New England Revolution Head Coach Jay Heaps
On the set piece designed play from the corner kick:

Coach Heaps: “That’s one, we’ve run it a couple times, but we just felt like against the zone, we’d be able to get something like that. I don’t even want to tell you what the name of it is. The guys, they might tell you. It’s got a secret name. It’s called, ‘The Duke.’ So, we liked it. We worked on it a lot. Put it this way: it’s one of those we work on in training, it works all the time. Just, it’s never pulled off and tonight it was great.” 

On why the set piece play is called “The Duke”:

Coach Heaps: “Because it’s got like a basketball cut in it.”

On how the mid-week acquisition of Kei Kamara changed things going into the game:

Coach Heaps: “To be honest with you, it was a whirlwind. It was a last-minute trade at the deadline, so we weren’t sure if we were going to get him or not. So, it took actually an extra day to get him here and meet with him and see how he was in training. Ideally, you’d like to ease him into it, but we’re actually a little bit, if you saw, we were a little bit banged up. With Teal [Bunbury] being out and Chris [Tierney] being out, we were shifting things around. He became our best option and got him right into it, and I thought he was really good tonight. Look, they’re going to key on him. I think when teams key on him, it opens space up for Lee [Nguyen]. I thought Lee had one of his better games, because there was so much space there, because Kei’s going to occupy two and sometimes three players and that right off the bat helps us, and then I thought Kei was excellent at keeping the plays alive. I thought that was my favorite part about tonight, was how he battled for loose things. He kept things alive and then when he keeps it alive, it gets Lee in the game, Diego [Fagundez] in the game, Juan [Agudelo] in the game, and that really helped out our entire attack.”

On how you feel the team adjusted to playing with Kei Kamara:

Coach Heaps: “Great energy. Look, Kei came to us and right away, we know who he is. He’s punished us before in games. So when you have someone in the League that you know well, when they come into the locker room with instant respect, it makes the team, it energizes the team. I could tell right away yesterday. We worked him in slowly and sure enough, it was a great energy around. You see the chemistry between him and Lee [Nguyen] was really good tonight. I thought that goal on that corner kick came from great combination play between the two of them. I don’t even know how many passes they had between each other, but it was really good, quick play. Excited to see that going forward.”

On Kelyn Rowe’s performance on the back line and the decision to put him there:

Coach Heaps: “It was a lot along the lines of how many touches. We thought, when you watch Chicago when they’re on the road, they drop into this five-back system and it really gives a lot of time for the outside backs to make plays. Really, we want to get him into a position where he can make plays offensively, from a defensive kind of position, and I thought we spent a lot of time – [Assistant Coach] Tommy [Soehn] worked with Kelyn a lot this week on his positioning, because we moved him in that LA game more out of need and a necessity, but we talked a lot about this week building him in. Saying, ‘Hey, if we can get you a lot of touches here, this might be a good spot for you,’ and I thought Kelyn, he defended well, but I liked his ideas to get forward. I thought he was aggressive. He can be even more aggressive going forward in that position.”

On starting new back-four combination and its performance:

Coach Heaps: “I thought it was a really good performance. We limited those shots on goal. Je-Vaughn [Watson] is a natural gamer. I kind of put him that way. You tell him where he’s going to play, he’s all set. With Kelyn, you need to work. We need to spend a couple extra hours on video going through it and talking through it. Where Je-Vaughn is, ‘Okay, boss. Get me in the game,’ and then London [Woodberry] I thought has just done a nice job left and right. Tonight, he’s a lot more comfortable on the right side. We wanted him on the left tonight, but then when halftime came around, we thought maybe we could get a little bit of a spark with Kelyn attacking down that left side, because Kelyn, left or right doesn’t bother him. Credit to all three of those guys for adjusting, following the game plan, but really interpreting what we were doing in the film sessions and in our game preparation.”

On how it feels to get the win in what has been talked about as a “must-win game”:

Coach Heaps: “I think it was an important game for us. I think we needed the win for a variety of reasons, but we need to get back up into the hunt. I think the reality is that we’ve been playing well, but not 90 minutes well. Last week in LA, it was a terrible start. [We] gifted a couple goals and then we really came out with a great energy in the second half. We needed to put together a complete game and that’s what we did tonight. It wasn’t our best stuff tonight, I’ll be honest with you. This was probably not our best attacking night, our best movement off the ball, but we were complete. We didn’t have any areas of the game where we felt there were some deficiencies. Going forward, we need to build on this, but it’s just one part of this homestand. We need to make sure that we maximize these points at home.”

