Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
Onthe red card issues to Harrison Afful . . .
I’m not going to comment on that. I’m not going to fall into that trap. I think that I saw the play and I feel a certain way about it, but I’m going to keep that private.
Onhis thoughts on the game . . .
I thought the first half was a little bit too slow. I think as the second half went on we started to open them up and wear them down and create a number of chances. I’m happy with the way that we picked up the tempo in the second half. Obviously this was our third game in a week, they guys were a little fatigued, but we had the mentality that we wanted to go out and win the game. After, in my eyes, a sub-par first half, we really responded well in the second half.
Onputting Cedrick Mabwati out on the right side of the field . . .
It was personnel … we know how dangerous he is and we know that he can come inside onto his right foot when he’s playing on the left, but we also want him to get by them and cross it because we know how good Ola is in the box. So a little bit different emphasis from that side of the field.
OnCedrick Mabwati getting the start over Ethan Finlay . . .
I think it’s confidence. Cedrick [Mabwati] has been playing with confidence, training with confidence, and Ethan [Finlay] is a key player to our team. No one is counting Ethan [Finlay] out, let’s be clear about that. He is going to be back. He is able to get back into form pretty quickly. He’s shown that before. It was a decision based on this game and based on the form of the players.
OnHarrison Afful’s current form . . .
I think he is now taking advantage of the space he is given, but, to me, he has been effective all year. He has a lot of shots, a lot of opportunities, a lot of crossing opportunities where people are in a good position. I think you can attribute that to his hard work and his skill set being very comfortable on the ball and able to deliver a very good ball.
On how tough it is to lose two points in the final minute of regulation…
It’s tough and we’re not happy. We’re very disappointed. I think the effort the guys put in was enough to win that game and, as Michael [Parkhurst] said, as we were defending with 10 men, I still felt comfortable. I felt like we would be able to get it done. It’s too bad the game was changed with that moment, but it was, so we have to deal with it. I felt we dealt with it pretty well, except on one occasion where we didn’t and we paid for it.
On the guys coming together…
You certainly see it in bits and pieces. There are certain plays on the field and moments where you say, ‘the guys are there.’ Even though it hasn’t been the best season for us, they’re fighting for each other and they’re hanging in there. That’s what this game is about. If you can maintain that belief and that spirit and that teamwork over the course of 34 games, we have the quality to get out of this and that’s going to be the challenge for this group. And we’re going to see and time’s going to tell.
On Tony Tchani’s ability to create chances…
We need him to. In the first half, it wasn’t enough from him and it wasn’t enough of him looking for those passes. I think his positioning led him to be in a spot where he couldn’t play those passes. We need to get Tony [Tchani] in those spots where he can make those passes because his timing is exceptional, the execution is really good and it leads to goal-scoring.
Defender Michael Parkhurst
Onthe crowd support tonight . . .
It was fantastic support. We needed it going into the game, we needed that lift. They were there for us, we noticed it, they were loud, and we are thankful for that. We are going to need to continue to push; we are going to need to continue to have that crowd behind us. Next week is a big game.
On how the team is preparing for Orlando City SC and the second half of the season…
I think that we need to stick together. We need to keep mentally sharp and we need to keep mentally strong. We still have opportunities to do good things in this season and we’re going to have to start winning home games and that’s going to start next week. We’re going to have a full week of preparation to get our bodies right and we’ll be ready to play.
On the effect of the red card…
It’s unfortunate and a little unlucky. They pushed a lot of guys forward, [Steve] Birnbaum was staying up high, they brought in a couple of strikers, so they were trying to get the ball in the box and trying to get high. I thought we were doing a pretty good job of keeping the ball in front of us and limiting their chances. It’s just a little unfortunate how that ball fell and we weren’t able to clean it up. It’s the way things have been going right now and hopefully we can turn those things around.
Midfielder Wil Trapp
On Harrison Afful’s red card…
On the red card? There’s not much to say. It can go either way, you can call it a yellow card, you can call it a red card. I mean, the studs are showing, but you’ve seen it given either way. I think consistency of that call in the League has been fairly there for the most part. And you’ve seen them give a red card for that kind of tackle, so it’s not a huge surprise, as frustrating as it is.
On the difficult way the game played out…
At 11 v. 11 I thought we had the game buttoned up. I thought for sure we were probably going to score another one and win the game. The red card happens, be that what it is, it’s always going to be more difficult because they’re going to throw more numbers forward and we’re down a guy. So, at the end of the day, it’s about trying to buckle down. And I thought for the most part other than one deflection and a pretty good finish from [Fabian] Espindola we did our jobs. But, it’s just disappointing.
On his attacking play in the first half…
I have to get myself in those situations a little more and just be more decisive, I think. I thought I saw a window to play Ola [Kamara] and I actually had Justin [Meram] at the top of the box. I think my first touch and then my second touch slowed it down too much to where I couldn’t get past [Bobby] Boswell at any speed so I have to either take a touch quicker forward and shoot it, or look to make a better pass.
On if tonight had a more centralized game plan…
No, I would say it was about the exact same game plan as usual.
On his view of Harrison Afful’s red card…
Yeah, I mean my view, I was just saying, was pretty decent. But, like I said, they’ve consistently called fouls like that red cards this season so it’s not surprising. There’s going to be some uproar as well, I’m sure, but you just got to deal with it.
On if the team’s streak of bad breaks will turn around soon…
Yeah, you’d hope the law of averages would come into effect at some point. It’s just disappointing. I mean I think we did enough to win the game. One call changes the complexion a little bit, and then you have to adjust. At the end of the day it was kind of an unfortunate bounce for us and they finished. So, credit to them for that.
On the team coming together…
I thought tonight what I really liked about the group was the fact that we stood up for each other. Almost recklessly, I almost got a second yellow card for one of them. That’s something that I’m happy we didn’t lose. It’s easy when the results aren’t going your way to just divide. And, I think we’re doing the opposite and coming together.
