Quotes & Notes - Timbers: 0, Crew: 0, May 5, 2012

Portland Timbers Quotes

Head coach John Spencer
Overall thoughts on match:
"I thought for long periods of times we dominated the possession, dominated the tempo of the game. Obviously there were a couple of half-chances in the first half. I thought their goalkeeper, [Andy] Gruenebaum, pulls off two or three great saves, especially the one from Rodney Wallace. We played more like ourselves tonight. The tempo was high, matched the energy in the stadium. I think we looked back to ourselves. It's a positive step. Obviously not the result we hoped for, but it's a positive step."

On result getting the team back on track:
"I think it does get you back on track mentally. Obviously we're disappointed because we hate sending the fans home empty-handed and such. We always feel that we can win at home. So we feel, a bit, we've let ourselves down a little bit. Take the positives from it, I think we had some very, very good performances tonight; there's a lot of positives to take. I think that we looked the better team tonight than we have done the whole year."

On the second half of the game:
"I just felt that we were knocking on the door. We were in their half, and at times they broke on us, but we were throwing men forward to try and get that opportunity where we create a goal and score a goal. I think we were very unlucky not to have gotten three points tonight to be honest."

Goalkeeper Troy Perkins:
On team's performance:
"I think our intensity and our passion tonight was really there, and I think that was a team that John [Spencer] really wanted, the way he wanted to go tonight, and the guys put it all out there."

More thoughts on the match:
"I think the tempo of the game was relentless. We really went after them. There were times we made really bad decisions on our passes, so we got to learn from that. But I think getting a clean sheet and a point is a good start."

On a different back line:
"No different from normal. You still got to tell the guys the same thing. Still got to talk to them, still there to guide them and make sure the shape is good, and like I said, doesn't matter who's on the pitch, everyone we got on this team puts everything out there."

Defender Futty Danso:
Overall thoughts:
"We went for the three points, but getting a point is not a bad thing. A clean sheet is more important on the defensive side, but we wish we could have made it a three-point win."

On the team's performance:
"I wouldn't say it's the most complete game, but it's one of the game's that we saw more desire, more hunger to the game, trying to win the game as soon as possible. Everybody was doing both sides of play, both defensive and offensive, so we make it easy for everyone."

Columbus Crew Quotes

Head coach Robert Warzycha
Thoughts on the game:
“We matched Portland’s intensity and physicality. It’s a fair result, 0-0, because we could have scored three goals and they could have scored three. I think we were decisive with the ball and created some chances. We did against a tough opponent especially in front of the fans.”

Thoughts on the atmosphere:
“I said last year and again this year, this is one of the best crowds in the entire league if not the best. It was nice to see people waiting in front of the gates an hour-and-a-half before the match, it was good to see them before the warm-up singing; it’s just amazing.”

Moving forward:
“We have a game against Dallas at home, and then go straight to San Jose and Seattle, so some tough games in front of us, but after a game like today’s it’s something to build on, especially having so many injuries.”

Defender Josh Williams
Thoughts on the game:
“It was a battle from the first minute to the 90th minute. Tough place to play, but this is what it’s all about, coming in here, playing in front of 20,000 like that. [Portland] has some big guys who battle and it’s a fair result. We’ll take the point, coming in here. We’d like to have three, but we’ll take the point for the environment we were in.”

Thoughts on the atmosphere:
“This was my first time. Last year I didn’t make the trip. We practiced here yesterday and everyone was pretty impressed with the facilities. We tried to imagine it all filled up and some of the new guys like Eric [Gehrig] in the back with me, this was our first time so we knew it was going to be crucial to talk, yell, yell to each other. A couple times we got mixed up from the noise, but I thought we played pretty well and stuck together and played good team defense.

On battling Boyd:
“That guy’s tough, he’s tough. He’s definitely one of the more physical forwards, but I liked it. I like mixing it up. Him and Futty too, on free kicks were talking trash, but I got a lot of respect for those guys. Those are big boys and they’re tough to handle.”

Defender Eric Gehrig
Thoughts on the game:
“They had their chances, we had our chances. It was two defenses battling for a full 90 minutes, and like I said, we had some looks, they had some looks. It was back-and-forth soccer, and I thought it was a fair result.”

