NEW YORK RED BULLS
New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch
On success defending Didier Drogba:
Yeah, I thought the job done on Drogba overall was really good. The frustrating thing for me is why he does what he does with the penalty - he's a classy player. There's no need to do something like that. Again, I thought the team did a good job on Drogba and made it harder on him, which was a big task on the night.
On the absence of Kemar Lawrence:
Kemar just got back on Monday and didn't get to train so, physically, we just kind of wanted to integrate him the right way and prevent risk of injury and not throw him into a game where he's not fully ready. Now he'll get a full week of training and he'll be ready to go next weekend.
On grinding out 'gritty' wins:
Yeah, I think so. There was a part of that today. I do think even before we went up a man that we pushed the game hard and fast and we could've been up earlier than that. From the get-go, our group was pretty sharp and committed to play the way we want to play. Huge three points for us today, huge three points. Puts us on top of the table, puts us in good shape, gives us a couple days to recover and then we get ready for another push in the final three games.
On the satisfaction of a midweek victory after not having much success previously this year:
We had some games earlier in the year that went awry in different ways and that we let slip. This game I felt that we handled ourselves for the most part well. It was a little bit crazy in the second half but we kept our heads and we kept pushing the right way and we were able to get out with a huge three points.
On possible hesitancy with letting Sacha take the second PK:
I don't sit on the sideline and [say] who takes the penalties - that's [the players'] decision. We know that Sacha has become the shooter now and if he doesn't feel good about taking the second one, then Brad's ready to step up and take one but I'm not going to be yelling from the bench [who to take the penalty]. That's part of their decision-making on the field.
On his impressions of Sal Zizzo at right back:
Yeah, I think he brings a lot. His speed really gives us the ability in counter attacks to cover ground. He kind of realized that this would be an opportunity for him to get on the field some more. He's put a lot into training and really thought about how he wants to play. He's watched a lot of tape and that's helped him with what that position entails. For the most part I think he's been very good.
On Shaun Wright-Phillips' and Gonzalo Veron's bench roles continuing going forward:
Not necessarily but I think that they're good in that role. We believe in Lloyd [Sam] and Mike [Grella] so much but we also look at match-ups for times where maybe it's a good chance to put Shaun or Gonzalo in from the start. I think however we choose to use these guys that they're all committed and they all understand their roles. When they step on the field they give everything they have. It's a good problem for me to have, for sure.
On the talk of a Supporter's Shield intensifying:
No, we haven't talked about it. It's a fair question, we've obviously put ourselves in a good position but we go day-by-day and game-by-game. I should come here with a tape recorder.
On the Matt Miazga and U.S. Soccer Federation situation:
We've tried to create flexibility with U.S. Soccer and it hasn't worked out. Matt will be missing the Philadelphia and Toronto games. We'll deal with it and we'll be fine.
New York Red Bulls Midfielder Sacha Kljestan
On the win:
Yeah, an important win. Not a perfect game by any means; we could've been sharper, we could've not let them back in the game in the way that we did, but overall the most important thing is three points. Very pleased with the result. You know, a lot of wins at home this season have been very important - this one puts us a good step in front of the rest of the group behind us in the East and then also as we go towards the Supporters' Shield. So overall a very good result tonight.
On whether Drogba's taking the ball before the second penalty affected him:
Not really. I'm glad that the rest of the guys had my back and they came in and tried to shove him off the ball also. It's gamesmanship, it's whatever. Teams have been doing that to us all year. We don't seem to get any respect cause the referee should just give him a yellow card and walk him away right there. But that didn't mess me up, I just think I hit the second penalty without any real conviction and that's my fault.
On whether the Red Bulls' game has changed, become more possessive:
I mean, I think that's because of the way the game was tonight. Because we were up a man for so long, they were just going to sit back and we were going to have so much possession. It's hard to create chances when they're just sitting back in a blockade and leaving one guy high; you can pass the ball around all you want, but they're making it very hard to create chances. Having said that, we still created a few chances - you know, Bradley Wright-Phillips got unlucky on a couple of occasions, one with the post and one with the goalkeeper, so. You know, that's not how we drew up the plan, it's just how the game worked out because we were up a man for so long.
On the difficulty of teams sitting back:
Yeah, it's difficult. We haven't really figured out the, you know, the keys to unlocking a team when they're just sitting back with eight or nine guys. We've had it a few times this season, where we've been up a man and have really failed to put three, four goals in the back of the net, so that's something I think we're going to continue to work on as we go to the playoffs because in the playoffs there are crazy things that happen and there are red cards and, you know, there are times when you need to keep pushing the game when maybe you're down a goal but you're up a man - so continue to work on things like that.
