Steve Nicol
On what he can say after a crazy game.

Well that’s exactly what it was.  When you score four goals in a game you expect to win.  But, they put a lot of pressure on us in the 2nd half.  The second goal is always an important goal in a game.  The third goal was on a silly challenge.  The last goal, and don’t get me wrong here when you are up 4 to 1 you should not lose a game.  The referee missed a call in the 80 something minute and they come back up the field and they score.  Both teams defense was garbage tonight. 

On putting Soares on the right

Well it was the whole front six.  We had success but it was everybody

On game management

The second half we came out with having only Milton up front. 

On keeping Milton on and taking Lekic off

Both of them were playing well together.  We thought Milton had a little extra burst at that point.

On the injury

Pat came off and of course he was okay.  But we were not going to take a chance on something like that over a game of futbol.  So we decided to go four and four with Milton up top. 

Did you expect the Union to come out like they did?

Absolutely. You don’t expect a team of that caliber to come out any other way.  We wanted to try and start the 2nd half the way we started the 1st half and take it straight at them. 

Sharlie Joseph
On what you can say after a game like that…

I mean we are all questioning each other and trying to find answers right now. How we can give up a 4-1 lead is just frustrating, we’re not mentally tough and we’re not doing the things necessary to hang on to a lead. From my standpoint we’re just a young team and we’re not mature enough to hang on to a lead.

On how important Philly’s second goal was to the outcome…

It’s good for them that they got that second goal early on in the second half. It allowed them to play high and push players forward. It all stemmed from our mental mistakes. Not being in the spots that we need to and not following our men in the defensive third and that cost us. Tonight it’s just, you get a 4-1 lead anywhere even against Barcelona you’d be happy and hopefully hang on but we’re not quality enough or good enough to hang on to a 4-1 lead and that’s going to cost us a playoff spot in the long run.

On if they expected Philadelphia to fight and come back in the second half…

Yeah, we expected them to come out and push numbers forward into attack. We thought we were strong enough to hang on to a lead, we talked at halftime about getting numbers behind the ball and try to hold onto possession a little more to allow our defense to relax and get the energy back but that’s it, we weren’t good enough tonight and it’s going to cost us in the long run.

On what went right in the first half...

We created chances, we moved the ball well, Benny and the guys put some great balls into the box and we were moving forward and attacking as a group but the second half we just went bad. We didn’t do what we needed to, we stepped back too much defensively and allowed them to play and you can’t do that against a team that are attacking and forward like Philly.

-On how to bounce back and prepare for FC Dallas coming up…

It’s going to be tough I’m not going to lie. This one stings more than the last couple. We’ve been leading 2-1, 1-0 games and giving up that late goal, it hurts a lot. Hopefully we’ll pick our heads up in the next couple of days and be ready for Dallas on the weekend. But this one definitely hurt a lot more than the last ones.

A.J. Soares
On scoring the first goal of the night…

It’s always nice to get on the board but you know I’d rather win than score obviously. I’d of traded it for a win but full credit to Ryan, he set me up for the play, he called me in and said make this run, I’ll set you up and he did. Chris put the perfect ball and I just ran into it and closed my eyes, it went in then I blacked out and planked. I was glad guys joined in with me on the plank, that was pretty much how it went in my head.

On the momentum they team had going into the break…

We did, and we played well. If we played that way for 90, I guess we would have won 8-2 so, seriously though, we need to take that first half and try to do that for 90. That has been the story of the year so far. If we can do that we’re going to be in good shape. We find a way to make it hard on ourselves.

On what’s going through your minds at half time up 4-1…

When you come in 4-1 up you want to play exactly the same. Keep scoring goals but when you’re playing a good team like Philly it’s going to be difficult, they’re going to come back. Obviously they’re upset they’ve given up four goals in one half so credit to them for coming out hard and getting three in the second half, I mean I guess that’s just how the game went. It’s kind of a split. Unfortunately for us we made some mistakes and didn’t capitalize on that early momentum we had like you were talking about.

