SPORTING DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
Onending in a tie after having a three goal lead…
I categorize that as an immature performance. We’re better than that and we didn’t show it after the 4-1. Way too easy to concede particularly the second and the third goal. After that, we got back, we got stable. But, it was, obviously, the one-goal margin that hurt us in the end.
Onif the discussion over who would take the penalty kick altered the outcome of the match…
I don’t know that. I don’t know. What I would say is that we have two players that are designated to take penalty kicks and it’s on me for not clarifying which one takes it in this game. So, I’ll take full responsibility for that, that’s my fault. Rest assured, that’s not going to happen again.
Onwhy the penalty kick discussion happened…
Well, you boil it down. First, you have a group of guys that are comfortable taking penalty kicks. Then you have a group of guys that are comfortable taking penalty kicks and have a track record for taking penalty kicks. Then, you have a group of guys who are comfortable taking penalty kicks, have a track record for taking penalty kicks, and they’re successful taking penalty kicks. So, out of that you boil it all down to candidates. And then you go from there.
Onbuilding confidence from scoring four goals…
There are positives. There are certainly positives from the game. But, there was enough to categorize it, as I said, as immature. And, we’ve got work to do to become a better team.
OnKei Kamara’s positioning…
I don’t generally single out performances and individuals. Collectively, we put ourselves in position to get three points and we didn’t. That is disappointing and we have to ask ourselves, okay, why didn’t we, what are the causes of that? We look at that, we evaluate and move forward.
Onany changes in practice tactically in the next couple of days…
I thought our attack was pretty good, the ball movement was pretty good and the goals we scored were pretty good. So a lot of things were on point and how we laid it out. Looking at Montreal, we thought there would be a little bit more space in front of their defense and they compensated for that by playing [Patrice] Bernier next to [Marco] Donadel who normally plays a little higher. But I thought we reacted well, our midfielders did a good job at moving the ball around and putting them into uncomfortable positions. We will continue to do that, analyze the game, analyze the goals and keep working. That’s what this is about.
Onif it is still possible to draw positives out of tonight….
Sure. We try to always do that. Having said that, you don’t want to ignore the negative, you would be foolish to do that, so we will look at both of those things and look to address both of them.
On his postgame message…
That was just it. Just stressing the immaturity of the whole thing. Again, to be up 4-1 at home, you should win the game, right? They know that, we know that. It’s about moving forward and focusing on the next game.
OnCorey Ashe playing his first 70 minutes for Columbus Crew SC…
Corey [Ashe] is a guy who’s been coming on lately, and I thought he had a decent performance. I’m not going to single out all of the things he did right and not right, but I thought he was fine.
DEFENDER MICHAEL PARKHURST
On settling the penalty kick…
I just said, let’s get on with it guys, this is embarrassing for the team. So let’s just sort it out, and it was sorted out.
On the chemistry of the team…
I think we’re okay. It’s always testing when you’re not getting the results that you want. Winning cures all, and right now, we’re not winning enough games. We’ve had streaks when we haven’t won games, and we’ve been tested before, and we’ll come out of this fine. I’d say the chemistry is always tested when you don’t get good results, but we have a good locker room and we feel confident we can bounce back.
On the two quick goals by Montreal and what was happening defensively…
It’s a period of time where we need to put the game away, slow things down and keep the ball. Obviously they are down, a little dejected and we weren’t able to do that. We shouldn’t get caught on the counterattack when we are up three goals, but it happened and we got back, fortunately. Kei [Kamara] makes a play and draws a penalty but even after that to give up a quick one again is like Gregg [Berhalter] said, immature from the team. We need to understand that those are moments where you need to be alert and need to be all hands on deck. We can’t give up goals like that so quick in succession especially when we have a lead like that. That was the only way they were going to get back in it and they did and we paid for it at the end.
GOALKEEPER STEVE CLARK
On the role of Michael Parkhurst and himself…
I think that we built something really, really good here and we just need to sit down as a family and talk it out. I know that everyone cares about each other and our frustrations are boiling over. Obviously, we were up 4-1, so people have the right to be upset.
Onwhether the team was distracted…
After the penalty, we have to get our shape back and reset, so we are just lacking in maturity in ways. You saw great things tonight and the worst of us tonight. There are a lot of positives you can take from the game.
On if he saw something like tonight coming…
Like I said, we have a lot of character in this room and when you’re up 4-1 and you lose to your rivals – I would say Montreal are – there’s going to be some upsetting things. Kei [Kamara] is going for a hat trick and Pipa [Federico Higuain] is splitting the penalties one for one; it’s a tough decision. But this is nothing that can’t be solved by us sitting down as men in a room because we’re building a great thing here and we’re not going to let it go because personalities are getting in the way. We’ll be hugging no problem by Tuesday afternoon.
Onwhether penalties are normally traded off…
Not necessarily, it was a little bit up in the air, but I saw a conflict going so I sent Michael [Parkhurst] in as the captain to try to sort it out. I saw it going on. These things happen all the time and I believe that the character of our team will stick together. We just need to have a meeting and talk it out.
Onwhat was going through his head watching it happen from across the field…
I know both these guys and I like them both, it’s just two really competitive people. I’m sure you guys can have a field day with what you want to say about those two, but they’re just two competitive guys who want to win, and that’s what happens at times. There’s nothing else to be said but two guys want to score and it will be solved.
