Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution Post-Match Quotes
Saturday, July 20, 2013

COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA


On the message to the team postgame:


You have to keep fighting. We played a good ninety minutes and then gave up two goals in the last four minutes of the game. That has to stop. That's too many goals at the end of the game.

On the new formation used tonight:
We created a lot of chances before but didn't score any goals. Obviously we had quality chances when we played in the previous formation but [in this formation] we didn't allow the opposition to create as many chances as they used to. In the game tonight they didn't create too much until they scored a goal.

On the pair of New England goals in stoppage time:

I think we were pushing for the goal; the game was back and forth. We were trying to score in the end, that's why we threw numbers forward. Obviously we put some fresh guys on the field that might get a chance. Ryan Finley had a good chance to score but maybe the shot selection should have been a little bit different. Maybe he should have bent the ball. But credit to the New England defender who blocked the shot.
On improving on offense:
I think you can see who we have on the field and who we have on the bench. We are missing [Jairo] Arrieta and [Eddie] Gaven, two guys who scored 18 goals last season, the two best goal scorers for us. So that definitely is hurting us. The other guys, I mean, this is a young team, they'll learn the ropes and I'm sure they are going to be good, but in this moment we came up short.

On the first-half formation:
We tried to go Dominic [Oduro] on the right and [Aaron] Schoenfeld on the left, Pipa [Higuain] and the two central midfielders going forward as much as possible. We generated some offense, got some corner kicks, and some free kicks around the box and that's what we want to do.

On creating better scoring chances:
We have to feel it. The players who are wide have to want to cross the ball and the other two have to be in the box. So that's how we fix it. They should be in the box. Perfect chance when [Dominic] Oduro passes the ball along the goal-line, if Ben [Speas] was in front of the defender like he was supposed to be, then he probably scores a goal. So that's what we need from the guys: read it, feel it, and then be in the places they are supposed to be.

On making late substitutions:
You have Dominic Oduro, who has eight goals and is our best scorer, and it's tough to take him off the field. If I took him off the field you would ask me, "Why did you take him off the field?" But Ryan Finley was scoring goals for the Reserves. But it's tough to take off the guys who score goals for you. Same with Bernardo Anor, he scored last game, so it's tough to take them off the field. We take them off the field when they are tired. We could generate more offense when we have fresh legs; that's why we waited until then.

On home form:
I would say it's bad results, I wouldn't say it's bad games. If you look at the games we played most of the time we outplayed the teams that we play here. The likes of New York, maybe Colorado was the toughest game. But if you think about the other games, whether it's Montreal, or the other games, I think we played pretty good.

COLUMBUS CREW MIDFIELDER BEN SPEAS

On the Crew’s attack:
I thought we created a lot of chances. I thought we were dangerous. I guess that you could say that all that was missing was putting the ball in the back of the net. At the right moment, be clinical, and putt it away.
On conceding two goals in stoppage time:
It’s tough. It is not easy to take. This one hurts. We were pushing, felt like we had a good rhythm. Felt like the ones that thought that we were going to get that [goal], and then at the end, they end up sneaking it in. It is very frustrating. We will do everything that we can to fix it, but we have got keep attacking, creating those chances, and putting them away.
On what he thought of his shot in the 89th minute:
Yeah. It would have been nice. No, I thought it was going in [to the net]. It just bent right at the last second. I hit it with my laces, so it bent out, instead of hitting it with the inside so it would have bent in. It was unfortunate. I thought I took it well. I wish it would have gone in.
COLUMBUS CREW MIDFIELDER WIL TRAPP
On New England’s late goals:
Yeah, it’s kind of a gut check. It’s never an easy way to lose a game especially at the depth of it when we were in the game the whole time. Just kind of tough; tough to swallow.

