New England Revolution Head Coach Jay Heaps
On regrouping from the timing of the goals:
Coach Heaps: “It’s unacceptable, quite frankly. It’s points in the game where you have to be solid, points where we talk about being solid, be aggressive, but be smart-aggressive and not step when you’re not supposed to. Stand up when you’re supposed to stand up, and be turned in and locked in. Two weeks in a row it’s the same plays. It’s disheartening and frustrating, but it’s on all of us to get it right. These are the times you can’t point fingers. You’ve just got to dig deeper and continue to look for the next challenge and learn from the mistakes because we’re making a lot of them. We’re learning from them and unfortunately we have to continue to press forward.”
On why things are not resonating in the locker room:
Coach Heaps: “They’re different mistakes, but the timing was the same mistakes. Tonight, unfortunately, was the first one I want to look at because I didn’t get a total glimpse of it, but I know we stepped when we shouldn’t have. The space was open and I credit them for that goal. I think that was a good goal. We could’ve been better. The second goal was just an absolute stumble. You don’t coach guys on how to not stumble, but at the same time are we ready for that moment? Are we stepping out in the second half with the right mentality? I would yes because I thought we were sharp right away to start that half until we fell down and created a goal. Again, we were still going an uphill battle because we got in the first half goal. It’s frustrating, but at the same time we just keep going forward. Like you said, it resonates until it resonates and keep going and keep going. We all know what’s happening and we all have to be better.”
On changing the formation when Juan Agudelo came on:
Coach Heaps: “The formation becomes a lot more. I think for us with the way we started with Teal [Bunbury] and Kelyn [Rowe], we were having some shape issues and in the last game it was a real key to our mistakes in terms of giving up goal. Tonight, I don’t think we were overly manned. They didn’t have a ton of chances to scores goals, but we made a couple of errors, mental errors. I thought when Juan [Agudelo] and Diego [Fagundez] came in we were finding the seams a lot better. Juan [Agudelo] is so strong physically that he can get the ball in the seam and hold the ball in the seam and then he’s got a forward’s mentality. He’s always up and around Kei [Kamara]. We really liked the way that looked and quite frankly, I think Juan’s [Agudelo] fitness level is probably what’s keeping him from probably starting today. In terms of where Juan is, we’re really excited that he’s bringing that kind of energy and I thought he should’ve had a goal tonight.”
On possible formation change to get things going:
Coach Heaps: “I think changing the formation, we talk about it all the time. I think for us right now, our exposure is defensively and offensively other than last week. Tonight, I felt like you’ve got to look at what you’re creating and where are you getting your chances from. If you watch our games, we’ve switched the diamond formation quite frequently. We did it in Orlando, we did in Toronto, and right now where I feel like that’s letting us down is, do we have the personnel to do it? We have the forwards to do it – there’s no question in my mind. But the question is do we have the personnel, the midfield to be able to shield the back four? Right now we’re vulnerable, I feel, on services and across the back. So, you go to a diamond and you’re going to create more service, you’re going to create more chances for them to score, so we’ve looked at a flat four, we’ve looked at 3-5-2, and I personally really strongly believe that we are doing things that are creating chances. We’re just not sound enough right now as a group right now and that’s what’s hurting the most. We’re not confident in scoring that goal, we’re not confident in getting ourselves to start the game the right way. Right now, we’ve been battling uphill for the last four weeks and that’s not good enough. No matter what formation you’re in, if you’re giving up a goal in the first five or 10 minutes, you’re going to be battling. I thought tonight, when we really went with Juan [Agudelo] and really shifted to a four-on midfield and Diego [Fagundez] was pinching and Juan was a little bit higher, [it] was a little bit more hitched and becomes almost a 3-5-2 because Chris [Tierney] is so much higher and Juan [Agudelo] is right on there. That’s where we were getting some of those chances from.”
