Portland Timbers quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On his overall impressions of the match…
“First half, very good, especially considering we were under so much pressure in a must-win game to play as sharp and aggressive and as confident as we did in that first half; I was pleased with that. We should have had a couple more goals, obviously, which would have made life much easier in the second half. Second half, Colorado started to push numbers and get the better of it, but if you can’t get the second goal you have to buckle down and grind and that’s what we did. It wasn’t pretty. We certainly, I felt, invited too much pressure, didn’t create enough going forward. But like I said, first half good, second half did what we needed to win, which means now if we win against Vancouver we are in the playoffs."
On if he likes the straightforward scenario going into the Vancouver game…
“I do like that. I kind of liked that in this game as well. I said during the week. It’s interesting because no one was seeing that Salt Lake-Seattle last game. Everybody was talking about Kansas City. I felt like it was going to be Salt Lake or Seattle that fell out if we won both, and that’s ultimately where it’s at right now if we win because they play each other. So really when you look at it there are four teams, and none are free and clear, none of us are out of the woods yet. It flips everything on its head, because every single team is under pressure in the last game, not just us and we’ve already been in that mindset. I told the guys today the playoffs start now; if we win we advance. Next game we win we advance. That’s our mentality right now. It’s good to get a clean sheet even though it wasn’t great going forward in second half. For us to bend but not break and get out of there with a clean sheet, sometimes in playoffs, tournament football, that’s what it’s about, grinding out a 1-0 ugly win.”
On if Champions League midweek affected how he managed the minutes for certain players…
"Yes, with Darren [Mattocks] in particular we felt he was only capable of playing about 60 minutes and we knew we had Luca [Lucas Melano] to go in and like for like, that was always the plan. It was a 60-30 split. And then obviously Wednesday we can kind of reverse it. With [Diego] Valeri we had planned to get him off, but he started to get tight there and ultimately we had to get him off. I don’t think he re-aggravated it, so we will see. What complicated this a little bit this week now is Ben Zemanski is definitely out next week. He has a collapsed lung. Every week there is something new for me. I’ve never had a player with a collapsed lung. He’s out so now we are managing that. Diego Valeri, Mattocks and obviously Ridgy [Liam Ridgewell] and [Diego] Chara are going to be out for the weekend’s game at Vancouver, so they will definitely play Wednesday, but they were going to play in that game anyways. On the others our hand might be forced we'll have to see."
On if the team has confidence going back on the road…
“Well if the playoffs really started today, then it’s a new season. We are unbeaten on the road so I don’t know what you are talking about. [laughs] It’s crazy. We’ve got 12 wins at home this year. For us to have 12 wins at home this year, which is a club record, and still to be in this position. That’s tough. Because if you look at our season, it’s like a tale of two seasons, really. Our season at home as been as good as ever since I’ve been here. The way we've played. The way we’ve gotten results. And then on the road it has been the complete opposite. A lot of it, has to do with the holes we’ve had on the team. If you look back at the lineups, that tells the story. We’ve been a little bit thinner on the road with our personnel. Part of it too is I just think we didn’t get a couple early wins we should have and like anything it builds, the pressure builds, but we’ve had some really good games in Vancouver. We have played really well there in the past. So we are excited. We still have two games left and everything is still in our hands. We control our destiny on everything. That’s great. That’s not the position we were in 2014. In 2014, we had to win and hope for a result. In this one we win and we are in, and that’s a great feeling. We win Champions League we are out of the group and if we win our last game its playoffs and Cascadia Cup. We just have to take it one at a time. If we do that I like our chances in the knockout game too, because that’s now three on the spin and first win in a road game and we roll right into the knockout game. So we can’t get ahead of ourselves and we can’t pat ourselves on the back tonight. We have to move on and focus tomorrow on getting ready for Wednesday.”
On if he’s concerned on playing a team like Vancouver that has nothing to lose…
“I think we are up three goals in the Cascadia Cup, so I think they have to try beat us by a few goals to win that. So ultimately, I think they are going to want to open up and attack and play. I think that’s good because that will allow us to hopefully find more chances as well. Like I said, we have played really well there for whatever reason. We had a really good game there in the playoffs last year and the regular season as well. I think it helps having that Cascadia cup, knowing they have to open up if they want to win that.”
