Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On the importance of getting three points out of this game…
“Well eventually you have to get results. We felt good about the last two games prior to this game following, you could say, our worst performance of the year, here versus Dallas. We followed it up with a good result where we dug deep versus San Jose, a difficult team to play against. Then we had to go across the country and play in tough conditions on turf versus a team that’s a lot better than their record. [New England Revolution] have a lot of experienced guys. We didn’t pull three points off, but we got a point and we felt those were positive steps. In this game we wanted to build on that defensively and play a little more aggressive in the attack. I thought we did that, certainly in the first 25-30 minutes. Then it was survival with the heat. The conditions were very difficult today, especially coming off a midweek game, flying across the country, playing a very good team that’s fresh. Performance-wise I thought it was pretty good. Mentality-wise I thought it was great. Investment level we put into the game, I told the guys, is the epitome of what it takes to win games in MLS. Guys left it all on the line. But like I said, you have to get results. If you don’t get results, you lose confidence. I’m really proud of the guys and pleased that they were able to get three points and be rewarded for their investment level in this match today.”
On the tactical thinking behind subbing in Ben Zemanski in the second half…
“I felt like we were losing the midfield. We wanted to win the game, but to win the game means you have to get chances and I didn’t feel like we were getting enough chances. Sometimes it’s counterintuitive putting in a guy like Ben, but for me, I felt like we needed to get control of the midfield so we could turn a little bit of the momentum to get in positions where we could score. Obviously we didn’t want to give up a goal either. I knew Ben would come in with some energy. He’s finally healthy and I thought the game turned a bit when he came in. It also allowed us to float [Darlington] Nagbe wide. He was defending so much that we wanted to free him up a little bit.”
On starting Darron Mattocks, Fanendo Adi, and Lucas Melano all together for the first time….
“We wanted to put pressure on Toronto’s back four. We felt like, with everybody healthy, and we felt like with the way Toronto plays, that we could be aggressive. We wanted to get back to being more of the team we prefer to be, which is more balanced, defend well, but more aggressive in the attack and proactive. I thought, like I said, the first 25-30 minutes was the best 25-30 minutes of the year. Definitely best first 25 minutes, I thought. So I told the guys, ‘we have to clone that. Keep doing that.’ Because when we play that way, we’re extremely difficult to stop. Good example, end of last year, against the LA Galaxy was very similar. We’re getting some momentum. I feel like we’re defending better and today, we were closer to being more of the team we want to be and more of a balanced team on both sides of the ball. You could see a little bit of fatigue obviously with the midweek game, the travel and the heat. I do want to say, that’s an excellent team, Toronto FC. That is a very good team. Greg Vanney has done a really nice job with that team. What they’ve done with that diamond they’re playing. They really highlight their two strikers, specifically [Sebastian] Giovinco. It gives him a lot of freedom to float on the flanks and get faced up and come underneath. It allows them to keep possession. Reminds me a lot of Salt Lake couple years back. Vanney was obviously there with [Jason] Kreis for a few years and Robin Frasier. I do want to credit Toronto because they have a really nice team. Very well organized. I like the way they play football.”
On how the final 15 minutes of the game contrasted defensively to the offense of the first 25 minutes….