On Brad Knighton’s performance in goal:
Coach Heaps: “I think we looked at a lot of things and we made a few changes to the lineup from last week. It ended up being pretty much four positional changes with London [Woodberry] coming back in, Kelyn [Rowe] switching from the inside to the outside, Gershon [Koffie] coming back in, and then the change in goal. Sometimes you make decisions and changes that – I don’t want to sit here and say that Bobby [Shuttleworth] was at fault for anything – but sometimes you’re just trying to shake things a little bit and see reactions. I thought tonight Brad [Knighton] did pretty well, made some good saves. He’d like to get the shutout, but I don’t know if there was anything he could do when we’re behind a goal.”
On not getting much from the summer transfers:
Coach Heaps: “You’re always looking and you’re always disappointed when you don’t come away with things that you’re looking for and trying to get better. I think we made our move early for Kei [Kamara] and we took a lot of resources to do so. You can’t get everyone. You can’t get everyone you want and unfortunately this window wasn’t our best in terms of getting the results in that regard, but I still feel strongly about our team. You guys might sit here and say that I shouldn’t, but I do. I see what we can do, I know our team is good enough, and right now, we have to be better because right now we’re underperforming.”
On the quick turnaround ahead:
Coach Heaps: “At this point, getting on the field and playing is the only thing we can do. Just put our heads down and get back to work.”
New England Revolution Forward Kei Kamara
On how frustrating it was to not score or get the win tonight:
Kamara: “Yeah, [it’s] frustrating to not be able to get the win, definitely. We’re home, last stretch of the season, we’re looking for maximum points, and for us not to, you know, be able to get that today, it was a tough one.”
On how different this game was compared to the last time the two teams met:
Kamara: “They were good today. You know, they were really good today. It was one of those days, I guess. They played their game, and that’s what they’re known for, you know, possession, and that they were really, really good at it today, and they dominated us.”
On what he thinks the team has to do to buck the recent trend of losses:
Kamara: “Yep, it’s a fight. It’s a fight, really. You know, the history of this team, I mean, playing against them and all that, they’ve always been able to push it, you know, the final stretch getting into the playoffs, and when they get into the playoffs, it’s been a different story. So, you know, I’m just looking to feed off some of these guys and see, you know, what the culture is, and see what they’ve been doing in the past to really push themselves getting into the playoffs.”
On whether or not he feels any pressure on his shoulders:
Kamara: “No, not at all. I mean, yeah, I came in to add something to the team. Again, I’m not saying, I’m not the final [piece of the] puzzle to really take the team to the championship. That’s what I want to do. I want to be part of a championship team. I want to bring my experience onto this team, but at the same time, I have to adapt to the team’s play and, you know, what the team is doing, so I don’t feel pressure on myself. I’m sure overall as a team we feel pressure in that sense. It’s not really like a personal thing.”
On how what it is like to play with Juan Agudelo:
Kamara: “I mean, he’s an experienced player. You know, he’s another big striker. Again, he comes in, I think he’s playing wide, but again when people have nose for the goal, keep on moving forward, pushing forward, that’s what you need. It took a little bit of attention off me, and I was able to even knock that one down to him. It’s good. It’s good to partner with somebody like that, but at the same time, overall, just offensively and defensively, we weren’t as sharp tonight.”
On what he thinks of that chance that was cleared off the line:
Kamara: “I think it was in, but what can I say? I had one in Toronto too that I didn’t think was offsides, but it got called, but hey, there’s nothing much I can say about it. I watch it on the replay and see—have you guys seen it? No? No one? Alright, so none of us can know if it was in or not.”
On how tough it is for the team to dig out of a hole when they concede a goal early on:
Kamara: “Yeah, it’s kind of give and take in that situation when you’re home and the team scores first, because it either wakes you up, you know? Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bounce back from those goals and we gave away some points, but again, I mean, we were out there trying to play our game but I have to keep saying, you know, give credit to them, you know. They really played their game. I mean, everybody saw it. That’s their game. That’s how they play the possession, and the goals were kind of just goals, but they got the three points and we didn’t.”