On the play of Femi Hollinger-Janzen and his first professional goal:

Coach Heaps: “Well, I thought Femi went in and instantly gave us an energy. He brought a presence. He’s been very close to that goal a few times and I was real excited to get him in there, and then for him to finish. He just had an energy about him all week and I thought he was going to get a goal tonight, and that’s why we put him in.”

On how far along Darrius Barnes is in his recovery:

Coach Heaps: “That was the debate. Darrius just had an injection a week and a half ago. The question was how long he could go.  To be honest with you, the idea with Darrius, it was a debate. I think we talked about it internally. The idea was, ‘Do we want to go into a game knowing we have to make a sub?’ And we’ve done that a couple times. Last week, you saw we had to make a sub and we didn’t have another one. I wanted to be complete with our subs. I even held my last sub, Samba, today, a little bit longer today than I normally would have. Just because, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t run into any issues. He’s moving along. I think you’re exactly right. This would’ve been a game where if Darrius was another week ahead of schedule, he probably would’ve gotten the start and we would’ve done things a little differently offensively. With this game being a game, we had to get some type of offense, putting Kelyn as an outside back, and his ability on the ball, is really what we focused on.”

On the importance of the three-game homestand:

Coach Heaps: “I’ve always said, ‘You put together ties and wins, and you’re fine.’ You just need to make sure you get the wins. We’ve got enough ties right now. Now, we need to find a way to get all three points, especially at home.”

On the MLS debut of Sambinha:

Coach Heaps: “Good. We’re excited about Samba, but at the same time, he’s younger. Because he played at Sporting, he’s got a good presence about him, but it’s also one of those things, new players in the League, it takes time to adjust. It’s such a key position for us, I really liked legging him in. I thought we may have gotten some time in LA last week, but the game didn’t go that way. He’s really starting to turn the corner. I like what he’s doing in training. I think it’s a matter of time before he starts to inch in and get minutes, because you saw him out there. He made two or three just quick plays, but he’s physical. He’s strong. He’s good on the ball when he has to be. And going forward, I think it’s someone we really want to start to ease into the lineup.”

New England Revolution Forward Kei Kamara
On making his debut with the Revolution:

Kamara: “It was fun. It’s really fun when you can win a game like that. Again, I’m excited to be here, but even more excited right now. I’m going to get back to my hotel room and go to bed knowing we got three points today.”

On his chemistry with his new teammates:

Kamara: “It’s a bit different, but there’s some good players out there. To me, I really want to be able to connect with them on the field and [it] looks like we’re kind of understanding each other a bit faster than I expected. It’s going to be a lot of work going into the training round, but today was good.”

On his interactions with Revolution supporters so far:

Kamara: “It’s great. It’s nice to feel welcome. For me, when I can interact with the fans, it gives me the extra boost, the extra motivation because it makes you feel like you’re playing for something. People appreciate it and that’s why my career has been all about. I’ve heard how amazing fans that they have in Boston and everywhere around here, so I’m excited.”

On playing with Lee Nguyen:

Kamara: “He’s a good player. Seriously, I’ve watched him play so many games and score goals like the one he did today. I’m just hoping that I’m able to connect with him a lot better. I’m hoping I’m able to be that target forward that he’s looking for. Again, not only that, even the ball that came from Diego [Fagundez] to me to Lee – which he should’ve shot but he decided to give it back to me – those things are good. But again, it’s going to be a lot of work because right away teams are going to start reading that.”

On recording a team-high six shots:

Kamara: “It was a good game. When you’re playing at home, you really have to take it to the [opposing] teams and that’s what we did today. Playing at home, that’s all that matters. Three points is what it’s really all about. It’s a good stretch here. When I came in, coach said we have three home games. It’s a tournament, really. That’s what it is. One game down, so two more to go.”

On Kelyn Rowe’s performance at outside back:

Kamara: “Actually heard him say next game he’s going to be playing goalkeeper. He’s an all-around player. It’s good. It’s really, really good to be a player that your team can rely on. It doesn’t matter what position. Even at the end of the game there, you saw him step forward a little bit more. Those are players that you want on your team. He’s a good guy, he’s a good player, so I’m looking to connect with all those guys.”

New England Revolution Forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen
On how he feels about scoring his first career goal:

Hollinger-Janzen: “Definitely happy to get an actual goal this time. Words can’t describe how happy I was after it went in the back of the net. Great ball by Juan [Agudelo] there, just setting me up for the finish, and it’s great to come out of here with three points and [we’ve] just got to keep it going.”

