New England Revolution Head Coach Jay Heaps
It wasn’t pretty; it sure wasn’t pretty. But I thought it was a hard-fought game and you’re going to see these types of games as everything gets tighter and so much is at stake and playoffs implications are everywhere, six point games. I was really happy with our week of preparation. I thought we went out and really set up a good pressing system and we worked on free kicks. In the end, I thought we had a lot of chances from their turnovers and I thought that it was going to take a little bit of special play and I thought Jermaine (Jones) made that on the free kick.
We’re really happy because that was a play we kind of worked on with a high line – and they were playing a really high line. I thought Jermaine (Jones) timed it so well. To me, he just has a really great sense of the game and so to get that open on a free kick is really good. I think that he’s a danger – you need to mark him on free kicks and I thought he did a nice job of getting open.
I think Bobby (Shuttleworth) was great, it was that first save that really sprung us. He pulled one back really, let’s be honest, (Aaron) Schoenfeld was inside the six and Bobby saves it. It was just that game you have a lot of energy to it and to make that save there, I felt like that gave us a boost and we scored right after it. I thought he was huge with a couple of other saves and just his presence in the box I thought was really good. You get into this time of year where one or two saves are the difference between three points and no points and tonight Bobby was in the right spot and really commanded the area.
I liked it when (Federico) Higuain ran over it, I’m not going to lie, because Higuain is such a special player. We work all week on not fouling in those areas, but at the same time it’s hard because I thought (Tony) Tchani was really good again – he’s so strong – so you’re going to foul somewhere along the way. I thought our wall did a nice job there and we were prepared, but Higuain, at any moment, can change that game and he was a really good player again tonight.
I kind of want to cordially disagree because I thought we were pressing for the game, as well. We made the sub to go from Scotty (Caldwell) to Daigo (Kobayashi) to really go for it. But at the same time, you’re opening yourself up – at the same time they were going, we were going. I think that they’re a really good team on the break and they’re an excellent team – I mean they’ve beaten us twice this year – we know that they’re really good. But at the same time, I think that when you’re at home, you’ve got to take those risks and we took the risk. We don’t have many ties for a reason, because we’re going for it and unfortunately it costs us sometimes, but tonight, we were rewarded.
It’s not the downpours; it was just that the field was so fast. The weather outside the field is not an issue, but the field was so fast that every touch had to be perfect. I think both teams struggled with the slickness, how slick the surface was.
I think this week was telling because we played well last week and I thought (Andrew) Farrell did a great job sliding in. But A.J. (Soares) and Jose (Goncalves) have just had a great partnership and communication and I thought A.J. and Jose were really good tonight. I think we risked a lot in our pressure so they were stuck one on one a lot and I thought both guys, Jose and A.J. were excellent tonight.
New England Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones
I think we showed Columbus a good battle. It was unfortunate to get scored on, but we responded the right way. We trained the whole week in regards to set pieces and it showed on the goal. The game got to a point that coach warned us about. With the wet turf, it was possible for the game to be decided on a set piece.
It’s important to have a guy in the back that is there when he has to be there. Sometimes we don’t get that many chances, but today it was a different game. Bobby (Shuttleworth) saved our back, and we are happy that we got the three points.
The goal that I scored was something that we practiced in training … I saw the ball coming in the back and I tried to head it. I am happy that I scored the second goal.
You have to call (Jurgen) Klinsmann about Lee. He scores a lot for the Revolution and he is playing well. If he keeps going at this pace, his time will come.
I don’t know who was in the battle, but I thought it was a free kick for us. I had to stop the game, so I took the yellow.
In the game I got a little frustrated. When I first came to the MLS, I got a little more space on the ball. After a few games, teams started to put a man on me the whole time playing physical and hard. It’s ok though, I have to stay patient and be smart. I got my chance in the first half from about 40 yards out, and the second half I got the header. I think I won my battle against number 6.
Playing on turf in the rain is really difficult. You have to change your whole game. Sometimes you think you can take the ball down nicely, but it comes in so fast that it makes it hard. It was my first game on turf and raining, but now I know how it is.
First time officially playing with football lines as well. It’s a little confusing, but I can see the difference between yellow and white, so it was ok.
I try to bring my style of play in the MLS. I don’t care if I play in Germany, Turkey, England, or in the MLS – I will always play my style.
New England Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth
It was difficult for a goalkeeper I think the field players probably prefer for it to be that way. I think you’ve just got to concentrate a bit more and just make sure that even routine stuff has got to be focused on and don’t take anything for granted.
