Columbus Crew SC Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
On the scoreless result:
“I think we could have pushed the tempo a little bit. You can see we’re a little bit fatigued with all that travel and the game on Wednesday. But I’m proud of the guys for the effort they put in, and at the end of the day, two points was the minimum we wanted from this road trip and we got it.”
On the windy conditions throughout the game:
“Well, I still believe if you keep the ball on the ground and you make short to medium length passes you’ll be fine, but it does have an effect. The team with the wind had a little bit of momentum and obviously goal kicks and balls from the goalkeeper going further, and you know everything comes a little bit quicker when there’s such a strong wind for you.”
On the physicality of the game:
“We expect that in these games because it’s two teams that want to be top teams in this conference. We’re not going to give an inch, they’re not going to give an inch and you lead to games like that. You lead to chippy games. I think there’s nothing wrong with that, the guys are competing, as long as they don’t cross the line.”
On his club’s performance through five games:
“Like I said, we had two bye weeks already five weeks into the season. We had this crazy road trip. I feel like we’re still getting started, we’re still progressing and we’re moving toward something. I wouldn’t say we’re there yet with our product, but the group's been tested in a number of ways so far, so we’re doing fine. Look how many guys we’ve started in five games already. There’s probably fifteen, sixteen guys that have started already, so that’s a good number. We have some good depth. I think that we’ve been dangerous most every game so I like that side of our attack.”
Columbus Crew SC goalkeeper Steve Clark
On the switch in momentum from the first half to the second half:
“We had the momentum early. I thought we could have picked a goal there, but we didn’t and it was tough playing into the wind. They pressured better in the second half, and I don’t think we did the best job playing out of it."
On the difficulty of playing in windy conditions:
“Not necessarily, if you’re trying to play intricate passes, sometimes it can be more difficult, it’s probably more psychological than anything. Give New England credit, I think they pressured better in the second half.”
On picking up points on the road in two consecutive games:
“Two tough games, two away games, we traveled a lot this week. Vancouver is a long ways away, to come back two and half days later and play a match, I think the guys did great in front of me. We are just still working on development, our process, getting better. We still have to get better, with some good pieces but we are going to turn these ties into wins.”
On the Columbus Crew SC defense:
“I thought they defended absolutely fantastic, from the top to bottom, great on set pieces. Emanuel (Pogatetz) and Mikey (Parkhurst) were just superb, credit to them for the shutout, it feels good.”
Columbus Crew SC midfielder Justin Meram
On the scoreless result:
“It was two really good teams, battled out. Defensively, we kept a clean sheet. Offensively, we had some chances and it would have been nice to put one away."
On the first half:
“We had a good first half, especially the first twenty minutes. It was really good. Like I said, we had a couple chances. I think one went off the corner or a spot kick. We could have put it away, then it would have changed the second half and the way they were going to come out. They went into the wind in the first half and created chances and we knew we’d do the same.”
On claiming two points during a two-game week:
“It’s a tough stretch, but the guys were prepared. Hats off to the trainers and everyone behind the scenes that got us ready mentally and physically to play these games."
On heading back home:
“It’s going to be nice to play at home. We have a week before the next game. We’ll be on grass, we’ll be at home, so it’s going to be helpful.”
