New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps
On the scoreless result:
“Just opening up, I thought it was a really tough game all the way around. The elements were difficult tonight and you never like giving up points at home, so obviously we’re disappointed in that, but at the same time I thought Columbus had a good game and when you’re dealing with a wind like that you can really tell it was difficult to play under.”
On midfielder Jermaine Jones making his first appearance of the season:
“It was pretty determined, 45 minutes. The idea was to get him a full warm up and get him through a normal warm up with our guys rather than bringing him in with only the 15 minutes at half time to warm up. We thought long and hard about it and worked with our medical staff, thought that was the best way to get him in 45 and I think he did good. I thought he came through all right and now it’s about progressing him for more minutes.”
On the club’s defensive performance:
“I thought our defense was probably, it was really good. The last play of the game was probably the one where only the only time we felt under pressure, but they did the same to us. It was a really muted game; we wanted to bring energy we wanted to bring more. That first half really, the wind hit us in the face, I think if it had been us going for the game in the first half. I think they wanted to play the way they did which was really smart and they were very sound defensively, defensively sound tactically and as the wind I think they started to press us a little because the wind was so overbearing in that first half, in your face. So I think that if we had started that way it would have been a little different, the energy it really took us to find the game, but I thought in the second half we manufactured some things and I thought Charlie (Davies), (Andy) Dorman and Diego (Fagundez) all were very good when they came in.”
On continuing to earn points at home:
“I like that we got a shutout, but from that I think we wanted more from today leading up to it, but as the game went on you could just, we weren’t firing on all cylinders and that’s disappointing. We want points at home as much as we can, so we’re excited to get back here when we come back in a couple of weeks.”
On winger Teal Bunbury’s first appearance since picking up a shoulder injury:
“We wanted to get him a little more on the flanks because of Columbus pushing their outside backs so high we felt we wanted to be able to win a ball and get behind them a little bit more, we didn’t get enough of that, but I thought Teal (Bunbury) was good and I thought Juan (Agudelo) was good and I thought Kelyn (Rowe) was good and then Charlie (Davies) in this game we thought it would open up a little bit more in the second half and I thought Charlie (Davies) came in and added a spark, but for me we’ve got options and we’ve got decisions and every week is what’s going to be best for our group going into that game.
On defender Chris Tierney’s status:
“Yeah you know it’s a tough one this week, he took a pretty good knock in the Colorado game so this week we tried to move him along a little bit but realized he was going to be out for the game so we were mindful of it and I think he’s close but he couldn’t play today. We’ll see as Monday comes around where he’s at, but certainly he’ll be available next week.
On defender Kevin Alston starting at left back in place of Chris Tierney:
“I thought Kevin (Alston) was good, I thought Kevin (Alston) was sharp defensively, really read the game and was connected. I thought he was key to the back line. Now we want him to get comfortable going forward and get more into the attack and you could see us on the side, we were motioning him to get more in the attack and when he does he’s so fast you can’t defend him, he can go left, he can go right. So I thought Kevin (Alston) did a great job tonight and I was really happy with Kevin’s (Alston) performance.
New England Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones
On his performance:
“I know that I can play better. But, it was the first game after, I would say, (in) three months. We have a good week now to train and then I hope that I can make the next step against Philadelphia.”
On the physical nature of the game:
“Yes, Columbus is a team that talks a lot on the pitch. For me, it’s not a problem, I like it. I like to battle with these guys and they have a good team. They have some good players inside. I think we always show when we keep the ball on the ground and we play with them that we win already two times. We know that we can beat them.”
On the difficulty of playing with the wind:
“There was a point where I was saying before that we have to keep that ball on the ground. The first half, I feel that we tried to hit the ball too much long and played a little bit into Columbus’ hands – what they want. All the times we knew when we keep the ball on the ground, you see we created some chances and they got a little bit scared and stepped back too. It was not easy, but I think both teams handled it really good.”
On how both teams played with a compact system:
“Yeah, the problems this team, we faced them last season three times and it’s the same game we played like this game today was like the game we played in Columbus when we lost. The game where both games in the playoffs we win, we keep them on their feet and they have to move and we keep the ball really good, keep going and that was a point I was saying in the first half – that we have to play and not always try to battle or hit long balls.”
New England Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth
On the importance of a strong defense at home:
“I mean, any time we go out there, we want to get a shutout, especially at home. We want to make it very difficult for teams to come in here and play. Credit to all the guys today, everyone put their shift in, limited their chances, and that’s exactly what we need to do.”