On why the attack has been the bigger problem on the road…
“I think it’s hard to come up with one answer for that. There are a lot of reasons. I think it’s a combination like I said in having some holes in the squad on the road in terms of personnel. The lineup we played tonight, we haven’t lost with that lineup. The last three times we’ve played that lineup we’ve won, all three of those games. So if you look back on the two games prior to this one after the Philly game we lost Vytas. After the Houston game, we lose Darren [Mattocks]. So it’s been, if you look back at the lineups there is a direct correlation with when the majority of the holes were in our team – international duty, and injuries – fell on the road. So we haven’t been quite as strong in terms of our lineups on the road. So that’s one thing. I think the second thing is some of these games we’ve played more than ever have been in high heat and we’ve given up the first goal as well, which compounds it. I think the third thing is we’ve played in more compacted windows than ever, so a lot of our road games have been three in seven or three in eight. These are all things we are aware of and certainly the biggest thing is, can we stay healthy? Can we look at the scheduling and see if there is something there we can do better? I can’t change the heat, that’s not going to change. I think those are factors, but not excuses because the other side of it is we just haven’t played as aggressive on the road. It’s not really by design, but for some reason it has played out that way. The Houston game, our plan was to be aggressive in that game. You saw the start of the second half, but for some reason the first half we weren’t. At home we play aggressive. That’s the way we need to play on the road. That’s why we won seven games last year and seven games the year prior, because if you ask the team we usually don’t try to change our approach home and away. Part of that though is if you don’t have your strongest group it makes it more difficult to play proactive soccer and I think that’s what happened in a lot of road games this year."
On the familiarity with the Vancouver trip and if that helps…
“I think it helps that we have a good number of guys in the lineup that have won a lot of games on the road in the past. So I know you get tired of hearing that, but we won 14 games on the road in the 2 years prior to this year. So when you look at guys in the lineup who were part of those results, I don’t think anybody is worried about the road. Maybe we should have been, but now that might help that the group still has a lot of confidence going on the road. It’s more frustration. How did we not win on the road type of thing? But if we don’t give an own goal on the road LA Galaxy early in the season, then that’s three points. If we don’t give an own goal late in stoppage in New England on the road then that would have been 2 wins early in year. So I think that’s why there is frustration a little bit. It’s not like the guys have lost confidence or feel like they are a bad road team. It’s more like WTF, right? [laughs]. So I think they are ready to exercise those demons and win this game and then that rolls right into the knockout.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury
On the emotions of playing tonight's game...
“I’ll probably think about it a little bit tonight. The reality is that we’ve got a quick turnaround and a huge [CONCACAF] Champions League game on Wednesday that is very important to this group, this club and the organization as a whole. My wife told me before the game to make sure to soak it in tonight because there are going to be some special times. I didn’t know what that meant, but there were a lot of them. I was a little emotional at times and kind of fighting back the tears. It was a bit overwhelming, but first and foremost we wanted to get three points today and I’m just glad that happened. It’s a positive day.”
On the proximity and familiarity of the trips and success playing at Vancouver…
“I think so. We’ve been there multiple times and it’s an easy trip. It’s a quick one for us, but the reality is that it comes down to one game for us now to extend our season. I think that just changes the mindset as a whole. It’s not the sixth game of the season on the road where it’s hard to see the finish line. It’s do or die. Whether it was last year in some of these road games…it gets you ready for the playoffs where you’ve got to win or you’re home and the season is over. I think that was the message going into today from Caleb, that if we don’t get a win today our season could be over if some other results don’t go our way. Guys stepped up and I think with this group, what you see is that when our backs our against it a little bit, everybody steps up and you get the best [out of them]. I know I’ll probably get the question all week, as will Caleb, about what are we going to do differently on the road? It’s not easy to put your finger on one thing, but I’ll tell you that this group will come firing out next weekend no matter who is in the lineup. We’ll look to get three points and we’ll look to extend our season.”
On the response he received from the home crowd this evening at Providence Park…
“It means the world to me. In the six years that I’ve been here, those fans and the people and the organization have been a huge part of my life; not only mine, but also my girls. So to have them on the field and to be able to experience that was emotional. This will be a day that I’ll definitely never forget and I just want to thank all of you guys and the fans. It was an emotional day. It’s hard to put into words to be quite honest. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was definitely blown away with all of the support.”
Portland Timbers defender Vytas
On the mentality of the team…
“You always saw the mentality with taking the game into our hands and making sure we’ll win no matter what. For me, I’m very excited and I know everything is up to us. We’re not waiting for other team’s results. We know what we need to do and we’re showing that.”
On knowing that the team controls its own destiny with a win next week…
“That’s the best feeling because we know it’s all up to us. We don’t need to look for help from other teams. We know it’s in our hands and that’s a great feeling.”
