Minnesota United did not get a share of the points on Wednesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, falling 3-0 to Atlanta United. Here's what the team had to say following the game.
Minnesota United Head Coach Adrian Heath
On game plan versus Atlanta United:
“I thought we executed the plan really well. Apart from the last two goals, we were still right in the game. We stifled them and created an awful lot of chances. I think we looked dangerous in the second half. Obviously, you look at the score line, and the score line looks 3-0. It looks though you’ve been well and truly beaten, but that was far from the case and I thought we were the more likely to get the next goal when they were winning 1-0. Poor goals for the last two to really bad mistakes, and I don’t think we troubled them enough going forward.”
On conceding two goals late:
“Obviously, you can’t legislate for a couple of mistakes that we’ve made. I have spoken about, the last few weeks, we have eradicated a lot of individual errors that have cost us in the past. Tonight, we had a couple of errors, and that’s what happens, they end up in the back of the net against somebody as clinical as Josef Martinez. Overall, I can’t fault the guys for their efforts. I’m pleased with the work they have done and I’m pleased with the shape of the group, I just don’t think we had enough quality in that final third to really take the most of all the little off chances we created.”
On Brad Guzan’s multiple saves in the 74th minute:
“I couldn’t see from where I was. It’s strange because everyone thinks it’s really—some of the guys thought it was in, some thought it was on the line, but I thought it was probably close enough for the referee of somebody to have a look at it. Which is a bit strange when it’s that tight.”
On consulting the referees following the close save in the 74th minute:
“I just asked the question, ‘are they going to have a look at it?’ and they didn’t. Obviously, it wasn’t as close as we thought.”
On increased competitiveness in the 30th minute and overall result:
“It’s an important part of the game. I’m never going to complain about people making tackles an important part of the game. I thought we competed really well, as I said, the score line flatters them a little bit. We’ve got a lot of work still to do. Have we got better? Have we improved? Yes, we have. But we still have a long way to go.”
On takeaways from today’s match:
“Well, we’ve played a team that’s very, very good at home, and like you said, in the 74th minute we’re having opportunities to make it 1-1. We’ve come here with a game plan, the players have worked really well, they’ve executed the plan well, I just don’t think we had enough quality for the field.”
On MNUFC’s alternate formation:
“Well, we put an extra defender in to see if we could stop the little channels that Josef (Martinez) likes to run into and I thought that worked quite well. As I said, I don’t think there was anything wrong with the game plan, we just didn’t have enough quality I don’t think on the field tonight.”
Minnesota United defender Brent Kallman
On his overall takeaway from tonight:
“I thought we did what we asked of them. In the first half we were going to defend a little deeper and we were going to look to get them on the break. We just weren't sharp enough with our movement and our timing in behind in that first half to really break out and get really good chances. We were in the positions to do it we just didn't execute. We executed the plan. The goal we gave up is a little bit flukey, it takes a deflection, comes to a guy and he makes a good finish. We went into halftime actually feeling okay. We were going to stick to the game plan, stay disciplined and try to get a goal back and if we didn't then open up later in the game – 75th, 80th minute - and try to get it back.”
On Atlanta's recent schedule:
“With this being a midweek game and the travel and stuff, we were just worried about getting ourselves ready. We weren't really worried about their schedule or what they've been doing.”
On the intensity of this match:
“There's always some of that, sometimes matches get escalated and you just got to keep your head about you. When we were here two years ago (Leandro) Gonzalez Pirez swung out at me and hit me and chipped my tooth. You just get on with it. It's part of the game.”
On taking positives away from this match:
“It's disappointing. It feels like we absorbed a lot of pressure, especially in the first half, but that was the plan. We executed what they wanted to do; we just weren't good enough in the transition moments. When we did win it back, the space to get in behind them and go and find our chances and our goals, we didn't really take advantage of all those situations. I feel like we did execute the game plan, we just weren't sharp enough in carrying it out.”
On if subbing out the forwards gave Minnesota momentum:
“Yeah, we needed to switch something up. You bring on fresh legs to run against tired defenders. As a defender, it always puts you in a bad situation when you're starting to get tired and they bring on somebody who's fast and has got pace and is going to run at you, it's not a good feeling. So yeah, I think it gave us a little bit of a spark when we were trying to go get the goal.”
