Spirits were high in the locker room following Minnesota United’s take down of the Portland Timbers at home. Here is what the guys had to say following the match:
MNUFC Head Coach Adrian Heath
Well, I thought for the first 35 minutes, I thought some of our play was excellent the first half. I keep talking about our combination play in the middle of the park. I thought Sammy [Cronin] and Ibson got a real starting point for us, but I thought we saw a little bit more in [Kevin] Molino tonight. Certainly a lot more of Miguel Ibarra. And if we’re going to win games here, we have to play well in the middle of the pitch. I thought we did tonight. The work rate, and the determination to actually see the game through was really pleasing. And when we play like that, we’re a match for people. But we have to play at maximum, we can’t have three or four people who drop it to 10, 15 percent. And that’s what we’ve had on the road. It’s not nice to say. Our level of determination to win a game on the road has been nothing compared to what we’ve done at home. But it’s nice to win at home. We’re not the only ones by the way. If you look at the league — I think Houston Dynamo are probably one of the most dynamic teams in the league at home. Their record is not so good. So, we’re not on our own. But, tonight was a big win for us. Really important. Not only for the players' belief, but especially with a big game coming up now on Saturday. If we can go and get four, six points in the two next home games, the league table will look an awful lot different.
On keeping everyone focused in a game with so many ups and downs:
It’s, obviously, you hope you can. Sometimes though, I think that we’re at our best when we are fired up. Coming with that, is incidents and decisions that go against you sometimes. I would rather have it, than not have it. And too many times, we’ve not had it. They’re starting to believe a little bit. I think if we can approach the game like we did tonight on Saturday, I think we’ve got a good chance of getting another three points.
On his thoughts on the double red card:
They both looked like they kicked each other, so if that’s the case, I’ll have to see it again. I know Abu [Danladi] retaliated, and [Sebastian] Blanco did. In my day, might have been a tell enough. Things have changed a little bit.
On how his defense did, and have no goals against:
Well I think the important thing is, if you look at [Fanendo] Adi, who gives you just sheer pace and size, he's very, very difficult to play. Then you’ve got the agile of [Diego] Valeri and Blanco. They’ve got a guy that gets it and beats a guy and runs 60 yards with it. Their forward players are a real handful to deal with. So, I think, obviously one was a penalty, then you look at the own goal. I think the back four did really, really well tonight. I also think that the four in front, whether it be Molino, whether it be Viva [Kevin Venegas] late on, and Ibson and Miguel Ibarra and Sam Cronin. Their protection of the back four was excellent. It had to be. Against a team that’s been together for years, and that’s cost a lot of money together. We can be really proud of our nights work.
On what was clicking for his offense:
I just think that combination play in the middle of the park. People coming into the holes at the right time. Sammy and Ibson getting on the ball, making them three attacking midfielders play in front of them. The way I want the team to play, they have to function. If they play like they played tonight, we’re difficult to play against.
On Kevin Venegas seeming more comfortable this game:
He's growing. He’s suddenly growing into playing in the team. It’s been really difficult for him. I have to say, I thought Jerry [Thiesson] was fantastic at left back as well tonight. It was a real collective tonight. A real happy dressing room. The lads are really pleased. And I said to them, ‘you have to work hard. Every single time that you play in this league. Because we’re not good enough to play it 75, 80 percent. We have to play at 100 percent, and if we do, we’ve got a chance.’
On the depth of the bench and lack of his subbing tonight going into Saturday’s game:
Well it does, but I also know that sometimes changing the situation has an adverse effect. We had, Ibson was running on empty at the end, we had to make the change. Christian [Ramirez] couldn’t breathe, so we had to do that change. Sometimes people make changes for changes sake. If I’m going to make a change, I’m either chasing a goal or doing something to stop a goal. And that’s what we did, but it was a necessity this evening.
On scoring so early, and its effect:
There’s never a bad time to score a goal. I’ll take it every week, after five minutes. Thank you!
