Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On the offense not generating enough chances…
“I disagree. I think we created a lot of chances. We didn’t finish. We had five clear, open chances. Five or six. So, I don’t think it had anything to do with chance creation at all. It had to do with the finishing.”
On the team’s recent run…
“I think you’re always concerned about points because points matter in the grand scheme of things in terms of where you sit. Obviously, the Western Conference is tight. We knew coming into this game, it was going to come down to the last 12 games and it was going to come down to four or five teams and how many points those teams get. We knew this was going to be a difficult game. We had some key guys out. I thought that showed at times, defensively. We also knew we had our first-choice attacking group, which is why we created as many open chances as we had. We had the breakaway with Luca in the first half. In the second half Adi had another breakaway. Jack Mac (Jack McInerney) had a clear chance coming on that left side. Darlington (Nagbe) had a good chance from the top of the box in the first half and then (Fanendo) Adi had a open cross late. Usually, our quality shows through in moments like those. We’re a good attacking team and have been all year. I'm confident we will finish those moving forward. So today, overall, I felt we at least deserved a point. Up until the goal they scored, we were as good or better than them. First half, same thing, I thought it was a very even game. They had the one chance, we probably had two or 3. It was a tight game. We knew it would be that way. We made it that way. Then they find a goal off the set piece. I thought the foul was soft. I didn’t think it was a foul. I watched it on film, and they gave them two cracks at it. Obviously with the second one, we have to attack the ball. Then I thought they were better for the next 10 minutes after that goal, and then at the end we had enough chances to get a point. So, I feel like we’ve fallen short in the last two games. I don’t think it’s because we’ve played bad. But, we certainly can finish better and we certainly haven’t managed a few moments defensively as well as we should’ve.”
Thoughts on what the guys did well to create chances late in the game…
“Well, at that stage we made a few subs, we went three at the back. We obviously made a push. You’re down a goal and so you make a push to try and pull out a goal and a get a point. Like I said, I thought up until the goal they scored things went as planned. They were having trouble creating much. I thought we were defending very well. We were organized as a team. I thought we had several chances on the counter. They find a goal off a dead ball and the game turns a little bit. They get life. We lose a little life and they get a few more. Jake (Gleeson) came up big a couple times and I thought at the end we had clear chances to level the game, so I thought a point would’ve been fair today.”
On the tight games between the two teams since 2013…
“Yeah, I think you have two competitive clubs, competitive coaches. Coaches that value hardworking guys. Guys that never take a play off. You look at Kansas City, they’ve had injuries. They’ve put a few guys in there and there’s not a lot of drop off, in terms of how hard they work, how organized they are. It’s the same with us. We’ve had more injuries than anybody in the league this year. A good example is last year we were one of the best defensive teams in the league and we don’t have both center halves in this game and you still see with Jermaine Taylor and Amobi (Okugo) that they still did a good job. That’s because this is a team, and we’ve built our team that way. Our guys fight and they have character. I think when you put the two teams together, neither team wants to give an inch. I think both teams are extremely organized, and like I said this game comes down to moments. They find a goal off a set piece and we didn’t finish our chances.”
On if today’s game will change the team’s approach against Sporting Kansas City next weekend…
“Yeah, we’ll look at this game. We’ll look at what they did. What we did that worked and what didn’t work. We’ll make some adjustments. It’s like the playoffs. In the playoffs, you play home and away and there’s adjustments in that second game. So, I think it will be very similar to the playoffs in that regard."
On if the second match will be more of a chess match…
“I think it’s always a chess match. You have to look at the opponent, You have to look at their previous games. We’re looking at ours and looking at our options and health. You have to factor in the opponent and the way that you want to execute. We have to respect always what they’re going to look to do as well and from there it’s about who executes better and usually it comes down to who finishes their chances."
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson
On his overall impressions of the game...
“It was disappointing. I think coming on the road with the table the way it is and against Kansas City, we had to at least try to get a point. I thought we had chances to do it, but maybe we didn't quite finish the way we wanted, but we can take a lot of positive away and put them towards our game next Sunday.”
On adjustments for next week's rematch with Sporting KC...
“I thought for the most part we looked pretty good, apart from a ten minute period after they scored. The big thing is to be bigger on set pieces. We can't concede those. After we conceded I think we sat back a little bit, but in the first half we pressed and had possession. I thought we were the better team if not just as good as they were.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri
On his takeaways from the game...
“Of course. There are a lot of positives things that you can get from the game, but obviously the result is not what we want. We needed the points, but looking forward we have a (CONCACAF) Champions League game and I think we are in good shape to start winning games. We have to find a way to win games. I think scoring the first goal would be very important for us in the next game against KC.”
On the rematch with Sporting KC next week...
“We need to focus on the important moments like when they have a set piece. In these kinds of games where it is very close, set pieces are very important. They got a chance, they scored. We got a couple, but we couldn't. I think the intensity was good, and we have to keep working like that.”
Sporting KC Quotes
Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes
On better results at home these past five games...
“Consistency in the lineup. That's one. A bunch of guys have stepped up and have really met the call for duty. The consistency in the group is one and the other is we are not making mistakes. We are managing games a lot better than we did at the beginning of the year. That's a good thing. We have six or seven potential starters on the injured list right now. That's a good thing moving into this month of August where we have 13,000 miles of travel and the number of games we are going to play. It is important for those guys to start to get back and they are.”
On consistently having close games with Portland...
“I would say that we probably should have scored two or three more goals during the game. We were in and around their box. I will give it to their goalkeeper. He made a couple of really good saves, especially with the one on Lo's header coming across the box. We had some great opportunities. He had a great save with Dom's shot. He tattooed that ball and they were screening him the whole time; he hit it right between the player's legs. He hit it off the half volley, hard shot, but he did well to react. So he made some really good saves. At the end it really doesn't matter. Whether it is one nil or its five nil. It's the three points that are very important. Especially when we play them back-to-back.”
Sporting KC goalkeeper Alec Kann
On his preparedness for today's game...
“I felt very prepared and felt confident. Coaches have done a great job making sure I was ready. I have played a couple of games with the USL team in the past couple of weeks, which has been nice to stay sharp. So I have felt very prepared for it.”
Sporting KC defender Ike Opara
On consistent battles battles between Sporting KC and Portland...
“Obviously, it starts with good players on both sides. It's a competitive group on both sides that always makes for a good game. That being said, it's a matchup that a neutral fan can enjoy and it was one of those games that I'm glad we came out on top.”
Notes:
- With five saves in the match, Jake Gleeson has recorded 70 saves in 2016, which is fifth-most in MLS.
- Gleeson has recorded four or more saves 12 times so far this season.
- The loss against Sporting Kansas City marks just the second time the Timbers have lost on the road against Sporting KC since joining MLS in 2011.
- Sporting Kansas City’s goal ended the Timbers’ road shutout streak of 248 minutes, which is the longest the club has gone without conceding a goal on the road since joining MLS in 2011.
- Vytas made his MLS debut for the Timbers during Sunday’s match, becoming the first Lithuanian to play for the club in the team's 41-year history.
- Midfielder Diego Valeri played in his 105th regular-season match for the Timbers, tying him with Byron Alvarez for 15th place for the most games played for Portland in all eras of the club (since 1975).
- Defender Amobi Okugo recorded his first league start of the season since joining the Timbers on May 16.