Yeah I think it was (Federico) Higuain or someone who kind of scooped it over. I was going to come for the initial ball but realized I wasn’t going to get there and kind of hit the breaks. At that point, just stand tall and just try to react to the ball.
Yeah, I mean they were dangerous, getting guys, running off shoulders and that kind of stuff. (Ethan) Finlay especially is always cutting inside. I was just trying to communicate to tell them where the runners were coming from where the line should be, if we’re getting to tight, if we’re too deep, but overall, I think the back line was awesome tonight. I can say enough for those guys and those guys that played in front of them. Everyone did really well to get pressure on the ball.
Yeah I mean that’s a huge game. They’ve already come in here and beat us once and we talked about that all week so it was a big game for us. Three points is huge and hopefully we can bring that into Montreal next weekend.
That’s what this time of the year is all about. We’re 30-something games in now. It’s all about grinding results out like that. I think we’re the type of team where if we’re grinding, we can play when we’re on but if we’re grind out results like that I think team are going to have trouble with us.
I thought (Bernardo) Anor was going to take it just because of the position on the field. I knew it would be kind of tough for (Federico) Higuain to whip it in, so I figured Anor would take it with his left foot.
Columbus Crew Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
I think if you look at the manner of how we approached the game in terms of wanting to come here, wanting to win no matter how good New England is at home, and creating a number of 100 percent goal chances – that you can take from the game. What I would say is I take responsibility for the conduct on the field. That’s not us. We don’t want to project that. We want to play soccer and get on it no matter what the decisions of the referee are. Whether we agree with him or disagree. We got to keep playing. It wasn’t our best performance. But having said that, there were plenty of chances to score four or five goals and that to me is real positive. I think as we get stronger in the next game, we’re going to be fine.
Another guy steps in (when players are suspended). That’s what it’s about. This time of year, you need guys to step up and we’ve been doing it all year and we’ll do it next Saturday. There was a team out there that wanted to play soccer, wanted to attack and wanted to score no matter where they’re playing and I’m proud of that.
I think the angle on it. It’s maybe a leftie shot. Federico (Higuain) obviously had dialogue with Bernardo (Anor) in that case and I’m sure he deferred taking it.
It’s not us. Listen, the team I want to have is a smart team. It’s a team that stays cool no matter what the circumstances are because these atmospheres tonight - it’s a playoff type of atmosphere, where the game is charged. We’ve got to be calm. We’ve got to be cool. There’s no reason for us to lose our heads. It has consequences, as you see.
It put us down a man, and you start considering your options. But we felt like we’ll leave the left side of the field open. We’ll still play with a left back. We’ll 4-3-1 and we’ll deal with it - sorry, 4-4-1 - and we’ll deal with it. I think we did fine. We still had maybe not 100 percent chances, but we’re still at a good spot.
I don’t know that’s fair to say. I would say we want to keep the ball on the ground, we want to move the ball quickly and wet turf - there’s nothing better to do that on than wet turf, right? So I wouldn’t say that.
We lost this game, I don’t know if you’ve seen that, so obviously they’re pretty happy right now. But I think New England wants the playoffs and for some reason it’s a decent matchup for us. I think they’re pretty exciting games and intense games and fun games.
Columbus Crew Midfielder Wil Trapp
Frustrating. I thought we just didn’t come out and play the way we should of, just a little flat. But in saying that, we had chances. The hardest thing in the game is to score goals, so you can’t always rely on that. But we have no excuses for the game.
It was a playoff game, pretty much. They’re still trying to fight their way in, we’re doing the same, so it’s always going to be a physical battle and it felt that way. It’s just a little more difficult in the conditions, with the turf as well as the rain. As you went on you got used to it, but at the early stages it was a little difficult.
Our destiny’s still in our own hands. We play Philly twice and New York who’s right ahead of us as well. These are huge games, we just have to get some points out of them.
If we’re getting chances, Gregg (Berhalter) is going to be happy with those. It’s just the parts in between those chances we needed to clean up. I think he was happy with that side of things, but the rest wasn’t up to snuff.
Columbus Crew Midfielder Justin Meram
We had our chances, for sure. We missed a couple chances and right away, I think they went, within 30 seconds to a minute scored. So that’s the way the games goes, you miss by an inch and it comes back to haunt you. It was a fair game. I think both teams had their chances. They just finished theirs off.
Tonight just shows that down the stretch these are playoff games, it’s going to be a battle. The margin of error has to be minimal to none. If you sleep for a second it’s going to cost you. These games are playoff games I feel like, most definitely.
I thought we were good at times, especially in the second half. We’re going to go to Philly and we’re going to play our game and control it in their stadium and hopefully get a result and get on the board earlier.
