NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH HANS BACKE
On the team’s turnaround from last season:
“The key was the first six games, when we won five out of six and kept going. It’s phenomenal to get 30 points more than last season. I think, normally, you can’t see any team in the world double their points in one season, it’s impossible to do that. And to get 30 points more, 10 more wins, less conceded goals; also for the background staff, everyone working with the team, it’s been excellent.”
On the recent play of Dane Richards:
“With a player with that pace, normally those players are not the technically best ones. I’ve said the last six weeks, it’s more the understanding in his attacking game. To time his run, when to run behind, when to come short. And of course the distribution from the midfield has been much, much better.”
On the status of Thierry Henry:
“He’s been away for nine days exactly. Fitness wise, its no problem. The knock on his knee is too painful at the moment. They’ll try on the weekend to do some treatment and hopefully he can train on Monday. Fitness wise its no problem, but the touch on the ball, the sharpness, that will take time.”
On the team heading into the playoffs:
“I think today we wanted an answer. From the Philly game, the Kansas City game, an answer to what kind of mindset we were going into the playoffs with. To bounce back from the Philly game, and I think the last 35 minutes of the first half, I was happy with that.”
On the season of Joel Lindpere:
“He’s been our most consistent player this season. I would say every game, his work ethic is phenomenal. We tried to play him centrally today to get a more lively central midfield, a little bit more dynamic, and that definitely worked.”
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER DANE RICHARDS
On the difference between this year and last:
“There was just room for improvement. We couldn’t do worse than last year. We just came in and worked hard, and we did it. It’s not over yet, with the playoffs. Hopefully we have three more games left and we can go all the way with it.”
On his and the team’s confidence:
“The team is really confident right now. We just need to go out there and be consistent. Defend well, and keep a clean sheet if we can, and the opportunities will come, we just need to put them away. When you’re winning, confidence will rise. Last year, I don’t know who was confident on the team. We just have to keep winning, turn it into a habit.”
On what he was thinking when the team took a trip around the field after the match:
“Last year we were thanking the fans, and we were going to go home. This year, we’re thanking the fans to come and support us in the playoffs, so that’s a great feeling.”
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER CARLOS MENDES
On the match:
“I thought it was a battle throughout. It was a physical game, we knew they were going to come out and pressure, they had nothing to lose. It was a team effort. You have to credit everyone form top to bottom, we kind of knew it was going to be a physical game and it wasn’t the prettiest game, but we got the result, we got the zero, and hopefully we can keep it going into the playoffs.”
On the team’s turnaround:
“The first goal coming into the season was to make the playoffs, and give ourselves an opportunity. So we’re there, and we know now that we have a lot of work to do. There are a lot of good teams, everything’s going to be tight. The playoffs are always a battle and so we know we have a lot of work to do, but we’re ready. I think we have a good team, and we’re ready to make a run for it.”
NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL
On going into the playoffs:
“We need to finish it off well. We don’t want to disappoint ourselves, because we’ve worked so hard. But we know we have a big challenge ahead. We have to correct the things that we need to correct, and because of the formula of the league, anything can happen. We have to be our best from the beginning, because we don’t want to miss out on this great opportunity.”
On tonight’s match:
“The team played better today in general. I wouldn’t say it was a spectacular game, but we needed to start off differently than we started against Philadelphia, and I think we did that. In the second half, it was more of trying to control the game. I don’t think we played particularly well in the second half, but we were never threatened by New England. And then we got the second goal that basically killed off the game. But we needed to win today, we needed to secure first place, to hopefully get that home advantage in the second round if we make it. Overall, I think the performance was different from last week.”
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the match:
“We got a couple of chances we never took. They got two chances and they took them. There’s nothing between the two teams. But that’s how the seasons going, you know.”
On the Red Bulls getting the momentum early:
“It goes that way because we make a bad decision. That’s why we lose. It’s pretty straight forward. We haven’t been good enough. That’s the bottom line. That’s why we lost tonight. The first goal, we didn’t fill the holes in behind. We couldn’t attack in their penalty box because we don’t cover the holes properly. Again, it’s something we’ve been talking about. And then we lost 2-0. There’s not much between the two teams, really. You take the chances that you get. We need to get better. The guys on the field have to be better.”
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER CHRIS TIERNEY
On the on-the-field effort:
“We put together some decent stuff, got in some good areas. It just came down to that final ball, that final finish and we just couldn't find it. That’s the way it’s been this whole year. Story of the season, I’m afraid.”
On the push towards the end:
“There’s going to be holes. When it comes down to the position we are in, it doesn't matter if you lose one nil or you lose 10-nil, it’s zero points either way. And we were going for it at that point so we knew we were going to be exposed. And they have good players, and they scored a goal.”
On what they are taking from this season:
“I think it just comes down to experience. I think we are a young team. We’ve got some guys who’ve got some growing up to do, including myself. The lack of experience hurt us. There were times where we gave up some real soft goals. It’s tough when you’re fighting from behind. When you look at games that we did well in, we started strong, got the first goal, and we showed at times that we could play some good stuff. I’m afraid the lack of experience let us down.”
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER SHALRIE JOSEPH
On the end of the season:
“The past couple of games, five or six games, that’s all we’ve been doing, just making silly mistakes, and giving up goals we shouldn’t. And tonight, it happened again. I thought the second goal was offsides, but I was wrong I guess. You guys probably had a better view. Tonight, we moved the ball well in the first half. We had a couple of chances that didn't go our way. They got one, and that really helped them with their confidence. I feel like we were just pushing for an equalizer and it didn’t come for us tonight.”
On playing the Red Bulls:
“They have a great stadium, a great pitch. There is a lot of space to play on. With a team like that where they have great players in the middle and one great player in Juan Pablo Angel that is able to play the ball up top and keep possession. That’s what they do well. They spread the field. They move the ball well as a team. They defend us better. Tonight we weren’t able to break them down and we weren’t able to create enough chances to score.”
On noticing a trend in the season:
“We played well in some starts. There are five, 10 minutes when we enter the game where we look like the better team and we look like a world class team. And then sometimes we just lose concentrate, lack of focus, and we give up goals like that. You can’t do that against good teams like that who are in the top of the league and getting ready for the playoffs.”
