Head Coach Adrian Heath
On if he’s happy with the results over the weekend against Houston Dynamo …
“Yeah. We kept the run going. As I said, I watched it back over the weekend, I thought the first 25 minutes were excellent. Then we just dropped a little bit. And, as I said after the game, I thought we played to the pace of the game rather than our pace. And I thought that let them back into the game a little bit and, give them a couple of little chances and give them something to hold on to, and maybe a little bit of belief. But, overall, I thought we were worthy winners in the end. And it keeps the run going. Some really, really pleasing performances. I’m looking forward to what’s a big one this weekend.”
On another big performance from Brent Kallman …
“Well, yeah. The reason you keep people like Brent [Kallman] around is, I think it was Kyndra I spoke to, and said to him, I’ve got probably more faith in him than he has in himself. He’s a really good football player. I think back to halfway through last year when he out of the team. He was playing excellently then. He’s in really good form. That enables us to take our time with Boxy [Michael Boxall] and not force him and rush him. We’ve got plenty of games coming up. We’ve got plenty of matches between now and then end of the season to fill in. Lots of Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday. So, as long as Brent is deputizing the way he is, or, playing the way he is, not deputizing, then we can make sure that Boxy is 100 percent.”
On being halfway into the season now, and how he would assess Minnesota United’s campaign …
“Difficult start. Obviously, nobody envisioned going 0-4. Certainly not me. But the response since then has been excellent. One defeat since then. What is it? 13, 14 games. So, keep it going. Keep the momentum going. Let’s keep thinking about why we are being successful. What’s getting us the results that we are. And, if we keep doing that, then we should put ourselves in a good position.”
On what he’s seen from LA Galaxy so far in its campaign …
“Well, yeah. What is it? Five-time winners? Probably the standard bearers of the league for the last 10 years I would think? So, yes. Live on TV, nationwide. So, let’s go and show everybody what we can do. And, I have a lot of, real… I look at what Greg [Vanney] has done in such a short period of time. It’s amazing, really. Considering where the Galaxy were. So, he’s done a great job. He did a great job at Toronto. And we know, It’s going to be really, really difficult this weekend. But, I also know that Greg is smart enough to know that he’s coming into a place which is not easy to play against. And if we play like we can do, we can cause the Galaxy a lot of problems.”
On what the Galaxy’s best qualities are …
“They’ve got a little bit of everything. They’ve brought a lot of players in. Got a bit of pace in the team. You look at [Kévin] Cabral, who they brought in. And [Ethan] Zubak the kid up front. And [Samuel] Grandsir out wide. And then they’ve got Chicharito, who started the season off on fire, obviously he’s been injured of late. They’re quality outfitted. You don’t be where they are without being a really good side. They’re well coached. Well drilled. As I said, a lot of respect for what Greg’s done in a very short period of time.
On the fans and the comfort that comes with playing at home in Allianz Field with what the fans can offer the team during the game …
“Yeah. But we have to give them something to get behind. And I think that’s what we have done. They’ve seen the effort that the players have put in. They’ve seen the commitment from the players. And they’ve responded. But every time we’ve needed them, maybe in games where it gets a little bit that way, they’ve pulled the guys through. Amazing the amount of energy and noise in the stadium. And, we’ll need that again this weekend.”
Midfielder Wil Trapp
On a good performance and win against Houston Dynamo…
“It’s always important to get a shutout at home, to win at home. I think there’s a few part to the game that we need to clean up. We scored early but then you could feel…maybe that first 20 to 25 minutes was excellent but it waned off a little bit. [Houston] started to get a little bit more into the game and that’s something where Tyler [Miller] makes kind of a crazy play, hits off his head but could have gone in the goal, then he has to make a big save here in the second half as well. Those are moment where yeah, we’re winning but you want to secure the game a little bit more and go up two goals a little sooner and be able to ride it out.”
On bouncing back after a disappointing result against Vancouver…
“We saw, and I was speaking to Kyndra about this, we saw that game in Salt Lake against Vancouver as a real let down for us. We battled back, we were winning up until the last second of the game. For us, we flipped it on it’s head as something as something very important, to get our mentality right for this game. I think we did that. We came out aggressive. It’s a team that played three games in a week, they’re tired, how can we put them on the back foot. I think we did that. So moving forward, it’s just continuing to not rest on our laurels in any regard.”