On the physical play:
“Portland’s pretty direct, and Boyd does a good job up there holding the ball, and they got Darlington running off him. [Portland] had a decent amount of set pieces; we knew they were a taller team and good at set pieces, so we just tried to battle with them and match their sharpness and concentration on those, and I think we did a good job. Andy [Gruenebaum] was called into action a little bit; he made some good saves, kept us in it and did his job.”

Moving forward:
“We’re going back home, which is nice. Last two games we haven’t liked the results, so to come into a place like this and get a draw, at least shut [Portland] out is something we can build on. Hopefully we can use that for momentum going home next weekend and get some results going our way.”

Notes:

With the draw, the Timbers are 1-1-1 all-time against the Crew. Saturday’s contest was the only regular-season meeting between the clubs in 2012.
The Timbers are 11-7-4 all-time against MLS opponents at home, including a 2-2-1 mark in 2012.
With the draw against the Crew, the Timbers remain unbeaten (2-0-1) against Eastern Conference clubs at JELD-WEN Field in 2012. Since joining MLS in 2011, the Timbers are 6-10-6 overall against the East.
Portland wore its secondary Rose City Red kit for the first time this season at home on Saturday; the club has now worn all three of its kits at home in 2012. The Timbers are 0-2-1 in games when wearing their secondary strips this season.
The scoreless draw between the Timbers and Crew was the first recorded at JELD-WEN Field since Portland joined MLS in 2011. Saturday marked just the second scoreless draw the Timbers have been a part of as an MLS side. The other was a 0-0 draw at Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2011.
The Timbers’ 12 shots in the second half ranks tied for third-best in the club’s MLS history. The club’s MLS record for shots in a half is 17, set against D.C. United Oct. 19, 2011.
The club’s five shots on goal in the second half ranks tied for second all-time for the MLS Timbers. The mark was set earlier in the season with six in the second half against the Philadelphia Union in the season opener March 12.
The Timbers have recorded five or more shots on goal in the second half in three matches in 2012, all of which have come at JELD-WEN Field.
Portland forward Kris Boyd tied the MLS Timbers single-game mark with six shots against the Crew. Former forward Kenny Cooper first set the MLS Timbers record with six shots against the LA Galaxy on Aug. 3, 2011.
Timbers captain Jack Jewsbury started at right back against the Crew, making his first start in 40 appearances for the club as a defender. Entering the match, Jewsbury had made 43 career starts as a defender during his time with the Kansas City Wizards and was named Kansas City’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.
Jewsbury played in his 235th career MLS match on Saturday. It was also his 22nd game played against the Crew in his career, matching the most games he’s played against any single MLS side. Jewsbury has also played 22 games against D.C. United and New England Revolution in his 10-year MLS career.
Playing with a protective mask, goalkeeper Troy Perkins made his 38th consecutive start for the Timbers, dating back to April 23, 2011. He sustained facial lacerations to his nose against Montreal on April 28 and left that match due to injury in the 67th minute, ending his club-record streak of 3,307 consecutive minutes played in goal (April 23, 2011-April 28, 2012).
Portland midfielder Diego Chara set a new Timbers MLS record for field players, making his 21st straight start on Saturday against the Crew. The previous record was set by Jewsbury (20) during the 2011 season.
Chara’s six fouls committed against Columbus set a new single-game high for fouls committed for the MLS Timbers. He held the previous record (5), which he set against the LA Galaxy on Aug. 3, 2011.
Timbers defender Futty Danso made his season debut Saturday. He missed the first eight games of the 2012 season with a foot injury.
Defenders Mike Chabala and Rodney Wallace also reached career milestones on Saturday playing in their 65th and 70th career MLS matches, respectively.
Against the Crew, Wallace made his first start as a midfielder for the Timbers; his previous 29 starts for the club all came as a defender (left back). His three shots on goal against Columbus tied the Timbers’ single-game high for shots on goal for this season.
Making Portland’s match-day roster for the first time this season were midfielder Sal Zizzo and forward Mike Fucito. Recently acquired in a trade with Montreal, Fucito made his Timbers debut as a second-half sub.
Saturday’s match marked 500th MLS match played by the Columbus Crew, one of the league’s founding clubs in 1996.