New York Red Bulls Midfielder Lloyd Sam
On the team's performance while a man up
Yeah, first half I thought we were good playing a man up. Second half, we weren't really creating enough, which has happened a couple times this season. Overall, we needed three points and we got [them].
On his goal
There were a lot of guys in front of me so I knew it had to be kind of precisely under the bar. I'm happy to see that go in.
On the trickiness of midweek games and the importance of keeping focused
Yeah, it's very important. I always fancy us at home. Wednesday games are difficult but I'd say it's more difficult for them to come here and get it on a Wednesday than us. I fancy us at home against anyone.
On his recent run of form
I've been trying to score as many goals as I can this season. It feels great to be getting goals and helping the team. Home games we always seem to create more chances. I'm happy to be getting in those situations to score goals and thank god they've been going in.
On defending Didier Drogba
Yeah, I felt the defense did well. He scored his penalty, had a couple chances, but obviously he's a world-class player so it's always going to be difficult.
New York Red Bulls Midfielder Mike Grella
On coming off Saturday's win:
Yeah, we just stuck to what we know how to do. We came out very strong, like we normally do at home, and - maybe we even played better with 11 against 11 - but yeah, after the penalty, we created a lot of chances right in the beginning. Right after the penalty, we overwhelmed them and they never really had a chance in the game until the end when I thought that maybe we could have managed a little bit better, but they never really had a chance tonight.
On the strong defensive performance against Drogba:
Yeah, I think for sure we knew - we watched a lot of video on him and we knew what he brought to the table and especially his physicality, and so you know I think you can see every time he touched the ball there were two or three of us around him, bumping him and giving him a hard time, so he couldn't really find the game. But for sure - you know, it's hard to say how good we were defensively because they had the red card for most of the game and we possessed the ball most of the time, but for sure, we did well defensively, we did well in creating a lot of chances. And you know, at the end of the day, we take the three points home.
On whether he faced Drobga when playing in England:
No, no, never played against Chelsea. I played against Liverpool and Tottenham and teams like that but never Chelsea.
On how they handled going up a man:
I think I'd disagree with you - I think for sure, we got the three points and [audio unclear] and we're all very happy, but I think at the end of the game they shouldn't have chances and they shouldn't be involved in the game. We shouldn't give that penalty up. And so - and there were a few chances that you know, if we're all a little bit sharper, we finish them and really put them away. So I think that still there's a lot to work on when we're up a man and we can definitely improve in that area. [Question repeated. Continued:] Yeah, I don't think we handled it any better than we normally did. No, I disagreed with you in that we handled it better. I think for sure they shouldn't have a chance - they had no possession, they had no business getting the chance at the end of the game. You know, we got caught naked a little bit. We didn't put our chances away, so definitely somewhere we can, you know, pay more attention to and improve I think. Get a little better at that.
On the three penalty calls:
Was it three penalties? What was the first penalty, on Lloyd? Yeah, that was a penalty. I didn't see the handball.
New York Red Bulls Goalkeeper Luis Robles
On tying the team record for wins:
Most important, we got three points. One step closer to our goal - goals, actually. You know, we want to finish first in the conference and we've put ourselves in a great position to head towards the Supporters' Shield. But most importantly, like I said, is the three points. It wasn't our best game, the second half wasn't the prettiest but I think the most important takeaway is that we did enough to get it done, to get the job done. And sometimes you have to win ugly and that's what we did tonight.
On taking on Drogba:
The back line played great. Ronald [Zubar] and Damien [Perrinelle] last week, they had a tough task against Kei Kamara so it was almost a good warm-up, knowing that we weren't going to be able to win every single ball. But if we can keep him guessing, if we can win the second balls, we knew that we were going to be successful and that's what the guys did tonight. So a lot of credit goes to them. And with that being said, we know that the next task is not any easier - whether it's Jozy [Altidore] or [Sebastian] Giovinco, you know both of them have a lot of quality. But we've showed tonight that we have not only the intelligence to make a difference in the game but also see games out. And I think this is really important in this part of the season to be able to finish games, and that's what we've done the last couple of times, whether it was Columbus or tonight against Montreal, and we look to continue to build off of that.