On trying to come back, and having to constantly come back and take the lead:
It showed a lot of character. And I don’t know why — I said to the staff — I fancy this tonight. I thought the lads in the dressing room, the mood in the dressing room before the game. You know a sad seat when you’ve been in it a long time. I thought the lads were up for the battle tonight. And as I say, it’s against a really good team. I have a lot of respect for the people at Portland. The coaching staff, I think they’re really well coached. They’ve got really good players. It’s a big win for us.
On how the players showed Adrian their hype for the game in the locker room:
I just think the noise that you can hear in the dressing room, the words that people say, and the way that they say them. We always speak before we go out as a group. I just sensed that there was a real determination this evening to go and get a result.
On Portland being the first game MNUFC played in the MLS, has he seen a progression in the group:
The six goals difference. We’ve got better. We were an awful lot better than we were when we played there. It’s a strange thing. I watched the game the other day, from the first game of the season, and we were nowhere near as bad as people thought. The last ten minutes were really poor in terms of defensively, but you go back over that game, we had more possession at Portland than any team this year. In the 82 minute, we’re the one in the ascendancy. It doesn’t look like that when you see the result at the end, but that result was not as bad as people thought.
On the pressure before the game:
There’s always a lot of pressure when you’re losing games on the road, but as I said before the game, our last three home games. We beat Orlando, we beat Kansas, we lost against the Galaxy when we were by far the better team against Galaxy. That might have been one of our better performances. So, the pressure amounts, but I can’t let outside influences, the social media and everything, affect the way that I try and work. I have a lot of belief in these guys. Probably more than they do at this moment, but we’ll keep working. We know we’re a long, long way from where we want to be, but we’ll keep working at it. And if we get a break along the way, as I say at home, we’re a difficult team to play against.
On if Adrian had any gripe against Bobby Shuttleworth’s penalty:
Not really. I think he's gone through the back of him. It’s one of them on astro turf that Bobby [Shuttleworth] thinks is going to skip on, and then stands up. He obviously is too short for him, he has to go over the top of him. I have to say there, I thought Francisco Calvo got man-handled for every corner. We had an initiative before the season that we're not putting up with it, and I think [David] Guzman realized that because they play together with the national team, how dangerous he is on set pieces. I’ve got no complaints on that penalty, but I thought we should have had at least one during the 90 minutes.
On if Johan Venegas will be able to step in for Abu Danladi this weekend:
We’re hoping he’s going to be okay. He feels a lot better today. Obviously, we’re down to bare bones at this moment in time. We cannot afford anymore injuries.
MNUFC Defender Brent Kallman
On getting back to TCF Bank Stadium:
I mean it was good for us to get back at home. It really felt like we could get back on the front foot and kind of build on the performances that we were coming off of when we played here. Because we were good, even in the LA game we were really good, even though we didn’t get the result. So, we just wanted to get back to that, back to playing on the front foot and putting teams under pressure, and I think we did a really good job of starting the game. The first half we were all over them.
On marking Fanendo Adi:
I got to play against him a little bit in preseason, but he’s obviously a handful. He’s a huge dude and he knows how to use it, too. So, sometimes you just have to concede that you’re not going to be able to fight him and rustle him, so you just make him go backward. But the wide backs did a really good job, Jerry and Viva, of helping us on our back shoulder. Because if he pulls off your back shoulder there’s only so much you can do as a center back. So, me and Calvo got the help we needed from those guys and it helped defend him.
On how he feels going into this weekend:
Good enough. Yeah. The training staff is working hard. Just trying to do everything you can, rest, hydrate and recover. But no, I feel good.
MNUFC Defender Kevin Venegas
On playing through an eventful match:
I think as a unit when things aren’t going well or things are going well, like you said it was a lot of quick turn of events, that’s when you just got to regroup and stick to the game plan. We were putting goals I’m, which was our plan obviously. An own goal isn’t necessarily a breakdown of the defense. It’s just a mental error. We know Calvo’s not going to be doing that every game. Just an unlucky play. And a penalty kick, we have ‘em that. Yeah, they scored, but it wasn’t the end of the world for us. We knew that we were giving them that kind of stuff. It wasn’t like we were getting completely broken down and they were scoring. Even though we were getting scored on, our play was still encouraging to where we knew if we stuck to that we could progress past it and find a way to win.