On how Crew SC’s second goal impacted the Revs:
Kamara: “Yeah, that was still in the first half, uh, or the second, but it’s tough. It’s tough. You don’t want to give up goals at all when you’re home. You want to score more goals when you’re home. The fans are amazing, and you really want to feed off that, but it’s just tough. You know, I can’t say it’s putting on defense because it’s not. You know, we’re 11 guys and depending on how I start my press up front translates to the guy behind me and guy behind me and the guy behind me, so we just, again, we just weren’t that—you know, they were better than us tonight.”
New England Revolution Goalkeeper Brad Knighton
On when he found out when he was going to get the start tonight:
Knighton: “I found out yesterday at training, so got about 24 hours notice, which is plenty of time to get ready for the game and, you know, I’m ready for every single game that’s available for us, and tonight wasn’t anything different.”
On what he saw tonight in terms of Columbus Crew SC’s attack taking advantage of mistakes:
Knighton: “Yeah, I think the main thing is, you know, we’re—Columbus is a good team, but we’re a good team as well. We haven’t put the performances together that we’ve wanted to over the last weeks and you know, it’s one mistake here, one mistake there, but ultimately it’s down to us. We’ve got nine games left in the season, we’ve got a Cup final next month, so a lot to play for still, so this is a tough one to swallow at home, but we’ve got a quick turnaround here in four days so we’re on a flight to San Jose on Monday, and you know, we got a quick turnaround, so we’ll be ready to go Wednesday night, I’ll tell you that.”
On how they try to quell the frustration to get ready for the quick turnaround for Wednesday’s game:
Knighton: “Yeah, it’s tough, but you know, you’ve been around this league for awhile and teams of this league, the only way they’re successful is the team comes together, and you know, like you said, we’re going through a rough patch right now but as long as each and every one of us stick together, and this is for the team, this is for—this is what we play for and this is what the preseason’s all about: building team comradery and togetherness for us, this is the time when leaders need to step up and people need to put the team on their back and make a play and we need to do that collectively, not just individually. ”
On whether or not he noticed any carryovers tonight from their last game, against the Philadelphia Union:
Knighton: “Unfortunately, it was a loss, but, you know, we tried to rectify that in training this week, and our goal was to be sound defensively, and I thought we were except for the two goals that we conceded. That’s the nature of the game, especially at this level. If you’re not, you know, doing things properly in front of you, there’s going to be goals conceded, so they took their chances tonight, and we didn’t take ours. We had plenty of opportunities to capitalize, but we were just a bit off, but we’ll be back in here tomorrow, and back in here on Monday, and ready to get going, and now the focus turns to San Jose. This one’s past us. This one stings a lot, but, you know, we’ve got to move forward, and we’ve got to move forward quickly, because we’ve got a quick turnaround and a busy week this coming week away at San Jose and away at New York.”
On what the timing of the goals tonight did to the team’s mentality:
Knighton: “Yeah, it’s very tough. You know, I felt like we started the game very well. We were in there in the first ten minutes—or first seven minutes of the game, and, you know, one attack leads to their goal and kind of takes the wind out of our sails, but I felt like we responded well, and you know, we got it to halftime, and we had some chances in the first half, and we got it back in here at halftime, and you know, to concede again right after the half is pretty heartbreaking, but we rallied together, and we had multiple chances in the second half to get on the score sheet, and you know, like I said, when things aren’t going the right way, and the ball’s not bouncing the right way, and the ball’s not going in the net—but we can’t point finger. We’re all in this together, and collectively as a group, we’ll steer this ship right, I promise you that.”
New England Revolution Defender Chris Tierney
On how the team rebounds with a quick turnaround on Wednesday:
Tierney: “You just got to put it behind you as difficult as that is. You just got to keep playing. Keep playing for pride. Keep playing for each other. You just got to get back to work and get back on the horse. That’s the only thing you can do.”