On his role tonight:
In the beginning part of the game when we were playing the four-three-three I was more just sitting in front of Danny [O’Rourke] and Chad [Marshall] and just trying to build the attack. When we switched the four-four-two I had more freedom to move forward. That was when we were trying to score and move the numbers forward. We needed to win this game so that’s what we had to do. And like I was saying earlier, these goals weren’t goals that broke us down or anything like that. They were just a set piece and one was just a bad give away but that’s the most frustrating part of tonight.

On moving forward after a tough loss:
I think we just can’t dwell on it, it’s over now. So all we have to do is pick up three points and the rest of our games really. We have to do that to move on to the play offs.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH JAY HEAPS

On the win:
I'm really proud of our guys because this is not an easy road trip. There was a schedule change early in the season so it was a tough trip any way you slice it. Coming from Colorado to here we knew how important this game was, how important it was after having two loses, that we needed to at least have a better performance. And I think we did that tonight.
On making six changes from Colorado game:
It was a combination [of wanting to mix things up and fatigue]. It was also getting some guys on the field who were little more experienced; we went a little more experienced tonight. Key guys for us, I talked to Juan [Toja], Diego [Fagundez] and Lee [Nguyen] and said that we were going with a harder, physical lineup and I wanted to make sure that as the game broke open those guys influenced the game and they certainly did.
On the impact of the substitutions:
That was exactly the game-plan. It never really works that way; there are certain things that you have to do. But I thought that all three of those guys were willing and ready, knew exactly where they were going in and watched during the game to see where they could impact. And quite frankly they went in and did an excellent job.

On Clyde Simms:
Clyde was itching to get back in and has been playing well, and tonight was a perfect night for Clyde Simms. He set the tone early, was all over [Federico] Higuain, really limiting what he was doing. For me, Clyde would have gone as long as he could, but he was running out. He's not a guy you want to take out, but he hasn't played a ton of games and is still getting fit, but I thought he was excellent.

On Jose Goncalves’ goal:
It was exciting. He went up forward and we needed that corner kick.
On scoring tonight after scoring an own goal against Colorado on Wednesday:
I think for Jose [Goncalves], more important for him, was the zero tonight. I thought he did a nice job defending, but the other night he dove in, not something he normally does and I knew he was carrying this team tonight. He wanted to win this game and you could tell. The way he defended, the way he played all night, and then to get the winner was a special thing for him.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER JOSE GONCALVES
On tonight’s performance:
I think everyone seems satisfied with the effort today – like we had been saying during the week, this was an important game. We had to bounce back from two bad results and we just wanted to do better. So this was the kind of mentality we came into the game with today and you can see that everyone worked hard. We created the best chances in this game and I think we deserved to win.
On his goal:
For me, it’s very important that we won the game – the three points are what’s most important. It doesn’t matter how it happened. It’s over, we learn from our mistakes, and we have to keep going because there are only so many points we can take in this league – this is what I do every day. Yesterday is gone and all we have is today.
On the depth of the team:
I think we’ve played a lot of games, so some guys are more tired than others. We also have a big squad with enough quality to be able to change or rest some players. I think we can see from tonight that when we needed some fresh legs and they stepped in to help us get this win – they worked really hard. This is the mentality you have to have. It’s very hard when you sit on the bench, but you must be ready every week.


NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER LEE NGUYEN
On tonight’s performance:

It’s huge to get out of this mess that we put ourselves in. Obviously we didn’t want to lose two games in a row, but it’s been our motto all year that if we lose let’s get out of it and get a point no matter what we do. That was our mentality going into this game and we pulled through at the end. 

On the depth of the team:

It’s tough, we had three games in ten days and we’ve got guys who can come in and help us out – it was good to give us some rest and give us that extra little energy to come in the second half to come in and make a difference. Diego [Fagundez] did well – the whole team did well – the defense stepped up again and were there to create the shutout. It was a huge win for us.
On Jose Goncalves’ goal:
He was due for one. I was waiting because we’ve been working on it [the set piece] throughout the year and it was just one of those things where he had the timing down and was in the right place. Jose got his head to it and it fell down and fell our way. We were fortunate to get the bounce our way, but either way, it was a great goal.