On helping the team double its lead:

Hollinger-Janzen: “We’ve definitely been working on finishing lately to try to get a couple more goals ahead of teams and you know, tonight when I went in there, that’s what I tried to do and was able to do it tonight. So I definitely want to keep it going to the next games here.”

On the spark that he brings to the team:

Hollinger-Janzen: “I just tell myself [to] go out there, play my game, bring the energy that I have, and work as hard as I can out there.”

On what he thinks Kei Kamara brings to the team:

Hollinger-Janzen: “He definitely brings a really good contribution to this team. He’s very good going forward, big in the air, can finish the ball. He’s a great addition to this team.”

On what it was like playing with Kei Kamara:

Hollinger-Janzen: “Oh, it’s awesome. Guys kind of suck to him, so it gives me a little more space to do things with the ball. So, you know, it’s really fun.”

On how important it was to pick up three points tonight:

Hollinger-Janzen: “Very important to pick up these three points tonight, and game-by-game here, three points each game moving forward.”

New England Revolution Midfielder Lee Nguyen
On the set piece leading up to the goal:

Nguyen: “Well, it worked out better than it did in training. No, it was something we planned, we had a couple plays and it was one of those ones where it kind of just set up perfectly.”

On what he’s looking for when he’s over the ball on that type of play:

Nguyen: “I can’t tell you all that, man. I think it’s one of those things where we have a couple plays, like Jay [Heaps] said, and we just kind of have to see where it unfolds and how they play against us.”

On how nice it was to finally see a set piece result in a goal:

Nguyen: “It was great. It worked out better than it did in training, and it is always good when a play like that, when you have been training a couple times, and it works out perfectly.”

On what three points means tonight with three straight games at home:

Nguyen: “It was a must win. We needed three points and this puts us back in the table. Everyone played great, top to bottom. Defense played great, executed, and got a shutout. The offense came through and Kei [Kamara] was great today and caused a lot of problems for them and opened up space for a lot of other players.”

On what it is like to have a player of Kei Kamara’s caliber:

Nguyen: “I want to thank Columbus, obviously. He’s a great addition. He is so smart, so athletic, and he wins everything. You are going to have to watch him. It adds another dynamic to our attack. Now, we are lethal with crosses and we already know he can play through the middle. Now we have both.”

New England Revolution Midfielder Kelyn Rowe
On playing in the right back position tonight:

Rowe: “It was a slightly different position, but I had [Andrew] Farrell in the first half next to me just chatting the whole time, making sure I was doing my thing, and I had Je-Vaughn (Watson) the second half and always had Bobby [Shuttleworth] in my ear. So I got a lot of direction; very easy to get acclimated to it. So for me it was just about playing another game and trying to bring a little attack in that defense.”

On when it was brought to his attention that he could be slotting into the right back position:

Rowe: “Obviously, throughout the week, because we tried it a little bit in LA. It was a false left back in LA, but we tried it a little bit and it was always in our minds that it might happen again, so you know, we went through some film in case that happened again and it did.”

On how much Kei Kamara’s presence changed how the team played:

Rowe: “I think it helped a lot. He was an absolute game-changer for us. I think he won a lot of balls. He was feisty up there. He played well with Lee [Nguyen] and connected well with Diego [Fagundez], and Juan [Agudelo] as well, and Femi [Hollinger-Janzen] did very well when he came in, so you know it was a good boost for us. I think it’s just one win though. We need two more and then to go into this break with three wins, it [would be] huge for us. It’s a season-changer, really.”

On what it was like to see a set piece come together and result in a goal:

Rowe: “I mean, I can’t take too much credit there. You know, Scotty [Caldwell] played a great ball and Lee [Nguyen] was just – it was an amazing finish so you know, credit to them. But it was one of those, we’ve always – we’ve worked on it and worked on it and worked on it, and like you said, we’ve wanted a set-piece goal for a long time and we’re glad to have one.”

On what he saw during the set piece:

Rowe: “We wanted to pull out some defenders, whether it be we’re playing short or we actually play short. Lee [Nguyen] saw that, you know, I think we could take them two-on-two, and we knew that Scotty [Caldwell] would kind of drift over, so it would be a three-on-two and we like our odds with those players. So, like I said, credit to Scotty and credit to Lee for the run. That ball into Lee wasn’t easy first time, so it worked out well.”

On if he sees a future for himself playing as a defender:

Rowe: “I just want to play to be honest with you, so if I’m on the field at right back, left back, right mid, left mid, whatever it may be, I’ll do it and I’ll do it to the best of my ability.”