On if they felt the pressure during the second half…

I mean we were sitting back basically. It was pretty clear they were basically attacking us the whole time. You know if you don’t deal with one ball, you make one little slip, they’re going to score a goal. That’s the tough thing. You know you can absorb the pressure well, we did well most of the time but the three times we didn’t do well they scored goals. We got to do better than that next time.

Philadelphia Union Quotes
Team Manager Peter Nowak
On what he said at halftime

Nothing.  There wasn’t much to say.  We had a couple good looks to score a goal and we just missed.  There were a couple calls in the first that were iffy but we came out strong in the second half.  We looked like an expansion team from 2010 in the first half. 

On missed opportunities and being satisfied with the tie or not

I am not upset about the chances our team had.  I was upset about how easy we gave up the goals rather than not scoring.  We created some good chances and that’s all it was.  We gave up some chances and they scored.  It is not only the good looks but it is not closing out or focus.  But there is nothing we could do.  We should have beaten them in the first place.  It is mixed emotions from being 3 down to scoring all those goals and tying the game and still giving ourselves a chance to win the game. 

On giving up some bad goals and being worried about it

No I’m not worried.  It is a combination of things.  Losing focus and leaving people open.  It is unacceptable.  You have got to recognize these guys can shoot and step forward at them.  We have to find a way to play d against those guys you can’t hope and pray they will miss.  We need to refocus because we can’t go out and play a game like we did in the first half again.

On rookie goalie cramping

It was tough.  He let 4 pieces behind him in the first half but not all were completely on him.  But, he came out strong in the second half and played well. 

On being satisfied with the way Le Toux has played all season and not having goal count he had as last season

He found himself in good spots and finished some great chances.  It is good for everybody to see him score some goals and it is a good thing. 

On the affect Sons of Bens had on the team out on the field

They fired us up in the second half and we all appreciate them.  In the first half it was quiet except for when we scored our goal.  But we came out in the second half and they were very loud and helped us to come out strong. 

On Adu playing 90 minutes

I was pleased with his movement all game.  He had a big goal to get us back in the game.  It was a good day for Freddy.  As you saw at the end of game he was cramping but as I told you guys he is still not physically there yet.  But we will watch him each day and monitor him and get him stronger and make sure he will recover fully before we throw him back out there. 

On Williams joining the attack and taking away from his defense

It shouldn’t take away from his defense.  He is a defender first and he needs to pick his spots to make plays.  He needs to know the right moment to go up and recognize those moments and go.  He is a strong and fast defender who knows how to dribble and score but his main responsibility is to defend but I was very happy with all of our fullbacks.  We shuffled the defensive line in the second half to push some players forward.  Califf has been a rock back there and has been playing strong for weeks.  Valdes is very stable and great back there.  Our defenders are playing great and they just had a couple mistakes tonight.

Sheanon Williams
On chances

They were giving us a lot of chances especially in the first half they scored some good goals. But still we had a good amount of chances. I think we had nine shots to their five which they scored four goals, we scored one. But the whole time I knew we were going to get chances in the second half. It was a good time for us to regroup. Peter gave us the changes and we just went back out and…luckily we just kept fighting and we got three goals.

On second half strategy

At that point it doesn’t matter if we’re losing 7-1 or 4-1, we’re losing. We definitely wanted to put a lot of pressure on them. We knew them being up 4-1 they’d definitely… try to defend and that kind of played into our advantage. We didn’t have to commit too many people to defending and we thought we did a lot better job obviously scoring three goals in the second half and holding it to none. So I think we showed a lot of effort today.

Zac MacMath
On first half

It was obviously rough. The first 20 minutes we were already down 3-0 and that’s obviously not the way the team wanted to start. It’s just the way the game goes. I think we fought back and we got a point out of it.

