MINNESOTA UNITED HEAD COACH ADRIAN HEATH
On how the team is handling the circumstances of training, not training, games postponed and cancelled…
“Frustrating for them as well. Players are creatures of habit, waking up every morning, not knowing you’re going to be training, what time you’re going to be training as we try to work with individual groups. That’s not ideal. But I have to say, they’re coming on, trying to make a joke about it. We’ve tried to see the light of the fact that there’s nothing that we can do. These are the rules that we have to abide by. We don’t want anyone else getting [coronavirus], we don’t want anyone else coming down with it. We know it’s difficult, as it’s been proved outside of sports, outside of the bubbles, it’s really difficult to contain it. As I say, it’s day to day and it’s not ideal but the guys have been great. We just say to them, ‘Listen, let’s come in and do the work and do the best we can.’ That’s all we can do.”
On given lack of training, what’s key going into tomorrow’s game…
“I think I mentioned to you after the Houston game, I was really concerned how we were going to cope with the game. We had hardly trained for two weeks building up to the Houston game. We’ve managed to get a couple of days into them now but it’s not ideal for obvious reasons. I think the most important thing is them going out and, not enjoying it, I don’t mean the result doesn’t matter, but I want them to enjoy [being] back playing football. Being back in the stadium, they enjoy playing there, play positive, realize that if we can stay undefeated, we can take some confidence and some momentum into the playoffs. That’s what we’ll speak about tomorrow. Play on the front foot, go and enjoy playing football. We’ve made the playoffs, that little bit of burden, if you like, hanging over, is gone. I would like us to go and express ourselves and maybe give a performance that we can be proud of because I know what this group is capable of doing. And we know it’s not going to be easy. Everything to play for [Chicago]. I said after the Disney tournament, we played them for a half at Disney, I thought they were really well organized, they had a lot of threats. I think it’s going to be a difficult game for us because they have so much riding on this. It’s a huge game for them. So I’m hoping the fact that the game will mean so much to [Chicago] will put our players in the right frame of mind.”
MINNESOTA UNITED MIDFIELDER ROBIN LOD
On the last month, with games being postponed and cancelled…
“It’s been tough and the kind of situation where you haven’t been before. We are just trying to live it and go day by day, follow the rules and see what’s happening. It’s been tough too because you don’t know. You try to mentally prepare for the games and then maybe the game is not played.”
On how he feels his season has gone…
“It’s been good, always could be better. But this season has been difficult for everyone, adapting to different kind of games. First you play a few regular season games, then the tournament, then you come back and play regular season games, play against the same opponents many times, so I think it’s been tough for everyone. For myself, I’m happy I’ve been contributing with some goals and assists so that’s good.”
On preparing for international duty with Finland given all the quarantine logistics.
“It’s tough. There are so many rules to follow. I miss the international games. I haven’t played international games since last November so I’m happy to see my friends and go to play for the international team but these circumstances, it’s not easy and you just have to live and try to, when you go to the games, try to switch on and try to focus on the games.”
On reuniting with the Finland National Team after so long…
“Yeah, I already lost five games already in the last two months and obviously we have the big [Euro Cup] coming in the summer, if they’re going to play. So I need to show up in the national team and show that you want to be there and want to play for the country. For me, it’s always been, like, pride to represent my country. I love to play for Finland, so I’m happy to go there. Obviously I hope I don’t miss any games here and they can sort out the playoffs but we’ll just need to live with it so far.”
On the mindset of the team finishing the season, with injuries, but playoff spot clinched…
“We want to win both games and, hopefully, secure the home playoff game, it would be amazing advantage. It’s important games. As you said, there’s been some injuries but I think we have a good team, there’s depth and there’s some players who might get a chance to show up and it’s good for them and also for the players who’ve been playing to show up and they deserve to play.”
On the Chicago Fire…
“To be honest, I haven’t seen too many games but what I have seen, they can be really dangerous attacking-wise. I don’t think they are one of the best teams at defending so there’s some weakness but of course going to be a tough game. We need to play our own game and give 100 percent for sure.
MINNESOTA UNITED DEFENDER BRENT KALLMAN
On returning to MLS play and making his first start of the season against Colorado Rapids…
“I would say, it’s definitely been a long road back for me but I had a really good loan spell in El Paso. It had the exact effect that, I’m sure, the club had in mind when they sent me down there and that I had in mind when I was sent down as well. That was to get my fitness back and to get my form back and to be ready if there was an opportunity that would come towards the end of the season. That’s kind of what’s going on right now. It’s just roots of hard work. Ever since I got my surgery last year, just putting in work and staying at it even though things didn’t go my way for a few months there. They sent me to El Paso and I was able to get my form back, feeling healthy and fit again. It’s kind of showing its roots right now.”
On getting back to play with Minnesota United…
“It was amazing. It felt really good, honestly it felt super good. I just kept faith that an opportunity was going to come and try to keep myself ready. Now that it came, in that game, it took me a little bit to get going. I don’t know if it was nerves or what it was but I didn’t do very well in the first 10 to 15 minutes of the game. I made a couple bad decisions but after that, I was able to settle in and felt the same as it always has.”
On the feedback he received from the coaching staff after his start…
“I think they were pretty pleased. I didn’t get a ton of feedback but we got the result. Fortunate or not, things happen. Sometimes you get bounces, sometime you don’t get bounces. I think they were happy. They were very happy with the result, those were really important three points and that was the most important thing.”
On Chicago Fire and the threat they pose to the backline…
“I think they’re a really good team. They’ve had a mixed bag of results but they have a lot guys that are dangerous, very skilled. They can have the ball a lot too. They’re a team that can have long spells of possession so even though we’re at home, if that happens, we can’t get frustrated with that. We gotta stay strong mentally. They’re a dangerous team. We can’t let where they’re at in the standings fool us because they have some guys that are very good and will hurt you if you let your guard down.”