“These games have been tough. We’ve been digging deep. We didn’t get three points in New England but that was a difficult game. Tough field, travel and we had guys out. I couldn’t be more pleased with the mentality these last three games. We feel we put in three positive performances and been rewarded and received three positive results. That’s seven points in three games following, like I said, a game that we weren’t happy with. A game that didn’t reflect the team that we are. You like it as a coach when you see a response like that and you like it as a coach when you see your team find a way to win games. We’ve done that over the years. We haven’t won every game, but usually, when we need to find a result and our backs are against the wall, we’ve stepped up and gotten it done. I think today was no different because that game could have gone either way. Obviously [Jake Gleeson] made a couple saves. It’s his job to do that. Like I told him, even though those are very good saves, that should be routine. We all look at [Nick] Rimando’s double save. He’s probably done that 20 times. So, as much as you look at that and say ‘wow. Those are good saves.’ He’s done that time and time again. Can Jake now put in routine performances where he comes up with a couple big saves a game like that. You need that out of guys. [Liam Ridgewell] in the back, I thought was excellent the whole game, especially late. He’s heading things out, he’s blocking shots and I thought [Nat] Borchers had his best game of the year. So yeah, it’s good. [Diego] Chara is Chara. He’s always good. Zarek [Valentin] and [Chris] Klute put in a good shift as well. I’d like us to keep the ball a bit more there at the end. I thought we gave it back to [Toronto] too much and allowed them to come at us. So, like I said, we were more like the team we want to be, but a lot to work on. Now we have guys healthy, we can start to hopefully develop some continuity, get into a rhythm, and continue to work on things in training with a set group. Because that’s how you really make progress. When you have your 11 and you can start to build the layers on your team. We haven’t been able to do that.”
On the importance of having the core spine of the team on the field together…
“That’s very important. You need your top players in your team to be as good as you want to be. We’ve been managing it. I’ve talked about the fact that we’ve had new guys in. We have have gotten some results with those guys. I think they’ve done a very good job and in the long run we’ve become a strong team because, when I look in that locker room like today, there are some guys that didn’t play, but they’re bought in because they did play the last game. They have that ownership because they’ve played part of the season. That wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t lose a few guys. The other thing that’s really positive, with [CONCACAF] Champions League coming up, we’ve now had a chance to bleed in some guys into our group in real league games to prepare for Champions League versus throwing those guys in kind of cold. I think there are some positives but we have to keep winning. We have two games on the road coming up. That won’t be easy. Tight window, but if we keep investing like we did today, because winning games in MLS, you have to invest and dig deep. I heard Doc Rivers talk at his press conference after the Blazers game, talking about his team. He tells them they have to be willing to get their heart broken. That’s a pro coach, NBA, talking about intangible things. It doesn’t matter what level, doesn’t matter what league, what sport. To win games, you gotta invest, you gotta dig deep, and you gotta be willing to put yourself out there and I thought our guys did that today.”
On Diego Valeri’s contributions to the match and having him back in the team…
“Players win games. Coaches lose games. That's what you guys think. I accept that. To win we need saves. You need a guy like Valeri, your [Designated Player]. Big-time player to step up and pull a rabbit out of the hat. You need your central defender to block shots. Put his balls on the line. Sorry, I can’t say that in these press conferences. That’s what he did. That’s what you need out of your players and we got that today. Everybody brings something different to the table, but we need everybody’s strengths to be showing up in these games and we saw that today.”
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson
On earning three points at home…
“Obviously, it’s always good to get the result. That’s the big thing. The boys have been working hard all week. It’s a tough week. We were a little disappointed in New England, so to come away and get the result here was great. The game midweek helped as well. You always try to hide a stride as best you can. I got a little lucky today on some of them, but it was a good day.”
On his feelings after hearing the final whistle…
“It was one of those games where you were under pressure a lot of the time. I thought the defense was phenomenal. I think having Ridgy [Liam Ridgewell] back in there was a different level. He and Nat [Borchers] were unbelievable. I had a couple things to do and I thought I was lucky on a few situations to be at the right place at the right time, so I’ll take that and move forward.”
On whether there’s anything better than winning at Providence Park…
“I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.”
On keeping the momentum moving forward…
“You just keep focused on the next game and doing your job. All I did today was my job. That’s it - nothing more, nothing less. I think you just have to remember that and realize that’s what I’m paid to do. I need to go out there next week, put this one behind me, get the confidence and keep moving forward and continue to get results.”
Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri.
On scoring the free kick…
“It was a good situation before the foul. We created a good counter, and with the free kick, it was just take it and put it into the goal. It was a good distance to kick and it was a good goal.”
