MINNESOTA UNITED HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH
On continuing the momentum from a needed win over Real Salt Lake…
“Well, that’s what we have to try and do. We have to maintain that same level of commitment, same level of energy, bring the game, play on the front foot. I thought we were excellent second half and we need more of the same because we know it’s going to be difficult.”
On the offensive improvements in the second half…
“I just thought our quality was better. We played on the front foot a lot more, our line of engagement was higher up the field so when we recovered the ball, we were closer to their goal. And then our approach play, our combination play was a lot better. And, as always, our decision making was better. If you do that, you stand a chance.”
On the impressive first starts for both Emanuel Reynoso and Dayne St. Clair…
“Not surprised because we know what we’ve got. You don’t have the career that [Reynoso] has had, played for the team’s that he’s played if you’ve not got quality. It’s early days for him, he’s got to get to know his teammates a lot more, his teammates have got to realize what he can and can’t do – his range of passing, the fact that he can find them little holes in between. That’s going to happen. And Dayne, it didn’t surprise me. We know we’ve got a quality young goalkeeper. If he keeps listening and learning, listens to Stewart [Kerr], the goalkeeping coach, we feel as though we’ve got a really good goalkeeper on our hands.”
On the importance of two home games before the end of Phase 1…
“Well, it will be if we get a result tomorrow. We didn’t do ourselves justice in the opener against Kansas [City], but it could have gone either way that game. I thought we were worthy winners at the weekend, we have to do the same tomorrow night. We know it’s going to be a difficult game. Got a lot of respect for Luchi [Gonzalez] and his coaching staff, I think they do a really good job. Young team, plenty of energy so it’s going to be a tough challenge for us, but one if we approach it properly and meet it head on, do what we’re good at, we can win the game.”
MINNESOTA UNITED MIDFIELDER ROBIN LOD
On how he is settling in during this chaotic season…
“It’s always nice to score some goals but in the end, I’m more happy for the victory. It was really good, whole effort from the whole team, so I’m really happy for it.”
On his comfort playing on the right side…
“It’s a little bit different than playing on the left side. I’ve had some tough games on the left, had good games on the right but that doesn’t mean that it should be like this. I should play a little better on the left side for sure. It would be nice to play on the right side, it fits my game style really well.”
On the difference playing with Romain Metanire on the right and Chase Gasper on the left…
“It’s a little bit different. On the left side, we are both left-footed with Chase so we both want to go a little bit in the same place so we are taking the free space from each other a little bit. With Romain, it’s a little bit easier because I can go inside and Romain can go on the wide so it just fits a little bit better with the foot.”
On playing with Emanuel Reynoso…
“I really enjoy it. You can see the quality of [Reynoso] and it was really nice to play with him. I think as the season goes on, we will get even better connection with him and the rest of the team”
MINNESOTA UNITED DEFENDER JOSE AJA
On earning the shutout and a better defensive performance…
[SPA] “El equipo, el último partido, hizo un gran trabajo. Necesitábamos ganar y más cuando jugaos en local, teníamos que hacer muy fuertes. Fue muy importante mantener el cero en el arco. No recibir goles para nosotros es importantísimo porque sabemos que en cualquier momento podemos hacer un gol. Eso fue fundamental en el partido, mantener la calma y en el segundo tiempo pudimos encontrar los goles y llevarnos una victoria muy importante para nosotros.”
[ENG] “The team, in this last match, did a great job. We needed to win, especially at home, we had to be strong. It was important to keep the shut-out. To not allow goals, for us, is super important because we know we could score a goal at any moment. That was fundamental in the game, stay calm and in the second half, we found the goals and we were able to get the win which was very important for us.”
On maintaining the momentum against a Dallas team that took the victory less than two weeks ago…
[SPA] “Esto nos trae mucha confianza, el mantener el cero en el arco. Al equipo le da mucha confianza, mucha influencia y creo que, de ahí, para adelante el equipo se siente seguro. Lo vamos a intentar hacer de nuevamente en contra Dallas y en el resto del torneo.”
[ENG] “It gives us a lot of confidence, keeping the clean sheet. It gives the team a lot of confidence and influences us, moving forward, it helps us feel more secure. We’re going to try to do that again against Dallas and throughout the rest of the season.”
On playing in front of Dayne St. Clair…
[SPA] “Dayne hizo un gran trabajo en su debut de la liga que no es nada fácil. Es una liga muy complicada y para él, siendo tan joven, hizo un gran trabajo y nos ayudó mucho a mantener el cero en nuestro arco. Felicitarlo a él, que hizo un gran trabajo y ayudo mucho en poder llegar a la victoria.”
[ENG] “Dayne did a great job in his MLS debut, which is not an easy feat. This is a tough league, and for him to have played the way he did, being so young, he did a great job helping us keep a clean sheet. Want to congratulate him, he did a great job and he helped us find that win.”
