New England Revolution Head Coach Jay Heaps

On the loss and FC Dallas’ performance:
Coach Heaps: “I just want to start, credit Dallas for playing a very sound game, strategic game. I want to credit them because I thought they were really good on the night tonight.”

On what FC Dallas did strategically to be successful:
Coach Heaps: “Well, I just thought they played a good game. Unfortunately, the game started off in a pretty crazy manner. We felt like the game was just getting going and three minutes in, they go down and get a penalty kick. I got to see it on film, but not quite sure the decision making process to make, to come out and get that ball. So right away, we’re down a goal and have to get back into it. I thought we did a great job getting back into it. I thought we assumed the rest of that game. Really thought we had more chances to get back to maybe take it 2-1 and make it 3-1. And then right before that, they get a corner kick and another goal, and that was disappointing. I think the strategy I felt they played in the second half, the first half was wide open a little bit more because we were back in it, but the second half, I thought their strategy was really good in that they waited. They baited. They found places to attack and really went after our center backs and found places to get after our center backs.”

On the defense’s performance against a strong attacking FC Dallas team:
Coach Heaps: “Well, we got to go back and look at it on film. I thought Chris [Tierney] had a good night. And there were moments when Samba was good and bad. He was up and down. We got to go back and look at the film.”

On how the game would’ve been different if Gershon Koffie had not come off injured:
Coach Heaps: “Yeah, that was a tough one. That’s a tough blow for us and we’re assessing him now. I think he makes the game for us, just a little bit more physical. His presence was certainly missed.”

On Kelyn Rowe’s versatility and possibly using Darius Barnes as a sub:
Coach Heaps: “There was a lot of conversation about it. We wanted to go for the win. We felt like we have more advanced position with Kelyn [Rowe]. He’s versatile. I thought he was really good when he went to left back.”

On the difficulty of dealing with Fabian Castillo’s speed:
Coach Heaps: “It’s difficult. To be honest with you, I thought we did a very good job until the third goal. We made a mistake and he punished us. If you make a mistake at the top of your 18, the good players in this league will punish you. He’s certainly one of the good players and he punished us.”

New England Revolution Midfielder Lee Nguyen

On the momentum swinging after Gershon Koffie’s injury:
Nguyen: “We just gave them too much of the ball. Too much possession. They’re a team, if you give them enough chances, they’re going to punish you. Unfortunately, that’s what the case was today. We weren’t able to pull ourselves out of it once they got the third.”

On Kei Kamara’s presence opening up space for him to operate:
Nguyen: “It definitely opened a little space for all of us. Our attack is flowing. We tried to keep it going, but at the same time, we still got to stop the bleeding. That’s one of the things we got to go back and look at, because I feel like we gave them three soft goals there that we probably could’ve stopped. It’s just sometimes how it rolls. We got to learn from it and move forward.”

On giving up four goals at home:
Nguyen: “Going forward, we can’t afford any more of those [soft goals] now. It’s one of those things we got to learn now. Moving forward, if we can stop those, we’ll be fine.”

New England Revolution Defender Andrew Farrell

On his overall assessment of the game and everything that came with it tonight:
Farrell: “I think, obviously when you give up four goals at home that is pretty [expletive]. That is pretty bad on our part, but there are some bright spots there. Lee [Nguyen] had a pretty good game, Chris Tierney out there on the left was good, some other guys had good performances but just overall when you give up four goals it is not good enough and we didn’t give ourselves enough of a chance to win. It was 2-2 at halftime and we kind of came out flat. We gave up some pretty bad goals today.”

On if there were a couple of freak plays that led to Dallas’s goals:
Farrell: “It happens in soccer, but we have to be better. We can’t let in four goals and expect to win the game. It wasn’t good enough from everybody.”

On what Dallas did to take advantage of the key moments in the game:
Farrell: “I think they weren’t pressing us high in the first half but in the second half they stretched themselves and pressed us pretty well. It took us about 25 or 30 minutes to really get some possession in their half. Obviously that was tough and they have some good attacking players who can put the ball away when you give them some chances. Going 2-1 up then giving them a corner kick which I don’t think we had in a long time and after that, in the second half they got two or three chances and put them away. It’s not good enough from us, we have to get better. We have Seattle coming in, another good team, so we have to take care of business next Saturday.”

On his partnership with Samba:
Farrell: “It was good. It is getting there. It was tough on short notice, we didn’t know who was going to be back there, but we worked on it a little bit during the week with different guys in there to see what we were going to do, but we gave up four goals so we can definitely get better. It was not good, and we all have to work on it.”

New England Revolution Defender Chris Tierney

On his health after his performance tonight:
Tierney:  “Physically, I felt good. It’s been about a month out, so fitness is always an issue, but yeah, I felt good during the game and now it’s just about getting timing and rhythm back. Overall, defensively we obviously weren’t good. We conceded four goals at home and you’re not going to win any games doing that, so it wasn’t a good night for us.”