On scoring on his birthday…
“It’s my first time with that, scoring a goal on my birthday. I’m really happy about that. Thanks to Lucas [Melano] for giving me the ball and saying, ‘Hey, you score.’ It’s special for me and my family, of course. It’s a gift and getting three points is much better.”
On today’s chemistry in the attack…
“It was a strange game. They had most of the possession and we dropped a little extra today. We got the goal in the first half, we tried to counter and we did well to get the second goal. They are a good team, so I think the chemistry was good today.”
On assisting on Adi’s goal…
“I think it’s much better than the second one. It was very good movements and passes and it was almost a futsal goal. I like that style of goal because it means the team is playing well.”
Timbers defender Nat Borchers
On limiting Toronto FC’s attack…
“[Sebastian] Giovinco and [Jozy] Altidore are two of the better attacking players in the league and we wanted to make amends from last year when we allowed Giovinco to take a shot early on and score on us, so we really tried to be aware of his movements and just try to get tight to him as best we could. I thought that [Diego] Chara and Darlington [Nagbe] did a great job of limiting the space in front of us and we were able to read his passes and his dribbling.”
On jumping into Jake Gleeson’s arms after the final whistle…
“I told him, ‘That was all you, bud.’ He stepped up for us today. If it wasn’t for his performance, we don’t get out of here with three points. Jake [Gleeson] stood on his head today, let’s be honest. He had a fantastic game. We needed some big-time performances from guys to get three points.”
On having Liam Ridgewell back in the lineup…
“Ridgy is just so easy to play with because you understand what he’s thinking out there and what he’s saying. He communicates so well and he’s good on the ball, so it was really good to have him back out there.”
Timbers forward Fanendo Adi
On playing with Diego Valeri…
“He makes things very easy for me. I told him after the game that he could have scored that first goal and he told me that I opened up very well, so he passed it to me. He’s an amazing guy and we respect everything he does out there.”
Toronto FC Quotes
Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney
On his reactions to the game...
“I thought the first half we were very impatient with the ball. I thought we needed to keep the ball moving but not be in such a rush to try and finish every attack. They had five players on the field that really don’t want to defend if they don’t have to. If we turn over the ball quickly, like we were doing on a fair number of occasions, those guys who don’t like to defend get rewarded and they turn those into counter attacks. So I thought we were too much in a rush with some of our attacks. Ultimately that’s kind of what led to the second goal as well. We force a ball, chipped into the middle of the field, and we didn’t need to. We could have just played out of that side and got to the other side. Instead, we force a ball into the middle that gets headed out and it finds the counter attack and that leads to us fouling [Diego] Valeri. It’s a situation that we don’t need to put ourselves into. Valeri is obviously a good player. He’s obviously been known to finish a free kick or two and he did that on that occasion but that second goal, for me, was unnecessary. In terms of the grand scheme of the things, [one] it doesn’t sometimes matter what happens from 18 to 18. We missed three headers from five yards out or [Portland] saved them, one bounced off the cross-bar. Two, we headed right in the wheelhouse of their goal keeper. Jake [Gleeson’s] a big guy and we’re heading these balls sort of right into his wheelhouse which is his shoulder area and arm area. He made good saves on those but you get those type of chances we have to come away with at least one of those. A little bit of missed chances. I definitely think there were somethings that we needed to be a little more patient. It was warm out there, very warm and I think if we could have early on forced them to defend for longer stretches it probably would have worn them down a little more. All in all I thought we deserved something out of this game but you have to make plays, that’s the sport. You have to plays in your 18 and we couldn’t do that today on the attacking side.”
On how much he’s anticipated getting home to play in front of their fans...
“Again, it’s another thing that we’ve talked about but we haven’t made it an emphases over the course of these eight games. We’ve tried to stay focused at one game at a time and not look to far ahead. Getting back home, I think deep down inside we all knew this the last of these eight games on the road but it never was once talked about because I didn’t want this group to overlook this game today and go ‘oh, we’re home next week.’ We had a tough opponent, in front of us and a tough place to play so we just every week we tried to keep our attention on the game at hand. It was no different this week but now this one is behind us, I’m sure we’ll feel this one for 24 hours, 48 hours, whatever it takes. We’ll get over it and then we’ll start to turn our attention of being home. That’s the objective.”