On what getting a clean sheet showed about the team:

Rowe: “It just showed that we have a depth in the team and that we have this fight and desire to win games, and like I said, we had guys like [Andrew] Farrell and Je-Vaughn [Watson] who I think were very good today, and Scotty [Caldwell] and [Gershon] Koffie who were very solid through the midfield. It wasn’t just one or two guys. It was the whole team and I think that’s what you want going forward and like I said, it’s just one game. We need to make sure we have two more like this.”

Chicago Fire Head Coach Veljko Paunovic
On David Accam’s return to the lineup:

Coach Paunovic: “In the end, we had to make decisions and we believed that he was very aware of his performance, how he has come in the game. As the game was passing by, he was performing better and better. It was an important again for us, but we still have to keep working on him and be careful because after two months being out, we have to be careful.

On Kamara’s addition to the team and the effect on their strategy:

Coach Paunovic: “Well it did, it did of course, but it’s just a small adjustment. You prepare a different kind of video. We already played this year against Crew. Columbus, we played against him, so we had been prepared and I think the guys, our guys did a great, great job with him. He’s a great player, very difficult to defend, but I think our guys did a great job not only in defense but in all lines. I think we are very proud of our guys because their effort was huge and they believed until the end.”

On the impact traveling from Vancouver had on the team:

Coach Paunovic: “I think we did the preparation and recovery very well and I think the guys were ready to play. We had Kennedy [Igboananike] playing 90 minutes a lot of them and performing good, so I think we did a good job on recovery. I wouldn’t say, of course, that when you play two games in such a little time to recover it’s different, but no problem.”

On the team’s progression in the first few months of the season:

Coach Paunovic: “Well, improvement. Parts of the game we have to improve still and keep on working that is the only way – keep on working, believing, and I think we are doing a great job. We still have to improve, but every time and every day. [We are] very close in every game, very close to get to that next level which we need to be more competitive and more successful, but we will have to keep on working and believing.”

On Kelyn Rowe’s change of position:

Coach Paunovic: “No, there’s nothing special that we wanted to work on that. Of course, we would prepare for the game when we saw the lineup. It was some adjustment that we had to do, but still I think that we did well, but we have to improve and get better.”

Chicago Fire Midfielder Khaly Thiam
On his first game with the Chicago Fire:

Khaly Thiam: “It was my first game and it was very good to play with the team. Sorry that we didn’t win today, but the guys fought and we gave everything today. We lost and now we need to see the next game to win points.”

On how it felt out to make his MLS debut:

Khaly Thiam: “It was a new thing, like [away from] the pitch. But inside the pitch, it was the same for me.”

On how the team bounces back:

Khaly Thiam: “We’re going to do more like we did to win points in [Red Bull Arena]. We need to do more for sure.”

On how it felt playing alongside Matt Polster and Arturo [Alvarez]:

Khaly Thiam: “I felt good. They played good also. We didn’t have many opportunities, but we played good with the ball and we played against a very good team also.”

Chicago Fire Defender Michael Harrington
On what he saw out on the field tonight:

Michael Harrington: “I think we actually started the game in a positive way. I think we let ourselves down in a few moments. Obviously, the set piece just a little lax, and obviously a good finish but it’s got to be better on details like that because that put us behind the eight ball. But credit to New England – it’s a good team that we played, they have very good players. I think a team that was at home and hungry for a win obviously so they had some momentum with [Kei] Kamara coming into the side. I think he gave them a lift and we just came up short tonight.”

On some of the difficulties of playing a creative team like New England:

Michael Harrington: “Like I said, they have some very good players. They have a team that’s been together for a while as well as a few pieces like [Kei] Kamara, who’s a new guy, but they’ve got a lot of pieces there that have played together for a while. They know each other well, so they have a good chemistry. The keep the ball very well, which can make it difficult at times because you’re doing a lot of defending. I think maybe we did a little bit too much defending and we got tired and we weren’t as good on the ball as we needed to be because we were tired. I think that affected us on that side of the ball as well. But I don’t think it was terrible. We had some chances, but like I said, it’s a good team and we just came up short.”

On how they are still strong defensively and if they are starting to gel as a team :

Michael Harrington: “I think all season we’ve been pretty organized defensively, I think we’ve done a good job, but we want to do more attacking than defending and that’s the goal right now. We’re still a new group, we’re still working on our game, we’re still trying to find ourselves and find our identity. But we have good players and I think once we find that and gel, start to win a few games, I think we can start to gain some momentum. It’s still early in the season, so not all is lost by losing one game.”