On the depth of the back line without Matt Miazga and Kemar Lawrence:
That is a luxury that most teams in this league don't have, so a lot of credit goes to Jesse [Marsch] and Ali [Curtis] - during the offseason, throughout the season finding the players that would allow us to be successful. Also with Jesse's leadership, from the very beginning he allowed us to succeed. I mean, he put us in a great position to succeed by spelling it out for us, so it doesn't matter who goes in there. And we've seen that with Sal [Zizzo], we've seen that with Connor [Lade], we knew with Ronald [Zubar] that it was only a matter of time if we could get him onto the field he's going to be a big piece for us. And that was the belief within the locker room. Obviously, we lose two great defenders who played great for us all year in Matt [Miazga] and Kemar [Lawrence], but with that being said the belief in this locker room is strong in each individual and each player, so it doesn't matter who gets called up, whether it's Anthony Wallace, Sal, Connor, Matt or Kemar - guys are going to step up, and that's what we're starting to see.
MONTREAL IMPACT
Montreal Impact Head Coach Mauro Biello
On tonight's match:
Obviously disappointed with the start, disappointed with the first 15 minutes that we had and giving up a pair of penalty shots and a red card it puts us in a difficult situation right off the bat, but I'm proud of the way we finished the game because we had a chance there to maybe even get something out of it, but again I think it's about playing 90 minutes and being ready from minute one until the end.
On how the game plan changed after the red card:
At that point there was no use to pressing high. We were going to stay compact and low on the field and wait for the counter and that's what we did. We got a few chances out of it. Didier [Drogba] got a couple chances and the last one with [Dominic] Oduro and we almost got away with it.
On enduring the Red Bulls press and grabbing a goal down a man:
They didn't really have to press today because they had the ball a lot. In the end, yes they're a high-pressing team, but they had a lot of the ball so we had to stay low and try to win and counter.
On the combination of Dilly Duka and Didier Drogba:
They've done well, they've combined well together. I think it's two quality players and sometimes players like that just have a sense for each other and that's what we've been seeing and hopefully we can continue the next couple of games like that.
Montreal Impact Midfielder Patrice Bernier
On the match:
First few minutes of the game I think we were asleep a bit and we know it's a good team, that they can play, they move the ball a lot, and I think we were flat-footed and not as concentrated as we wanted and we put ourselves in position that we ended up getting a red card and then you're chasing the game at 1-0. [Evan] Bush made a great save on a second penalty because it could've been game over then, then they score again, so it's not easy playing 75 to 80 minutes one man down, but second half we pushed, we showed character, we found a way to create a chance to score a goal and we pushed and I think we paid for it the first 10-15 minutes of the game where we weren't really on the same pace as what how they started the game.
On this week and going forward:
Every game is a playoff game. You see in this league the margin is a goal, it's fine details. There's no four or five to zeroes like half of the season. Every game everybody knows that you know the West, nobody's really clearly in, here, everybody's still in it in terms of playoffs or changing your position so it's to be sure that tomorrow when we train we get back to our standard and perform properly, travel, be smart to make sure that everyone, it's a cliché, but it's a warrior mentality, it's our attitude. You can't say you're tired because everyone in the league can say they're tired, everyone's been flying around. It's just to approach it as a senior player and explain to the guys that no matter how we have to get a result, we have to go into Colorado and grind it out.
On what he has learned from playoff pushes in the past:
I think back in 2013 we were in a rut, we were not coming out of it that's for sure and now we have a lot of depth on the team, the team has been tested a lot with red cards, players going out on international duty and people have responded so at this time of the year we've shown that the last few weeks with a different lineup we still manage to get results and on Saturday we're going to go and do the same thing again in Colorado and perform.
Montreal Impact Forward Dominic Oduro
On if the start of the game was the cause of tonight's loss:
We're a man down playing against a team like Red Bull that's really hard, but it's a tough loss, again we're still not out. I think our chances of getting in are still high compared to Orlando, but we just have to learn from our mistakes. Two games in a row we've lost 2-1, we just have to learn.
On traveling to Colorado on short-rest and if it's a challenge:
Yes, we just have to be smart. It's a high altitude game, it's a long flight, we got to adjust to the system over there. We just have to go in there and be smart and all we need is confidence right now. It kind of dipped a little bit because of these two losses, but it's still not over so we have to go into Colorado and just be smart and get a win or get a point and we're back in business.
On if there was talk in the locker room at halftime of game-managing with Colorado coming up this weekend:
It's always one game at a time. We came into the locker room knowing we're a man down, 2-0 down, we just tried to contain ourselves and hit them on the counter. That's the only thing we could do looking at the way they were playing against us. This game is over, now it's on to Colorado.