Toronto FC midfielder Will Johnson
On his return to Portland...
“Bittersweet. Obviously, [it’s] fun to play against those guys, fun to bring my guys here to compete against an organization I have a lot of respect for. [I’m] disappointed that we didn’t leave with points but the experience was good.”
On the reception he received from the fans...
“Same as always. Other than the game I have all the respect in the world for those guys and they know it. I think the feeling is mutual. Obviously, I compete for my team during the 90 minutes but there’s always a part of me that respects them no matter what.”
Toronto FC defender Drew Moor
On the emotions of the game...
“It’s difficult. Obviously [in] the result but I think this team comes in here with the strong belief that we should have gotten more out of that game. I think you learn a lot from games like these. We’ll forget about this one quickly because I think we were the better team for large amounts of the game, probably other than the first 15 minutes. We deserve all three points but when you don’t finish your chances in this league you’re going to be punished for it.”
On the game...
“I think we possessed the ball more than we were going to coming into this game. We helped create a bunch of chances in the second half and really, other than the first 15 minutes, we kept the ball extremely well. They were giving us a lot of space. We weren’t able to break them down until the second half but again I think we walk away from here having the better game against the defending champs, just disappointed in the result.”
Referee Baldomero Toledo
Why was Will Johnson not issued a red card for his tackle on Diego Valeri in approximately the 20th minute?
“The degree of force and speed of the tackle may have warranted a foul but nothing more. The contact was not sufficient for misconduct.”
Why were the Portland Timbers not awarded a penalty kick in the approximately the 39th minute when the ball struck Drew Moor’s hand above his head in the box?
“We judged the ball to touch his hand but as there was no intent by the defender to handle the ball, no penalty was given.”
Notes:
- Sunday’s game marked the 90th consecutive regular-season sellout for the Timbers at Providence Park.
- With the win, Portland has compiled a 43-17-30 home record in regular-season matches since joining MLS in 2011.
- Timbers forward Fanendo Adi scored his seventh goal of the season, placing him in a tie with San Jose forward Chris Wondolowski for the most goals scored in MLS this season.
- Scoring in the 17th minute of play, Adi recorded the quickest goal for Portland in MLS play so far this season.
- With the finish, Adi has scored 32 career goals for Portland, placing him three goals behind Dale Mitchell for fourth place in Timbers history for goals scored across all eras (since 1975).
- Midfielder Diego Valeri notched his third assist of the season, placing him in a tie for fourth place for the most assists in MLS in 2016.
- With the assist, Valeri has produced four more assists than any MLS player since 2013, recording 38 during that span.
- Valeri is the only player in MLS with multiple goals from free kicks this season.
- Valeri has 25 regular-season goals for the Timbers, placing him in a tie for eighth place in Timbers history for goals scored across all eras (since 1975).
- For the seventh time in his career, Valeri recorded a goal and an assist in the same match. Since the inception of MLS, only four MLS players have recorded more games with at least one goal and one assist (Robbie Keane, Javier Morales, Sebastian Giovinco, and Landon Donovan).
- Valeri's seven matches with at least one goal and one assist are the most by a Timbers player in MLS play. Darlington Nagbe and Will Johnson are tied for second place, recording a goal and an assist on three occasions.
- Midfielder Diego Chara is the only Timbers player to play every minute in each game this season. Along with Chara, defender Nat Borchers and forward Lucas Melano are the only Timbers players to start in each match this season.
- With the win, goalkeeper Jake Gleeson remains undefeated as a starting goalkeeper in MLS, compiling a record of 4-0-2 in six league matches.
- Midfielder Ben Zemanski made his first appearance in MLS play since Oct. 25, 2014.
- Forward Darren Mattocks recorded his first assist since joining the Timbers on March 14.
