuse my French."
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson
On what he saw on the Seattle equalizer in stoppage time…
“I think initially, we’ve got to clear our lines better. It’s the last two minutes of the game and we’re giving the ball away in our defensive half. Just clear your lines and get the line up. That’s what we needed to do, but we didn’t do it. It was a good cross and got caught by Clint Dempsey. He’s a guy of quality, and he’s going to put it in the back of the net. It’s disappointing. It’s kind of like déjà vu – kind of like the Colorado late goal. It’s something we need to look at, and something we need to improve on.”
On the mentality of the team…
“It’s just making that mental adjustment to close out games. It’s there. We know we can do it. It’s getting back into it and finding a way to win the game.”
On heading into the next game…
“We look at every game and assess every game. It’s been a rough week, so we’ve got a week where we can reflect and head into Kansas City and put in a strong performance. We’re going to do all we can off the field, look at film and then make sure we come into training on Tuesday. We’ve got to be doing the right things and have the right mentality because that’s when it starts. For us, it’s learning and putting it behind us and making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Portland Timbers defender/midfielder Amobi Okugo
On his thoughts on the match…
“It’s a rivalry game. We had three games in eight games and you come up with one point. Everyone is upset. From the first-team guys, to the second-team guys and the whole coaching staff. We know we’ve got to pick it up.”
On what the team needs to do to improve…
“We’ve got to step up. This is a job for me. As a soccer player, you only have 10-12 years if you’re lucky. These games come and go. We’ve got to take advantage of the position we’re in to play in front of the great fans, great environment, great organization. If we don’t take advantage of those opportunities, there’s going to be guys that are hungrier that will take our place. The coaching staff knows how to motivate us. You’re going to see a lot of guys stepping up.”
Seattle Sounders FC Quotes
Seattle Sounders FC head coach Brian Schmetzer
General thoughts on the match…
“Very proud of the fight and the fact that they didn’t give up. They go down a guy and give the lead back to them, it was the fight, it was the quality of the goal. Deuce [Clint Dempsey] went up, Roman [Torres] floated it in and Deuce got after it, it was a good goal. Happy with the fight, happy with the quality in the second half and really happy with how we played in the second half, our team played with determination and was able to connect some passes and relieve some pressure.”
Feeling when leading early…
“We’ve been up 1-0 the last five games and we need to find ways to close those games out. In this league, there is a higher chance that if you take the lead you come out on top and win games. That’s the soccer part of it, that’s what we’re going to work on. After last week I said it felt like a loss, but this definitely like a win.”
What was said in the locker room at halftime…
“Similar to the last time we came down here and lost 4-2, nobody quits. This team will not quit, it’s too proud of a franchise to do that and they did that again on their own. I barely had to say words in there, because those guys in there were the determined ones that make sure they can get something out of the game. I don’t really need to coach them up in situations like this.”
Seattle Sounders FC forward Clint Dempsey
On the ball from Roman Torres…
“It was a great ball. It’s the type of ball that any striker or forward wants. It just invites you to attack it when he puts it in a good place, just have to go up there and get a head on it and put it on frame – that’s what I did.”
On scoring prowess against Portland…
“I like scoring against everybody. Any goal is a great goal. You like to score in big games. This is considered a big game because of the rivalry and you want to step up and figure out how to help the team have a good season and turn things around, because we’re not where we want to be.”
Notes:
· Sunday’s game marked the 116th consecutive sellout for the Timbers at Providence Park.
· Sunday’s match was the 98th competitive game between Portland and Seattle since 1975.
· In 10 MLS matches between the Timbers and Sounders FC at Providence Park, 44 goals have been scored. That is seven more than any other exact fixture since 2011.
· Portland is unbeaten in its last five home matches and has lost just once in its last 14 home games (10-1-3).
· Fanendo Adi scored his 50th goal of his Timbers career, becoming the first player to reach that mark in the 42-year history of the club.
· Adi has nine goals in 2017, tied for the fifth-most in MLS this season.
· Dairon Asprilla scored his second goal of the season.
· Asprilla is the 53rd different Timbers player to score a goal against Seattle in a competitive match.
· David Guzmán delivered his fifth assist of the season, which is second-most on the team in 2017. It was his third assist direct from a set piece this season, tying him for the MLS lead in that category.
· The Timbers are one of two teams with multiple players with nine or more goals this season, along with the Chicago Fire.
· Darlington Nagbe became the first Timbers player to appear in 200 matches for the club. Nagbe is the second-youngest MLS player to reach 200 matches with a single club.