On being used in the attack…
“I love when the team is using me with my overlaps. More or less, I’m a free player. So when we can just switch the sides and I can be used in places where I can be useful… I can drag a player and deliver a cross. I think it’s huge for us.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri
On the importance of the team controlling its destiny in trying to make the playoffs...
“It’s really important. The first-half performance I think we did really well. We won the game in that half and now we’re in a great position to win against Vancouver and make the playoffs.”
On the mentality of the team to win this evening’s game…
“There is always pressure. We knew it before the game, but it’s good pressure. We like that as a team and we know that the performance is the most important thing for us. We did well and we won the game. Now we rest and we have a tough week. We now have to think about Saprissa.”
On the team’s ability to deal with injuries helping the club in the final two games of this season…
“I think we’ve dealt with very difficult moments during the season, which sometimes makes you strong. Now I think we’re in the moment where everybody has to lift their level and give everything they have, because this is the last moment of the season where you can win or lose everything. Let’s see what will happen now. We’ll fight for everything. We did it last year and we know that we can do it again.”
On being named Supporters’ Player of the Year at the end of the game…
“They invited me in the stands. It was a good moment. It’s really hard to say thanks to everybody, but they know that I love them and they always make me feel good. It’s an amazing gift from them.”
Portland Timbers forward Fanendo Adi
On the importance of today’s win with one game remaining in the regular season…
“It puts us in great shape right now knowing that other results went in our favor today. We know that we’ll have to win against Vancouver to go through, but this is a great boost for Wednesday’s match against Saprissa. It was a very important win today.”
On building off this win heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale against Cascadia-rival Vancouver Whitecaps FC…
“Of course it’s a big game. We don’t know what they’re going to do, but we just need to go there and play the same way we played today; defend very well and try to take our chances. Today, both our left back and right back did a great job of coming up and delivering balls into the box. You could see that Vytas earned us a penalty, which was the turning point in the game. We just need to go there and do the same thing we did today.”
Colorado Rapids quotes
Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni
General thoughts on the match…
“I think it was a game of two halves. I think the first half we had a pretty decent start. [Portland] got on top of the game a little bit and had a lot of help from outside influences that definitely impacted the way the first half went. Credit to them. They battled hard and were in good positions to make the official make some very difficult calls time and time again. I think second half we played the type of football we’re capable of playing. Whether we’re home or away or playing in this difficult venue, I think we were bright. We were productive. I think the game of football is this: you hit the post and it goes in, you win. You hit the post twice tonight and it goes out, you lose. That’s about as articulate as I can describe it.”
On how these two teams match up so well…
“That’s a good question. I think this league is like that. I think every game is tight. Any game can be a blow out and I think any game can end zero-zero in this league. It’s about the day, it’s about the breaks, it’s about the calls, it’s about the fortune you create. I think it’s a lot about the moments and tonight we just didn’t create enough moments to get the momentum going our way quick enough in this game. Even in the second half, the guys fought extremely hard, played some fantastic stuff and really took the crowd out of the game and brought momentum on our side. Again, we hit the post twice in the second half and on any other day that hits the post and goes in and we’re talking a whole different game.”
On the number of changes to his lineup from the last time the two teams faced off…
“Fatigue is number one. Injuries number two. Just the type of emotion that has been exuded in the previous two games is three. A whole host of reasons why. We put out the best lineup that I thought gave us the best opportunity to win. You look back and you can assess some of the performances, but I think it’s not about individual performances. It’s a collective performance. In the first half, we weren’t good enough. In the second half, I thought we were the better team. We were bright, we showed the right mentality, went after the game and attacked it the right way.”
On how the team can improve ahead of
their final match of the regular season…
“I think we’ve been in tight contests all year. It hasn’t been like this is a new thing for us. We’re in unchartered waters as a club at the moment. There’s moments where you go on the road to Portland and you think ‘well why didn’t you guys win? You’re chasing the Supporters’ Shield.” But the reality is we’ve had three games in eight days. We’re a group that’s on the rise and really pushing the boundaries of the group. With guys coming in, coming out, playing a ton of minutes. Guys on this roster having the best seasons of their careers, there’s a lot of things going in. What we need to do to get the three points in Houston is continue doing what we’ve done all year. Start the game the right way, starting bright. In the first half when we get our way a little bit and we earn the right to get our way, we play some fantastic stuff as you saw today in the second half. The mentality has to be right. We’re at home in front of the home crowd after a week of rest and just looking forward to a real spirited, really
positive, really electric performance in that last game to hopefully put us in a position to win the Shield.”