On 4 goals against

I mean it was frustrating obviously. No keeper wants to give up 4 goals anytime. That’s just the way it went tonight and thankfully we stood our guard.

On 85th minute save

I was just really worried about getting forward. Thankfully it ended up in my legs and I think it ended up being offside anyways. Lucky but I’ll take it.

On halftime

I think everyone was trying to encourage me and really everyone was trying to encourage each other because being down 4-1 at the half we were all at fault. And I think everyone noticed that and we were all trying to pick up the morale.

On communication with defense

I think you know just collectively we’ve got to communicate more and be more of a back 4… and Brian Carroll, all 5 of us, as a team just really defend this team more and be better on set pieces.

On moving forward

Every minute is going to help me. Just experiencing live ball again is the best thing for me.

Danny Califf
On first half/playing from behind

I think there wasn’t any time in the first half, maybe this sounds funny or whatever, but at no time did I feel like they were really dangerous. They had four shots and got 4 goals. It was really strange. I feel like everything was against the run of play. We were still creating a lot of chances and you know, I think we have to come in with the mentality that our backs are against the wall from the get go. And you know work from there because we can’t continue to play from behind and wait until we get scored on to light a fire.

Freddy Adu
Was the tie frustrating considering the team you were playing?

Sure, it doesn’t matter what team you play we just want to get points.  We feel like our team is good enough to play against any team in the league. Today we showed great character. I think the guys are happy that we were able to give ourselves a chance to win at the end considering how far behind we were.

Do you feel that you goal being the second goal of the game was an important goal in the game?

I do.  I think it was important for us to get that goal.  It came early enough in the second half that we had enough time left to make a surge and that’s what we did.  That goal put them on their heels at the time even though it was 4-2 cause it gave us a lot of momentum and put their backs against the wall.

Did the adjustments in the second half make a difference?

Yes it did.  At that point we wanted to push the game and hopefully get some goals.  Those guys who came in gave us a great spark tonight.

Considering the game could have gotten even more out of hand, what does it say about the team being able to put that on the backburner and come out strong in the second half?

The togetherness of this team is amazing.  Sometimes individual make mistakes but we rally around each other.  We’re all humans and we make mistakes.  Were in this together and we knew we could do it.  If New England could score four goals in the first half then we can score four goals in the second half.  We have a good offense and a good time. We turned it up a bit and it worked for us from there.

This was your first full 90 minutes with the Union, how do you feel?

I feel good.  I had to work my way into it.  The Gold Cup final was the last time I’ve played this long.  I cramped up at the end but that just means I need to get more fit.  I felt I was involved the whole game. 

What kind of influence do the Sons of Ben have on you and the team?

They’re amazing.  They always cheer no matter how much were down by.  That really helps us and we rally around the fans.  I think this team feeds off that.  Personally, I feel it when I’m on the field.

How has the team chemistry been?

It’s been good.  I was fortunate enough to play with some of these guys before.  Sebastion and all those guys have been great.  I really feel a part of the team and I love being here. 

What did you think was more pivotal, playing your first 90 minutes or scoring your first goal?

Honestly, it’s great to get out there and score my first goal.  However, playing that 90 minutes was huge for me.  I want to be out there helping the team.  This last stretch of games is huge for us and I don’t want to let my team down.  Personally, it felt good to know I can get out there and score while playing 90 minutes when asked to do so.

Sebastian Le Toux
Is it frustrating to know you’re playing a team that low in the standings and you have to fight all the way back to get a tie?

Of course, We expected to win the game tonight.  We played ok in the first half.  At the end it was up for grabs but we just half to do better at finishing.  However, it does feel good to come back and get the tie.

Do you feel you’re getting your scoring touch back?

I don’t know, I just do the best I can.  We needed to get the point and I’m glad I was able to help us do that. 

What does it mean to get two goals for you?

It’s great for my confidence.  I was just happy to get my first one.  Now you guys have something else to talk about.  It was good for me.  I’m glad I was able to help my team get the point.