Head Coach Adrian Heath
On the result at Seattle…
“I thought the first half we were excellent. I really did. I don’t think we made enough of the good opportunities that we took. Two or three really good opportunities to maybe put the game out of sight, but unfortunately that’s been our memo when we’ve been playing, certainly Seattle, and then we make a mistake and it changes the whole complex of the game. There was a lot of good things and a lot of things we need to improve. But certainly our attacking play was excellent at times.”
On the LA Galaxy defense…
“I think also, if you look at them, they’ve maybe been a touch inconsistent. But the one thing I do know, and if we don’t play well, and we allow them time to play, play in our half, counter attack, we don’t do good at preventative marking, they have too many good attacking pieces that they won’t cause you trouble. I’m sure that when Greg [Vanney] looks back at it he’ll be disappointed with a couple of goals they’ve conceded against Dallas, but overall, it’s been a good start from them and nothing more than we expected. They’ve got really good attacking pieces and if they can shore up the backline like they’ve done the majority of this season then it’s a pretty formidable group of players they’ve got.”
On his observations about Galaxy’s loss to Dallas…
“Dallas took advantage of everything. They saw a mistake that they made and Dallas this year is a different proposition than they’ve been in the past. They’re very, very good on the counter attack and they took their opportunities. And not just Dallas. When you have opportunities in this league, especially on the road, you have to take them to give yourself a good chance to winning the game and that’s what they did.”
On how to best beat the Galaxy…
“I think if you look at the way they play, for everybody, the home field advantage is where you have to make them pay. I’m more concerned with ourselves. Our last couple of games, I look at the Cincinnati game, I don’t know how many chances we had on the night, but it was an awful lot. Even against Seattle before that, for the last hour we were by far the better team. We’ve just got to play our normal game. Move the ball quickly, put them on their back-foot, play in their half of the field, work the penalty area, work the final-third, and if we do that as well as we can then we will be difficult to play against. Especially at Allianz.”
On preparing for Galaxy’s possible rotations…
“I don’t think they’ll change an awful lot the way they play. The individuals might change, but I think they’ll play the way they normally play. Greg [Vanney] is normally a positive coach, so I don’t expect any change there. If you look at and they’ve got an embarrassment of riches at forwards. [Dejan] Joveljic doesn’t really play as much. Then you’ve got Chicharito. Then [Samuel] Grandsir. You’ve got [Kevin] Cabral. You’ve got Douglas Costa. They keep coming. They’ve got the young kid [Efrain] Alvarez. It looks as though he’s got incredible talent, so whatever front three or four they put out, I know they are going to be talented.
On how much a victory would mean for the team…
“There’s always nothing like winning games to give the group confidence. We’ve got a really difficult stretch. We knew that before it, you know? We had Colorado in the Open Cup and then we go away to Seattle. Then you’ve got the Galaxy. Then you go away to Dallas. We’re in a particularly difficult stretch and every point you get along the way will help.”
Midfielder Wil Trapp
On the game against Seattle…
“Disappointing. Disappointing because you’re up a goal in a place where it’s not easy to win. We felt like that first half we defended fairly well. We created chances and we ultimately gave them too many opportunities in the second half to score goals and make it hard for ourselves.”
On the upcoming match against the LA Galaxy…
“It’s massive. First and foremost from the perspective of getting us back on the right track. Winning a game at home in front of our fans. I think it will allow us to kind of let go of what the past three games in the league have been and move forward into a tough game which will be in Dallas. But understanding that the next three or four games coming up are not easy, we have to take it one game at a time.”
On where the Galaxy are most threatening…
“You have to look at the attacking quality. The players they have out wide. Chicha [Chicharito] always in the box is going to poach things. They get good service. Between Raheem [Edwards] and [Julian] Araujo on the other side, they do a really good job of trying to put you in awkward positions when you’re defending the penalty areas, so that’s a part of their game that is very strong. In saying that, they leave themselves open with how freely they attack. For us, it’s understanding that there’s going to be moments where we’re exposing them going the other way. We have to hold on to the ball and not allow it to become this ebb-and-flow, back-and-forth.”
On his potential matchup with Rayan Raveloson…
“He has so much quality in terms of off the dribble, making passes between lines, receiving it in difficult areas, so it’s understanding the positions he likes to take up, but again, he’s a player that likes to get into attack and really support the play. In doing so, it leaves space behind him.”
On his thoughts about the Galaxy this season…
“They’ve had some great results. They are a team that a year later with Greg Vanney as the head coach, they are starting to adapt into his style that you saw for a long time in Toronto. They have quality. Again, it’s a certain level of confidence that they step into every game. That’s the reality of the season and the games and for us, we feel like we have a good record against them and we can do some things to hurt them.