On Kevin Alston stepping in and replacing Chris Tierney at left back:
“Yeah, Kev (Kevin Alston) was good. Listen, we got a lot of talented guys in this group and a lot of depth and when one guy goes down, it’s the responsibility of another player to step in and that’s exactly what Kev did. He came in. He was really strong today and whipped in a couple good balls, really organized and solid.”
On being the Revolution’s number one goalkeeper:
“Every day, every week I’m coming in trying to play the next game and focus on that game. I take it week to week, hopefully put a strong performance in on the weekend and go from there. I’m not looking past anything past that weekend.”
On the impact of Jermaine Jones:
“I mean Jermaine (Jones), he’s a workhorse. Obviously unreal on the ball and organizes the group really well. So it’s a big plus for us to get Jermaine back. Obviously he’s a big player for us and hopefully he can continue and just get stronger.”
On adjusting to deal with the heavy winds:
“Yeah, I think it was, like I said, difficult conditions. I think they were doing an okay job of closing us down and forcing us to play long a bit. I think there was more opportunities to play short. Obviously that’s something we got to look at and work on. Myself especially, I need to look back at the tape and look where maybe I can play the ball shorter sometimes. It’s definitely something we’ll go over and hopefully we can improve on it.”
On the Revolution’s 13-game unbeaten streak at home:
“Yeah, of course. I think for this group, it’s important that we go game to game and we focus on our game plan for each individual team that comes in here and not look forward to anything past that team. This start of this season, we’ve been able to do that and that’s exactly what we need to do and continue to do for the rest of the year.”
Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter
On the scoreless result:
“I think we could have pushed the tempo a little bit. You can see we’re a little bit fatigued you know with all that travel and the game on Wednesday. But I’m proud of the guys for the effort they put in and at the end of the day you know two points was the minimum we wanted from this road trip and we got it.”
On the windy conditions throughout the game:
“Well I still believe if you keep the ball on the ground and you make short to medium length passes you’ll be fine but it does have an effect. The team with the wind had a little bit of momentum and obviously goal kicks and balls from the goalkeeper going further, and you know everything comes a little bit quicker when there’s such a strong wind for you.”
On the physicality of the game:
“We expect that in these games because it’s two teams that want to be top teams in this conference. We’re not going to give an inch, they’re not going to give an inch and you lead to games like that. You lead to chippy games. I think there’s nothing wrong with that, the guys are competing, as long as they don’t cross the line.”
On his club’s performance through the first five games:
“Like I said, we had two bye weeks already five weeks into the season. We had this crazy road trip. I feel like we’re still getting started, we’re still progressing and we’re moving toward something. I wouldn’t say we’re there yet with our product but the groups been tested in a number of ways so far, so we’re doing fine. Look how many guys we’ve started in five games already. There’s probably fifteen, sixteen guys that have started already so that’s a good number. We have some good depth. I think that we’ve been dangerous most every game so I like that side of our attack.”
Columbus Crew SC goalkeeper Steve Clark
On the switch in momentum from the first half to the second half:
“We had the momentum early, I thought we could have picked a goal there but we didn’t and it was tough playing into the wind. They pressured better in the second half, and I don’t think we did the best job playing out of it.
On the difficulty of playing in windy conditions:
“Not necessarily, if you’re trying to play intricate passes, sometimes it can be more difficult, it’s probably more psychological than anything. Give New England credit, I think they pressured better in the second half.”
On picking up points on the road in two consecutive games:
“Two tough games, two away games, we traveled a lot this week. Vancouver is a long ways away, to come back two and half days later and play a match, I think the guys did great in front of me. We are just still working on development, our process, getting better. We still got to get better, with some good pieces but we are going to turn these ties into wins.”
On the Columbus Crew SC defense:
“I thought they defended absolutely fantastic, from the top to bottom, great on set pieces. Emanuel (Pogatetz) and Mikey (Parkhurst) were just superb, credit to them for the shutout, it feels good.”
Columbus Crew SC midfielder Justin Meram
On the scoreless result:
“It was two really good teams, battled out. Defensively, we kept a clean sheet. Offensively, we had some chances and it would have been nice to put one away.
On the first half:
“We had a good first half, especially the first twenty minutes. It was really good. Like I said, we had a couple chances. I think one went off the corner or a spot kick. We could have put it away, then it would have changed the second half and the way they were going to come out. They went into the wind in the first half and created chances and we knew we’d do the same.”
On claiming two points during a two-game week:
“It’s a tough stretch, but the guys were prepared. Hats off to the trainers and everyone behind the scenes that got us ready mentally and physically to play these games.
On heading back home:
“It’s going to be nice to play home. We’ve got a week before the next game. We’ll be on grass, we’ll be at home, so it’s going to be helpful.”
