Quotes: Portland Timbers at Montreal Impact
Portland Timbers Quotes
Head coach John Spencer
On the injuries during the match:
“I think Steve Purdy got a concussion and Troy Perkins got a nasty gash on his nose.”
Thoughts on the match:
“I don’t think we played well at all today. I think that the field was very poor and it matched with our performance. We came in the game a little bit better in the second half, but the penalty call changed momentum.”
On turning things around:
“We need to keep a clean sheet on the road, to defend better, and to take responsibility individually and collectively and have stronger performances.”
Forward Kris Boyd
Thoughts on the result:
“Montreal played better than us, they worked harder than us, so they deserved the victory. I think the penalty decision changed the game. But we need to look at our performance. It wasn’t good enough on the road. We look forward to the game next week.”
Midfielder Jack Jewsbury
Thoughts on the match:
“Montreal was playing at home, they’ve been solid, and we knew they were going to come out hard. First half ended 0-0, so we wanted to at least try to get out of here with a point. We don’t know if the penalty kick was deserved, if there was a hand ball or not, but at the end of the day we needed to be better and we weren’t good enough tonight.”
On getting results on the road:
"I think consistency has been an issue for us on the road. We came out last week again Kansas City, at home, we were winning second balls and had a great game. It’s just a matter of finding that consistency on the road now.
Montreal Impact Quotes
Head coach Jesse Marsch
On the result:
“We’ve felt all along that the team was coming together. No disrespect to Portland, because they have a good team despite their slow start, but this was a dominant performance by us from start to finish.”
On Montreal’s game plan:
"We’ve tried hard to work on when to go for those attacking plays, and when to go for that extra pass. We have players that are good with their feet, and we have some fast and explosive players that can create havoc. We are still trying to fine tune that balance on when to do what. If we would have held on to the ball a little longer in the first half, and made that extra pass, we would have had even better opportunities.”
Forward Bernardo Corradi
On the team’s improvement:
“Things have been getting much better. The precision behind our passes is improving and the finishing as well. Our intensity is getting much higher. We battled today and we managed the game better.”
On the team’s scoring chances:
“We had opportunities to score today. I missed a good one so if we keep creating these chances, we’ll keep scoring goals. The guys who came off the bench created a lot of chances today. We have to continue like this because with so many games coming up this month, we’ll need that help from the bench.”
Midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic
On the win:
”It’s definitely one of our goals to not concede at home and to be tough to play here. The entire group of guys worked towards that in today’s game and I think it was a very good performance defensively.”
On playing as a sub:
“Right now, the most important thing was to get the three points. We said all along that we’ve been playing well enough to get results, but we haven’t gotten the points. Now, some of those results are coming, so for me personally, I want to keep pushing and make Jesse’s job as hard as possible. It’s a different preparation coming on as a sub. When you start, you don’t know what to expect. When you come on later in the game, you have to prepare yourself mentally for what type of game is being played.”
Notes:
- The Timbers and Impact met first time as MLS counterparts Saturday; it is the lone meeting between the clubs during the 2012 regular season.
- Portland and Montreal have a decade of history (2001-10) as rivals in the second division. The two clubs last met in the second division May 19, 2010, in Portland. Timbers defender Steve Purdy and Impact forward Eduardo Sebrango, who both played on Saturday also played in that final second-division meeting.
- The Timbers are winless through four games on the road in 2012, with a record of 0-3-1. Portland is winless and has been shut out twice in its two games in the Eastern Time Zone this season.
- The Timbers wore their secondary Rose City red kits for the second time this season on Saturday. Portland is 0-2-0 in their secondary strips in 2012, but are 2-3-3 overall when wearing their red kits.
- Portland moves to 2-2-0 against Eastern Conference clubs this season with the loss to Montreal.
- The Timbers finish their April schedule with a record of 1-3-0. The club’s all-time MLS record in April is 4-4-1.
- The Timbers played in their second day game of the 2012 campaign on Saturday; the other was at New England on March 24. Since joining MLS, the Timbers are 2-5-0 in day games.
- Against Montreal, the Timbers allowed both goals in the final 15 minutes of the match. Overall this season, Timbers have conceded seven goals during the final 15 minutes of play, which is more than then they have allowed during the first 75 minutes of play combined (6).
- Portland will play three of its next four league matches at JELD-WEN Field, starting next week against Columbus on May 5.
- Timbers goalkeeper Joe Bendik and defender Steve Smith made their Timbers and MLS debuts in the match against Montreal. Bendik entered as a sub in the second half, while Smith started at left back.
- Bendik’s substitution appearance for the injured Troy Perkins marked the second time in the Timbers MLS history in which the club has had to make an in-game change at the goalkeeper position. The other was March 26, 2011, when Jake Gleeson came on for an injured Adin Brown at halftime.
- Timbers captain Jack Jewsbury and Impact captain Davy Arnaud were teammates for eight seasons with the Kansas City Wizards from 2003-10.
- Portland defender Eric Brunner made his 75th career MLS start on Saturday at Montreal; 39 of his MLS career starts have come as a member of the Timbers.
- Defender/midfielder Freddie Braun made his second consecutive MLS appearance on Saturday, entering the match for the injured Steve Purdy in the 20th minute.
- Forward Jorge Perlaza was called offside four times on Saturday, matching an individual season high for the Timbers; Kris Boyd was whistled offside four times at LA Galaxy on April 14.
- Impact midfielder Collen Warner played for the Portland Timbers U-23s during the team’s inaugural Premier Development League season in 2009. He played his collegiate career at the University of Portland.