On being more comfortable in this start vs. the last:
Definitely. For me, it’s just knowing the type of player I am and believing it and pushing all the outside media people like you guys out of my head. Just kidding [laughs]. Just staying positive and remembering how I play regardless of it being a new level or anything like that. At the end of the day, you still put your underwear on just like everyone else so just go out there and play your game.
On toughest part of getting acclimated to MLS:
For me it’s just being comfortable on the ball. Just relaxing and knowing when I have time and space, and knowing when to just play simple or when you have time to get forward, get forward. Just reading the game a little bit quicker so that I can get a proper position and then execute.
On if he talked to Adrian about playing time:
I’ve talked to a couple of coaches, not about playing time, but more along the lines of how I can improve on things that they might see that I have to work on. Coach [Heath] knows everyone wants to play, so there’s really no point and going up and complaining about playing time. It’s a long season and anything can happen every day. I would just go into training every week with knowing the possibility that anybody can go down or if we have a string of bad games, Coach might switch things up. I just kept that in the back of my mind. It’s definitely been tough. Going week in, week out with not being in the 18 to now being in the 18 and playing. It’s a huge turnaround. At the same time you just gotta take each week the same whether you’re playing or not. It’s tough but you gotta work hard and it pays out in the long run.
On frustration about playing early on then not for awhile:
I think New England was a huge learning curve for me. I went out and tried to play real safe, and especially when you’re on the road it’s not going to work out well for you. I learned a lot that game. Not just on how to play, but where I stand and how to approach a game and just stuff within myself. I didn’t blame anybody else on that, that’s on me. I wanted to adjust everything from my body language at practice to how I approach practice and start from the basics and work my way up. Take the next opportunity I get and really take advantage of it.
MNUFC Forward Christian Ramirez
On changes in Timbers’ lineup affecting match prep:
Not really. I prepared for [Ryan] Miller and [Lawrence] Olum. Amobi [Okugo] is a pretty similar player. Both have played in the midfield and are playing at center back so both have similar tendencies. But not different.
On mentality in the locker room:
Everyone was eager to get the win. We know we haven’t put out the greatest of shifts the last few games on the road. And coming in at home we have to bring that energy and I tried to provide it early. Just running and pointlessly pressing at times by myself to make sure that energy was there from the start for me. I know that the guys will follow.
On his goal:
I got more involved in the second half. First half I was making a lot of runs and wasn’t seeing the ball which will happen from time to time. Kevin [Molino] has got a phrase. Yells over to Molino Kevin what’s the phrase? Don’t look at the eyes?
Molino: Don’t look at the eyes!
So, I didn’t look at them. I just knew that he was gonna find me. So, it was a great pass by him.
On this being the most dramatic game:
Yeah. I think we created havoc. We made it hectic at times to not let them feel comfortable, especially coming in here. We know that they are eager to play their rivals this weekend so we don’t want to let them get into a rhythm at all and made sure to make it difficult on them from the start.
On how to use that to motivate himself without getting too amped:
Just gotta control it. This is our job. Abu will learn. He’s young. He got kicked in the jaw. I can only imagine how he felt. But he’ll learn and he’ll pick his head back up and see what he could’ve done if we would’ve been a man up and finish out that game. It happens so we’ll stick behind him.
On Kevin Venegas’ growth:
I think he’s been missing a little bit of confidence whether it’s from us or from the boss, and that’ll come with time. For me I got it early. Miguel got it a little bit later. [Kevin] is starting to get it now. Once he starts to get his legs under him and gets that burst he can be dangerous for us. I think he showed more and more tonight. It’ll continue to get better as he sees more time on the field and he’ll start to get more comfortable and go off on his runs. We’ll just continue to feed confidence to him. I think it’s nice for him that he started and we got the result. I know that he’s been on the losing end of the couple of his starts and that never feels to good. He’s got my confidence. I believe in him. I know the guys do so it’s a matter of continuing to feed him that confidence.