SPORTING DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
On what the win means
I think it’s important. We know their strengths, we know that they create a lot of goal scoring opportunities off pressing teams in their half. So our game plan was to avoid that and play in their half, and I think for the most part we did a good job of executing that. We didn’t give them any opportunities off of pressing, and then they had to create by themselves. I think we did a good job, our defense in limiting that creation part of it.
On if the press is predictable:
Listen, you know how many goals they've scored on the press? People say that to us that we were predictable years ago. The fact is, that it's a clear identity where Brad [Friedel] has installed in his group, I think they play with a ton of commitment. They made it really hard for us today. If you move the press into midfield, so okay, they couldn’t high press, but they still made it very difficult for us to move the ball around and create goal scoring opportunities.
On how New England’s 3-5-2 formation influenced tonight's match
So, they played a 3-5-2, or 5-3-2, whatever you want to call it, and what it did was it created man versus man in the central midfield and when we tried to counter act that with moving the fullback inside pushing one winger wide, trying to hold their back five back and create space in midfield. We had some success in that. I think when you look at the positions Harrison [Afful] got the ball in, there was some success in that. But overall, I think they did a good job. They executed a game plan that they came up with within a week and made it difficult for us.
On playing the ball from the back against the press
I think there were times, we certainly didn't want them to come into the game early through our mistakes. So, the idea was in the beginning of the game, we're going to play in their end, play in their half, and not let them get set up with their press, and I think that was somewhat successful. But, in the end, we wanted to put the ball down and start playing, and we did that to some effect. I think we could've been a little sharper tonight, though.
On what has been clicking for Crew SC in their recent stretch
I don't know, to us it's one game at a time. So, I'll look at this game and analyze it, same way we did last week and same way we’ll do next week. For us, it's about continuing to progress as a team, continuing to execute our style of play, and can we keep improving.
On the team's defensive effort over the last few matches
I think in particular in these last games, when we needed to, Zack [Steffen] stepped up. Guys didn’t play error free, there were errors, but when we made a mistake, Zack was there for us. I think some games we’ve played really good defense, really good team defense, but in other games, the offense lead the way. So, it’s been a mix in these last five games, that’s why I’m not comfortable grouping them. I would say that we'll look at this game and analyze it and then move on to Kansas City.
On Lalas Abubakar's performance
What I like most about Lalas, is immediately after the game, he came to me and said, 'I didn't play great.' Here’s a guy that scored a game-winning goal, is on top of the world, the team wins, and he's immediately thinking 'Hey, I need to improve, I need to get better.' And that's what I love about Lalas. He knows he didn't have the best night, he knows it wasn't as clean winning duels as he would've liked, but in the end, he scored the game-winning goal, we got three points on the road and we had a shutout. I think he has a lot to be proud of, and I think the acknowledgment that there's still work to do is excellent.
MIDFIELDER WIL TRAPP
On securing a result for the sixth straight match
I think we have done a nice job of competing in every game and limiting their chances. I think we've just done a good job communicating through a lot of things and that solves a lot of the issues that we’ve had in the past. You need guys to come up with big moments and make tackles and make saves, and I think we’re doing a good job of that.
On what the team learned from the first game against the New England Revolution
I think we knew that defensively they like to press, of course. They like to come after us. It’s a little different away from home how you’re going to address that. For 90 minutes, they tried to press us each and every time. I thought we did a good job managing those expectations as well as when they do win the ball, their offensive transition and trying to limit chances with them moving forward. I thought we did a nice job with that as well.
On if New England’s 3-5-2 formation caused any trouble for Crew SC
I wouldn’t say [that it did]. I thought we did a nice job dealing with how they were pressing us. With Scotty [Caldwell] standing on me, or Kelyn [Rowe] standing on me at the beginning, and then I think [Wilfried] Zahibo at the end, then finding our midfielders that were rotating so we could find a lot of options and win second balls.
On the importance of getting three points against another playoff contender
It’s huge. It's just more separation for us, right? We just keep moving up the board and that’s important for us. The more you can separate yourself from that bottom line and from the teams in the Eastern Conference, it’s good for us.
DEFENDER LALAS ABUBAKAR
On what he saw on his goal
We always practice this stuff, so this was like practice. It wasn’t a surprise to any of us, because we just have to make the run, because that’s what we do every single time at practice. We just need to execute and we did that on the field.
On Crew SC’s recent defensive success and string of shutouts
I think it’s a group effort. We play together, we fight for each other. That is what has got us here. It’s a team effort, we just fight together. We know they are a dangerous team, so we’ve just got to stick together and fight for each other.
On if he is more comfortable in his second year
I came in last year – I came in and I learned a lot, and I’m still learning. It’s a long process, so I just have to keep taking it one game at a time and keep learning. The more you play the more you learn. I keep learning every single game.