Colorado Rapids midfielder Marco Pappa
On his first start in a little while…
“It felt great to be back and in the first eleven, but of course we’re frustrated with the result. It’s not the result we expected. I’m sure we gave our best on the field today. It’s never easy to come to Portland and play against a good team for sure and especially when they’re fighting to go to the playoffs. Of course, there’s a lot of positives too. Now we need to change the page and look forward to the next game.”
On if there was any confusion during the match affecting the team’s rhythm…
“Maybe first half was a little more difficult for us to connect, but I think in the second half we started to click. We did what we wanted to do and we showed it with having good shots at goal, hitting the post a couple times and I know we were really close to scoring. They played a pretty smart game too. Like I said, not the result we wanted, but we’re in a great position too. We’re still fighting for the Supporters’ Shield and you never know until the last game what’s going to happen. Now it’s going to be a good week of training and it’s going to be a good game against Houston.”
On how the teams were affected by the differing importance of the three points…
“You can see it from the beginning, the way Portland came in the first half. They were pushing us to make mistakes and I think first half it was kind of hard to play football. Then we found the ball more in the second half. It’s kind of tough too when you have two penalties and those kind of things change the mentality of the team. But I think second half, we came with a different attitude and we showed better character. For sure, Portland is a great team, especially when they play at home they are a very strong team.”
Colorado Rapids forward Kevin Doyle
On the effect the changes to the lineup had on the team…
“I think we struggled in the first half to get a rhythm to get playing well. Whether it’s because we played three days ago or changes to the lineup or whatever it is. We got going in the second half, we played really well. We were unlucky not to get something from the game. Having played three days ago, you have to changes things up. We’re not going to play the same 11. That’s why you have a squad. We’ve been changing all season and today in the second half, I think we figured it out and we played well and were unlucky in the end not to get something from the game.”
On the physicality of the game and both teams fighting for important points…
“It’s a big game. We’ve obviously guaranteed our spot in the top two and obviously for [Portland] to stay in the race for the playoffs, they had to win, so it was a tough game from the beginning. We played three days ago in Denver and we were all still trying to get our legs going, especially in the first half we struggled to get into the game. We gave away a cheap penalty. The first one, I don’t think was a penalty and second one was. But we had our chances in the second half. We were unlucky. We hit the crossbar and the post. Played quite well and disappointed not to get something from the game.”
On the game coming down to such close margins in terms of the score and Colorado’s chances…
“That’s the case in football. You can do a million and one things right or wrong and it’s the width of the post or the spin of a ball. As you see tonight, we were happy with how we played the second half, weren’t happy with the first half. But overall we’ve had a really good season and we’re looking forward to the playoffs.”
Notes:
- Sunday’s game marked the 102nd consecutive regular-season sellout for the Timbers at Providence Park.
- Portland finished the 2016 home campaign with 12 regular season wins at Providence Park. The 12 wins at Providence Park are the most home wins in the club's MLS era, trailing only the Timbers’ 1978 NASL season for the most home wins in club history (since 1975).
- The 12 home wins also rank tied for the third-most home wins in a single season in MLS since 2001, behind only FC Dallas (2015) and the New York Red Bulls (2016).
- With the goal, the Timbers have scored in each of their home regular-season matches this season, becoming just the fourth team to accomplish the feat since 2003.
- Fanendo Adi scored his 16th goal of the 2016 regular season, and his 18th goal in all competitions this season. With the finish, Adi is tied for the third-most goals in MLS this season with Sporting Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer and Toronto FC forward Sebastian Giovinco.
- Adi is the third MLS player to have 16 or more goals in consecutive seasons before turning 27 years old, joining Stern John and Jaime Moreno.
- Adi's 18 goals ties the Timbers’ all-era record for the most goals scored in a single season across all competitions, becoming the first player to score 18 goals in two different seasons for Portland. Additionally, Adi scored 13 goals at home in the regular season, trailing only New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips (14) for home goals scored. Adi has also scored in five consecutive home matches.
- Defender Vytas earned two penalty kicks in the match, becoming the second MLS player since 2011 to earn two penalties in a single match.
- Midfielder Jack Jewsbury wore the captain's armband in his final regular-season home match for the club. Jewsbury led all players in the match with five chances created.
- Jewsbury played in his 156th match for Portland, tying him with Scot Thompson for fourth-most games played by a Timbers player across all eras of the club.