On how difficult it was with players changing positions:
Tierney: “It’s always difficult when players come in and out, but that’s no excuse. We are confident in the group that we have and anyone that slots in and plays in that back four we feel is good enough to put in a performance and none of us did that tonight. Conceding four goals, there’s really nothing positive to take and we are not going to pretend like there is.”

On how hard it is to lose a player like Gershon Koffie during the game:
Tierney: “That was a big moment in the game for us. [Gershon] Koffie does a lot for us defensively, he plugs gaps. We play up the field with our fullbacks high and Koffie puts out a lot of fires for us. That was a really unfortunate play and we hope he is doing all right.”

FC Dallas Head Coach Oscar Pareja

On his general thoughts on the game:
Coach Pareja: “Obviously, very pleased and happy with the points in a difficult place, against a difficult rival too, and that’s sweet. You know, we get three points and very good performance, especially in the second half when we could answer the pressure from New England and defensively, we grew a lot. And that’s something we were committed with coming to Boston. Unfortunately, in the first half, we were a little light for ten minutes approximately when we gave up two goals and the boys just get their things together in the second half. And the result of the four goals is the product of the effort on the field against a team who put a lot of people in the second half going forward, but we handled it very well. Tactically, once again, the team responded very well. We did a great job.”

On how he thought the team he responded to losing Michael Barrios early due to injury:
Coach Pareja: “Yeah, we’re waiting for result on him. Obviously doesn’t look good. We’re praying for his health and hopefully it’s nothing major. The players back him up a lot in the game. I thought it was even a lift for them when a player that worked that hard and means that much for this team. He’s doing a terrific job for the club and today the boys stepped for him also. It shows that we’re deep. It shows that we have people that can do the job also, and that was good news.”

On the key to stopping New England in the second half:
Coach Pareja: “We knew that they were looking for Kei [Kamara] there—especially in the air. I thought Zach [Loyd] and Walker [Zimmerman] neutralized him a lot and we wanted just to cut the connection with Lee [Nguyen] and him, which in the first half was more frequently than we wanted. Just cutting that connection back, it help us a lot and just forcing to play the long balls and just send some balls in the backs. And we’ll commit with just defender’s balls. You know, it’s something that we’re growing with and they did a good job on that part.”

On Fabian Castillo being creating the third goal:
Coach Pareja: “When we put [Fabian] Castillo—especially in the first half, we brought him in, in the left wing as his usual position. We wanted to create some damage there, but our plan for him was to spend most of the time up front. After 15 minutes, we moved him in there and tried to create space for himself and for others and be a threat in behind of the central box. In the second half, he was even more because we leave him by himself and we brought in Tesho Akindele into the hole like a playmaker who can help us defensively, but at the same time who can hold the ball for us and leave the spaces for Fabian [Castillo] and that is exactly what happened. Fabian [Castillo] just used that space that was created by him and then he came in, in a very important goal.”

On how it may have influenced FC Dallas’ game playing against Samba and Chris Tierney:
Coach Pareja: “I think we all have challenges and you know, during a [season] – and especially in a [league season] that lasts that long – to have that game and challenge. We all, as coaches, need to figure it out and how can we just sort out those things. When you just bring in two guys that were not current to play, we’ll give some space in the back and we use it well. So we’re getting behind with the speed. We attack the flanks especially, and then as I say, in the second half we put Fabian [Castillo] in between the center backs and one of those plays just give us good result.”

FC Dallas Forward Tesho Akindele

On his thoughts on the PK:
Akindele: “It was a great run by Mikey [Michael Barrios]. The goalie I think was a half second late, he popped it over him. As far as I could tell it was definitely a foul so I think it was a good call.”

On playing an attacking mid role in the second half and the last time he played there:
Akindele:: “It’s been a long time. It was more to help our team defensively. I was trying to mark Caldwell as much as I could, stop him from moving the ball and I think I did a good job of that”

On his second goal and what he saw:
Akindele: “Great pass by Kellyn [Acosta]. Like as a forward, you dream of a pass like that, a situation like that. The goalie is kind of stranded at that point because I’m on the PK spot, I can do whatever I want, so all credit to Kellyn.”

On coming off a string of tough road games and what this win means:
Akindele: “It’s huge, because I think we’ve lost maybe three of our last three road games or something like that so to get a win kind of gives us confidence moving forward in our road games.”

FC Dallas Defender Atiba Harris

On his goal tonight:
Harris: “We’ve been working on set pieces all season long and it’s good. I think we got one two games ago with Walker Zimmerman and it’s kind of defensive. A little inside joke thing where we need to do a little competition where we need to score as defenders on set pieces. But my goal just made a near post and I got to the guy first, got to the ball first.”

On what he was expecting playing here away from home:
Harris: “We try to get a result and we came out of here with three points and we’re happy about that, so we’ll try to stay focused and build on that.”