Head Coach Adrian Heath
On the group bouncing back with the win against Nashville…
“The group were terrific. I knew before the game it was going to be a difficult place to go and get a result. Especially the fact that [Nashville] lost the previous week to Toronto. You could see the, not desperation, but you could see the fact that they realized how big the game was. I knew it was going to be difficult in terms of we’re going to have to defend for long periods and I thought we did that really well.”
On the performance of the defense…
“We didn’t make any silly mistakes. We talk about not beating yourselves on the road and we conceded four and didn’t win against Portland having scored four. We score three and don’t win the game [against Colorado]. You’re not winning many games when you’re conceding four goals. The fact that Dayne [St. Clair] made a couple of big saves at big moments was great for us, but I didn’t realize until you look back at the game how many really good opportunities we created for ourselves as well. Yeah, we rode our luck at times, but we’ve got six wins now on the road. That’s a record for us, so that shows a lot of character for the group.”
On the matchup against Austin FC this weekend…
“I think it’s going to be really difficult. We’re probably playing the most in form team in the league, [along] with LAFC. Got good players. [Sebastian] Driussi looks every inch the multi-million dollar player that he is. Looks like he’s dangerous, can score a goal, can make a goal. Ethan [Finlay] is contributing for them. [Diego] Fagundez is probably having the best spell since he broke into the team at the Revs [New England Revolution]. And the most important thing, they’re playing with an awful lot of confidence, so they’re going to come in here and just play. I know Josh [Wolff] well enough, I think he knows that if we play like we can we’re more than capable of winning the game.”
On how to game plan against Sebastian Driussi…
“As I say, he’s a quality player. You don’t get transferred for 20-odd million from River Plate, so the fact that he was playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world in River Plate... He’s got good movement. Powerful. Good timing into the box, which is really important, and he’s a good finisher, which is huge.”
Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair
On picking up another win on the road…
“Great. With how tight the table is now, we know that every game is important. Whether it’s a home game or an away we game, we need to go in with the mindset of getting points in all these games.”
On his All-Star game performance fueling his fire…
“I think you want to be able to build on all your performances and improve in every game whether you play bad or good. I know coming off of Colorado that definitely was not my best performance. Probably my worst of the season for sure, so to be able to have the MVP performance in the All-Star Game and then to be able to build upon that and go again for the club is most important.”
On goalkeepers having to have a short memory and focus on the next moment quickly…
“You probably need to have a shorter memory because no one really misses the chances if you’re a striker as long as you score one of them. But with [goalkeepers], you can play great for 95 percent of the game and that one percent, or whatever it is, if you play bad everyone is going to remember that moment. I think for me, it’s never getting too high or too low.”
On what he has seen from Austin FC this season…
“[Sebastian Driussi] is definitely in the MVP conversation. Probably leading it for a reason. He scores, he assists, he does it all for the team and he’s definitely not their only piece as well. They’ve had a lot of attacking threats. They’ve shown that they can come from behind as well and have real strong mentality as a team. You can see the cohesion, so it’s going to be a tough game, but, like I said, the table is tight right now so we need to go in to a big home game for us to be able to get some points in the game.”
On how much the team pays attention to the standings…
“You know you’ve got to take care of your business, but I think in the back of your mind you’re looking to see who else is dropping points and things like that to try and help us create that gap and put ourselves in a better situation come postseason time.”
