Ryan Nelsen – Head Coach, Toronto FC
Thoughts on the overturned goal.
We have to live with that. That’s life, people make mistakes, we all make mistakes. What’s unfortunate it that for eighty minutes of the game the guys were superb and I’m more disappointed that they really deserved to win and it cost them, it was taken away from them.
What about the first five minutes?
We were slow out of the blocks weren’t we? We see improvements in the team, we’re getting close to being a ninety minute team but it wasn’t good enough and the guys knew it. What was the reaction after that was the key for me? All eleven players were asleep and not organized. Very good warm up and yet in the five minutes where they fell asleep, in professional football it hurts you. You don’t do that but then for eighty minutes of the game I thought the passing was fantastic, one-two touch, the guys up front were smart. We just needed a little bit to run away with the game.
Is Maximiliano Urruti close to being ready to start a match?
No. He’s been out of action for a number of weeks. We have a system where everyone knows their jobs defensively and to come in out of the blue when you haven’t done anything and when you don’t speak the language so it is hard to understand where you should be in certain positions, it takes a bit of time. It’s a new league for him. It’s a new language for him. There have been some expectations put on him probably which shouldn’t have been. You’ll see more of him.
Steven Caldwell – Defender, Toronto FC
What are your thoughts on the decision by the referee on your disallowed goal?
Certainly wasn’t a foul. It was a great ball by Bobby Convey to a spot where we were causing a lot of problems all night and I just got to the end of the area first and held my ground. I was very disappointed that I didn’t get the goal.
Did you get an explanation from the referee?
I was a bit angry at the time but I never heard that for sure. I think he knew that he made the wrong decision. We’re all human, we all make mistakes. It’s just bitterly disappointing that in such a tight game. After the first five minutes where we were slow out of the box and lost a really sloppy goal we were outstanding against that playoff side we showed that fight, commitment, passion, quality in play, it was a game that we deserved to win.
Andrew Wiedeman – Forward, Toronto FC
How did it feel to get one take away from you at the end?
I think the last eighty minutes we were the better team. We came out slow in the first ten minutes and that is unacceptable so we need to cut that out for sure. We definitely felt like the last one was taken away from us.
Talk about your goal.
It was a bit of pinball goal. It wasn’t the prettiest but it went in the net. It came off the free kick which we’ve been working on. It kind of just pinged around and fell to me with the whole net in front of me so I couldn’t really miss that one too bad.
Jay Heaps – Head Coach, New England Revolution
What were your thoughts on the performance?
I was a little disappointed with the performance overall, not the points but as the way we played. We were up against tough opponents as they played great. Toronto worked their tails off, they didn’t give us anything. Fortunately, we started very well and then at about 20 minutes into the game it started to slip away from us. It then became more about energy, fight and passion, rather than a football game.
The second seemed like kind of a weird one with all the yellows, chippy play and rain.
It was interesting as I didn’t think the game was a chippy as the yellow cards will show. There was no malicious intent from either team, it was just a lot of tactical fouls. I thought the referee did a great job and did a very good job on handling the play before it could even get chippy.
You were able to use the same starting lineup for the third straight game, have you been able to develop a bit of consistency and stability in the lineup?
I think it is good and it shows that guys want to keep their jobs. We will have a couple days off and be in early next week to see how we plan out for next week Sunday. We need to regroup andget the bodies healed but mentally stay sharp.
What did the 2nd minute goal do for your team mentally?
You hope it doesn’t change your mentality. Scoring early can be a good thing and it was for us early on and if we were able to continue to play the same way we did in the first 15 minutes we would have been alright. Allowing a goal with 30 seconds before halftime was really disappointing.
Andrew Farrell – Defender, New England Revolution
After being picked first overall and at one point you were going to be heading to Toronto in the draft, what is it like coming here to Toronto after that?
It is a good organization, it has a great stadium, the fans are passionate and I am very happy I got picked by the Revs. This is my first time in Canada and I have enjoyed it.
How did you think you played this evening?
We didn’t win the game so obviously it wasn’t good enough. I had some moments here and there, I will try to be a little more consistent and be a little more involved in the attack. We just have to get back, we have a game on the following Sunday, we have a little bit of a week off.
You are right in the fight for the eastern conference playoffs, what does that feel like in your first year in the MLS?
We have some really good young players and the veterans have helped us also by showing us the ropes and helping us learn. There is about 7 points separating 5 teams and it was disappointing not to get the full 3 points.
A.J. Soares – Defender, New England Revolution
What were your thoughts on the game?
We were very disappointed we did not win the game but we are happy we are now at a level where we are disappointed about not winning games on the road. We have taken 7 points out of our last 3 games so if you were to offer that beforehand we would have taken it. It wasn’t the way we wanted to play the game but we defended well, had some good moments, but sometimes that is what you got to do.
It seemed the second half was a lot more about fight than soccer?
It’s just soccer, you know. It’s raining, that’s how that team (TFC) plays. We’re on their home field and we stood up a fought hard. At the end of the day it is even and we’ll take it.
You get off to a perfect start with a 2nd minute goal, does that change the mentality?
You don’t want to change the mentality. We came out and played really good soccer in the first 5 minutes and we wanted to continue but they did a good job of preventing us from playing our soccer and they played very well. They are a professional team and they are going to come at us.
What will a couple days off do for the team?
You got to take advantage of your rest days. It is a very long season and when you got a couple days off, you got to take advantage of it. It is a long season and guys run for 90 minutes, and we train hard all week.
