Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese
On his overall thoughts on the match…
"I thought that we had very good moments. Unfortunately, there were a few times in the first half that they were able to find the space and they capitalized in one opportunity. They defended well, I thought that the guys just worked very hard. I mean, everyone put everything that they could. We had chances, we attacked, we possessed the ball. I thought that we dominated the match, but credit to them, they defended very well and the goalkeeper made some spectacular saves. These are the types of games that if we play the way we played today, not many times we are going to lose.”
On the challenges Vancouver presented defensively …
"They organize defensively and we know they are going to play to try to frustrate the opposition. I think they were able to, in the first half, find some moments to be able to do that, but at the end the team played very well. Our guys were able to give everything that they had and as I said, unfortunately, between some saves [from Vancouver goalkeeper, Maxime Crépeau] and maybe a little bit more determination inside the box maybe we could have gotten a different score.”
On the quick turnaround the team is facing…
"First of all, we have to digest this game today. We have to look at this game and understand and assess what we need to assess and then right away prepare for Houston, which is a very good team. It’s another tough team that we have to play on the road and that’s it. These guys have done a tremendous job. I thought today was a very good match and now we need to prepare for Houston.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Chara
On his overall thoughts on the match…
"I think it was a physical game. I think in the second half we were a little bit better with the ball. We created a lot of opportunities to score, but I think today we weren’t effective.”
On Vancouver’s defensive performance…
“I think I was hard because they found the goal too quick in the first half. After that I think we did everything to try to create for every way to score and unfortunately we didn’t.”
On how the team will recover from the loss…
“I think we are in the right moment for that. I think we learned that before, and now we are a strong group.”
Portland Timbers defender Larrys Mabiala
On his views on the game…
"I think that globally, we had a very good game because we had the possession of the ball, we created chances, clear chances, and unfortunately today we were a bit unlucky. But I give credit to this team of Vancouver who played with heart, a lot of heart. They saved a lot of balls on the line and it’s been difficult for us to find the goal, but if we keep going this way we will win more games than losing.”
On getting ready for the quick turnaround next week…
“We’ll just keep our heads up and focus on the next game. We’ll analyze this game that we played today against Vancouver, where I think it’s just a little mistake in the first half where we were a little bit disconnected that cost us the game, but we’ll work on it and we’ll move forward to be ready to face Houston.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coach Marc Dos Santos
Overall thoughts on the match …
“The first 20 minutes of the team were fantastic in every sense – possession, creating, scoring, mobility in the attack. Then Portland had a little bit more possession. Blanco and Valeri were able to find some pockets between lines and that created a little bit of instability. The game became very broken when we tried to exploit some things in transition. They won the ball, then we lost the second ball, it became broken. The last 10 minutes of the first half, we were able to settle again. In the second half, we knew they would come hard. This was the team that was in the MLS Cup final. They’re a good team and it’s normal when you play good teams that they come at you. We were able to be solid, we were able to show commitment between everybody, and in transition, we had plays that were exciting and could’ve finished with a goal. Overall, I think with what we did in the 90 minutes, we deserve the three points against a very good team coming from three wins in a row so the guys did a very good job.”
On whether the defensive game in the second half was a tactical decision …
“You never want to because I’m going to be 42 in May and if I continue like that, at the end of the season, I’m going to be 58. It’s not an intention. But things happen that bring you back. And what happened a lot is we were compact, we were very deep, and when we won the ball, we weren’t able to keep it well. It creates fatigue and we back up. Blanco created problems, Moreira on the right side created problems. This is why Brett came into that position, but again I think fans saw a good game between two good teams.”
On Maxime Crepeau’s performance tonight and the goalies in general …
“He was of course [important to the game]. He did a couple of big saves. We talk Max but Zac, before we speak about Max, Zac in training from day one that he came to preseason until now fantastic, his growth and level of fitness he’s getting at, tomorrow if we have to play Zac, no body’s in panic, we’re good. We have the luxury to have two very good keepers but how I see Max is this: a goalkeeper is very similar to a coach, the goalkeeper just needs an opportunity and Max maybe didn’t have that opportunity in Montreal because Montreal has a good goalkeeper called Evan Bush? And Max just needed an opportunity, the Whitecaps gave him the opportunity and he’s taken it. He’s a smart kid, he’s there for the team, he works hard every day in training and Zac, Thomas, Sean, they push each other in training. Youssef does a fantastic job with them and I have to say it publicly because Youssef does a fantastic job with them, and then everything clicks and Max answers.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau
On the defensive unit in front of him …
“It’s not even just the four men in front of me, it’s the midfielders, wingers, all coming back. The back four is really solid. We saw it tonight, we saw it last weekend, It’s always like that, the work ethic of the boys and the mentality. It’s a big part of our game, the defensive aspect.”
On facing 27 shots from Portland …
“It was definitely back and forth. It’s easier for me to stay focused when we’ve got action, because if you’re only seeing action every 35 minutes, you have to really keep up mentally to be ready for that ball. But if the ball keeps coming in waves, you’re right in there [mentally], so it’s okay.”
Vancouver Whitecaps forward Fredy Montero
On if he changed anything to now score in back-to-back games …
“No the same. I tried to work hard. I know my value, I know what can I do to help the team, and I always try to believe in every single training session. I’m honest to myself. I have a lot of experience and I always try to be focused because there are so many good players in this team, and we need to be ready because we need all of the players to be ready to win games.”
Notes:
- The match was the 300th MLS match (regular season and playoffs) for the Timbers.
- Portland finished the match with 27 shots, setting a club record for most shots in an away match in MLS. The previous high was set on March 2, 2019, when the Timbers had 24 shots in a 3-3 draw against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
- The 27 shots are the third-most for an away team in any MLS match since 2010. Additionally, the 27 shots are the most in a regular-season match for the Timbers since the club had 30 shots against FC Dallas on June 11, 2014.
- Portland outshot Vancouver 27-12 in the match. The 15-shot advantage is the most the Timbers have ever had in an away match.
- Diego Valeri created nine chances in the match. Valeri is the only player to create nine or more chances in an MLS match this season. Valeri had 10 chances created against the Colorado Rapids on March 2.
- Valeri made his 199th start (regular-season and playoffs) for the Timbers since joining the club in 2013.