On how a deep squad and impact accountability amongst the group…
“Huge. Any time you have a deep squad and quality players, you have to be performing. Everybody feels the healthy competition within the group and we’re seeing the results start to mirror how guys are performing in in training and then performing in the games. We’re doing well and performing on the field. It’s always good to have a solid, solid group of players to push this thing forward.”
On the Galaxy’s current form…
“Look, Greg Vanney is an excellent coach. Playing against him when he was in Toronto, his teams are always super organized, very, very tactically adapt. And you’re seeing that with Galaxy, right? You’re seeing a group players that’s implementing what Greg wants, you’re seeing a group of players that have quality and can score goals. For us, it’s really understanding what their about, how they’re scoring goals, how they’re defending and then trying to exploit those weaknesses that we saw in [their] last game against Vancouver.”
On continuing to feel more comfortable at Allianz Field…
“Absolutely. There’s just a sense of comfort and calm when we’re here. Responsibility? I think absolutely. You have a full stadium, you have the fans that are wanting us to put a product on the field that excites them and I think we feed off that as players. We feel the familial idea and identity of this club when we step on the field. The results at home have been great as of late. We continue to push this thing forward and it’s going to be, hopefully, no different against the Galaxy.”
On the shot he took that led to Robin Lod’s goal early in the game and taking more chances to score…
“Absolutely. I’ve tried to make that something that I focus on a little bit more, just how can you affect play going forward into the box. Look, Robin [Lod] is just alert on the play and he makes a very, very heads up decision to be active after the ball gets hit. [Marco] Maric maybe sees it a little bit late, I don’t think the strike was as good as he made it look. Heads up to Robin for gambling and scoring.”
Midfielder Hassani Dotson
On a great result over Houston Dynamo at home and what he breaks the result down to …
“I think we came out with a game plan. Everyone had a great energy. And, we didn’t let up. Obviously, they had a couple chances. One that hit off the post. But, we knew that when we were 1-nil up, we still had to push for a second goal to close out the game.”
On how after the Vancouver game there was an obvious reaction and show of character needed, and how that need was shown against Houston, and what that says about the character of this group …
“As you can tell from that Colorado game when they came back on us, I think we really took a look in the mirror and we were like, we need to be gritty, we need to be harder to play against. And, we were really disappointed in that Vancouver game. And we knew that the Dynamo game was pivotal to see which way we would go after that.”
On how important accountability is, especially considering the amount of depth now …
“It’s tremendous. I mean, if you have an off day, you know there’s someone on the bench that can play the role just as good or maybe even better. I think the coaching staff has done well to put a really competitive squad. As you come out to training, you see that everyone is nipping at the bit.”
On how the change of formation in the center of midfield affects him personally in the game …
“You have to kind of time when you need to step to the 6. Because, you have to protect the space behind you for the opposing team’s attacking midfielder. And, I think it’s just important to have good communication. But, Rey [Emanuel Reynoso] and Adrien [Hunou] make sure they have a good shape defensively. And, then, you’re just trying to manipulate the movements. Trying to get Robin [Lod], Rey and Ethan [Finlay] on the ball.”
On how he is enjoying the new partnership with Wil Trapp …
“I’m enjoying it very much. I think we complement each other nicely. I think we’re kind of opposite players, but I think that it makes for a complete midfield. So, I’m enjoying it a lot.”
On what he’s seen from LA Galaxy so far in its campaign …
“I think they’ve been really good. They’re obviously where they’re at for a reason. I think they have a lot of talented players. I think they’ll be a tough match for us. But, I think we have the belief that we can win. And we’re at home. So, we’re going to go for it.”
On playing at home at Allianz Field and the sense of confidence it gives the team, and what that’s like on the field …
“It feels good. If you feel like you’re struggling to get your second wind on a track back and you have the fans cheering you on, pushing you, and you know you want to do it for them. And, you can also feel that… it’s a big difference home and away. The other team sets up more defensively, kind of on the back foot. And it gives you more confidence as well.”
On being halfway into the season now, and how he would assess Minnesota United’s campaign …
“I think we’ve done really well to get where we are from the start, but we know it’s still close and there’s still a long season left. So, we know we can’t be complacent. We’ve got to keep going and try and get as many points as possible.”