Columbus Crew Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
On what the first road win of the season means for the team:
Coach Berhalter: “I think it was big. It’s a confidence builder. The first half in particular, I think we played really well. There’s been times this year that we’ve gone on the road and played this way and haven’t got the result, so I think that it’s gratifying to have a strong performance and get the three points.”
On the game plan going into tonight’s match:
Coach Berhalter: “To win. We thought we’d be pressed a little bit, so we worked on some movements to break the press and we were fortunate enough to execute those moves – particularly with the first goal. It was a really good team move to get behind them and score the goal. We wanted to try and dominate the opponent. We try to go out and put our stamp on the game and we want to try and play attractive football for the fans so they can enjoy the game and it was pretty good stuff today.”
On facing a New England side that has yielded a lot of goals recently:
Coach Berhalter: “I think there’s two sides to that. The first thing is that you know they’re going to be focused on not giving up a lot of goals. The defenders will be motivated to give a good performance, but the other thing is that you create uncertainty, particularly when you go up 1-0. When you score that first goal, now the uncertainty creeps in. When teams are on a difficult run, it’s nice to get momentum and get the first goal.”
On scoring both goals in each half:
Coach Berhalter: “The message before the game was to play with that intensity. I think the intensity certainly showed today. The second goal came at a good moment. I think that they [Revolution] actually opened up the first few minutes of the half in good fashion and put us under some pressure, so that second goal really gave us the momentum that we needed to carry on in the second half.”
On the team’s defensive performance tonight:
Coach Berhalter: “I thought it was excellent. I thought it was probably our best defensive performance of the year. What I saw was that guys were dedicated to every single pass and guys giving extra effort and guys sticking up for each other. That goes a long way, particularly when you get the lead and you need to hold on. There’s going to be times where you get uncomfortable. It’s the bend but don’t break mentality that we saw tonight from the guys.”
Columbus Crew SC Goalkeeper Steve Clark
On the team’s first road win of the season:
Clark: “I think it’s been a tough stretch for everybody top to bottom on our team, so it feels really good and now it feels like the monkey’s off our back a little bit and we can continue on. It was a massive game with playoff implications for both teams, so for us to come out on top here is huge.”
On the defensive effort tonight:
Clark: “It felt like, number one, I thought our defenders did really well, Michael [Parkhurst] and Niko [Naess], and Harry [Afful] and Hector [Jimenez], but overall it was a team effort. We are at our best when we swarm, defend, and we have a lot of energy. They were a challenge for us because they were so much bigger than we were at set pieces, but we were up to the task. A lot of credit to the whole team for the defensive effort.”
On what he credits the defensive effort to:
Clark: “Overall, just the win. We have a lot of character in this room. Character over time produces results when things don’t go well. We didn’t turn on each other. I’m not going to tell you it was an easy stretch, but it feels really good.”
On how beneficial this win is going into Wednesday’s match against Philadelphia:
Clark: “I’m really looking forward to playing Philadelphia. They’re coming to our place again which is good, but we really have hit a good groove the way we are playing. We’ve kept, strangely enough, through this run a lot of confidence. I know I have, so we never got down. I think that’s credit to a lot of the veteran leaders in the room, Michael [Parkhurst] and all these guys who’ve been through this. Pipa [Federico Higuain], Wil [Trapp]. We’re looking forward to it and I think we’re going to have our best soccer ahead.”
Columbus Crew Forward Ola Kamara
On their first road win of the season:
Kamara: “Right now it’s just a very good feeling. We waited a long time just to win, not only the road win, so I think the guys get a lot of energy from it.”
On his assist tonight and his tackle before it:
Kamara: “Maybe I could have been a defender as well. I think the team effort today was good from everybody. The defense wouldn’t shut up, midfield was very good in possession and passing and they were running a lot. Even me and Pipa [Federico Higuain] were running a lot so that was what it takes to win maybe and finally we did.”
