NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH MIKE PETKE
On the game:
I went in there and pretty much sums it up that they’re going to end my life early to be honest with you. That’s God’s honest truth. I mean we do well first half to go up and they put a lot of pressure on us the second half. We didn’t deal with it from a build out standpoint particularly well, but defensively we had a very good block, very good unit. They made it very interesting. And then to put it away at the end like they did, I give a lot of credit to them.
On Jonny Steele:
Wednesday not playing him was a bit of a tactical decision. I explained that to him and he was 100% on board and fine with that. Then he had a phenomenal couple days of training and I thought this game suited him perfectly. This is an opportunity for him to exploit the outside a little bit and get some crosses in and work his ass off. And he did and I’m proud of him today.
On the start of the game and the own goal by Brandon Barklage:
Yea, I thought we started the game very strong. And then to give up a foul 30 yards out from goal I wasn’t particularly pleased with. And then the rest is…we all saw what happened: an own goal. That’s unfortunate, but he bounced back, like you said, he bounced back great had an assist and worked hard. He was taken out at the end because he did indeed work extremely hard and you could tell that he was losing a little bit of steam and we need to sure it up a little bit. So, he did well tonight.
On Tim Cahill playing the central midfield role:
I mean listen, Juninho’s out. And Tim, I trust him to fill in pretty much any spot that is needed on this field. That’s why he’s, like I said used the word time and time again: invaluable. You know I’ve been asked questions about his lack of goal scoring this and that and it makes me laugh. If people were there seven days a week instead of one 90 minute game on Saturday and had a bit more level expectations, not just because he was in England and he hasn’t scored many goals. He brings so much to this team. So, put him anywhere and he’s willing to do it, and he does a great job. Very proud of him for that.
On Lloyd Sam’s performance:
I thought that this game and that moment suited Lloyd for what he brings. I think he was forced to play a bit more defensively than I was thinking he would have. When he came on the game kind of shifted that direction pretty fast, but when he got the ball at his feet he did well. I thought he did well. I thought he took his chances. I think he got a little excited, you know, took maybe on one occasion when he beat the one guy and then took one too many touches, but that’s expected. And I think he was a good outlet for us.
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER JONNY STEELE
On why he didn’t start last game and the discussion that led to him starting today’s match:
He said he was just going to change the dynamics of the team and I can respect his decision, he’s the manager, he makes the calls. I was disappointed but I came in and worked hard and he rewarded me with being back in the team… I thanked God tonight I showed him.
On if he got any indication about the lineup changes:
I just think if you respond… I don’t think you got to look for a response on what he was going to play. It’s his decisions to make is not mine, what more can I say. He took a say and I respect him for taking a say and being a man to me and telling me why I wasn’t on the team. He then took me aside and tells me I’m going to be on the team.
On getting his first goal for New York:
It feels good; it just takes some of the stress off my shoulders… My dad’s not well so that goes towards my dad and Eric (Alexander) did pretty well, Eric laid on a beauty and if you miss that you shouldn’t be playing.
On his “fiery” play today:
I’ve got some family issues with my father not well and stuff, so every game I’m going to dedicate to my dad. I just got to pray and do things for him… (My father) just had a stroke… I’m just rewarding him for what he has done for me and my career.
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER DAX MCCARTY
On his collision with Kalifa Cisse:
Man that was… that was a lot of man running me over. I was a little shaken up to be honest. I don’t know, luckily it was more a case of just whiplash than actual contact with the head. I was a little out of it for a second or two… I was all right.
On tonight’s match:
You know it felt good. I think, I think we’ve been kind of waiting all year for that offensive explosion and to do it against a team that has been the best in the league defensively it’s actually… It feels pretty good. We created tons of chances tonight, I was actually a little worried because with a 2-1 you never actually know what can happen and they… They actually played pretty well in the beginning of the second half… Actually the whole second half, they were pretty good. They made some substitutions and we were a little bit chasing the game there for 30 minutes or so. Once we scored the third goal we killed the game off. It was just a good performance, I mean the first half, I thought we created plenty of chances to be 3 or 4 up but that’s how the game goes. New England is a really solid team, but look obviously with everything that’s happened with them in Boston this last week, we knew that they were playing for the country basically and everyone was kind of pulling for them. You know if we weren’t playing against them we probably would’ve been pulling for them as well. It was definitely a lot of circumstances against us tonight, luckily we were at home and our fans were fantastic and we put together a good performance.
On Jonny Steele’s performance:
Johnny (Steele) is a guy that is unselfish, he’s an unselfish player, he’s always looking to pass… I think he had one where he was literally like five yards out from the goal and he tried to pass it, but I was happy that he got a goal, he deserved it, he has worked hard, he works for the team, he defends, he plays on both sides of the ball, so for me he was very good tonight and his service is something that we’re going to need all year.
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER BRANDON BARKLAGE
On his own goal:
I kind of just wanted to hide in the corner for a little bit. It’s not a good feeling when you have an own goal. It’s my first career own goal, you got to move forward and I think that’s what I tried to do.
On New York’s second goal:
It was a great run by Dax (McCarty) an awesome cut-in by (Fabian) Espindola and a great finish.
On the importance of tonight’s win:
It’s huge; I think you saw a little glimpse in the first half of what we’re capable of doing. I thought we were very dangerous during a little stretch of that first half and we’re getting a little better in closing out games in the second half. It’s a 4-1 victory… We’re riding high right now.
On build off of this win and if it's good for confidence:
Yea, absolutely. We know what we’re capable of doing. We’re excited to come away with not only a victory but a 4-1 victory. To score four goals… If we score that many goals we’re not going to lose games so we’re excited.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH JAY HEAPS
On the Red Bulls’ fast start:
In terms of the way this game went, right away we put just put ourselves in a hole. We had a couple missteps, a couple wrong moves and they were clinical on our chances and we weren’t.
On the result:
We were so stretched and there was so much space in behind and you’ve got to credit some of their guys. (Thierry) Henry didn’t make one bad move all game. It was really the first half that impacted the entire game. If we weren’t down 2-1 we don’t have to stretch ourselves to get back in it.
On how the team has been impacted by the tragedy in Boston:
It’s tough. It’s a tough situation. We had six or seven guys within a half mile of the actual tragedy on Monday. We’d like to think you can step on the field and keep your focus and unfortunately the first couple minutes was where this game was decided and our focus was not there.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER CHRIS TIERNEY
On the team’s mindset heading into this match:
It meant a lot. It’s been such a tough week for us. Obviously, the result didn’t go the way we wanted it to but it was a good distraction for us. At the end of the day, we’re looking to move forward and keep getting better. We’ll pick ourselves up and look to get three against Philly. It’s a must win for us at home and we’re looking forward to that.
On the result:
We had some decent spells for sure. I think we passed the ball better and created some chances but we just didn’t get the breaks we needed.
On the opening minutes of the match:
It was a wild start. Not what we had planned on. We knew they were going to come out strong as they usually do at home. Unfortunately, they caught us with that early goal and that really hurt us. We did well to get back to 1-1 and had some chances at 2-1 but it just didn’t go our way.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION FORWARD DIEGO FAGUNDEZ
On the result:
It was a tough game for us. We didn’t play our best in the first half but once we came out in the second half we were playing well but we couldn’t get our chances clear. We had a couple good chances but we just didn’t have that final ball to get it in the back of the net.
On playing their first game since Monday’s tragedy in Boston:
It’s nice to just come to practice and do what you like to do. I think you just have to help out your teammates who had something happen to their families or themselves. So, we just have to take it day by day and get better every day.
