SPORTING DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
On playing against a compact back line
“It’s not an excuse, it’s really not. We can’t say we can crack the back line again. We have to be responsible for not creating good enough chances; not moving the ball quick enough, not looking to get behind them quick enough and when you do that, I think you make it easy for your opponent. Particularly in the first half, when we’re even manned, the ball was moving way too slow-- and I know you hear me say that all the time-- but the idea is, if you can shift an opponent over to one side and then move the ball quick enough to exploit spaces on the other side of the field, then you can breakthrough and gain ground on the opponent. And we didn’t do that well enough. We let them shift and get in position and the ball was moving way too slow.”
On if this felt like the previous match against Chicago
“Last week I didn’t blame Chicago. I said they did what they needed to do to get the three points. At the end of the day, the three points are what’s most important. And D.C., they fought and they clawed and they scratched and they got the three points, and Chicago did the same thing.”
On what he saw on D.C. United’s early goal
“I think the first thing is, off the opening kickoff, you want to put the opponent on their heels instead of putting yourself on your heels. And there’s an example where we should be playing the ball forward, getting into their half, pinning them back, making it difficult for them. And instead we make six back-passes and all of the sudden we turn the ball over and they score. I’ll look at the specifics of it, but I think a general principle should be: we want to get the ball in their half early in the game.”
On if losing three straight matches shakes Crew SC’s confidence
“I think that it’s never nice to lose three games. It’s not something that we’re proud of, it’s not something we want to do and I think that some confidence has been taken from us, and rightfully so. You don’t lose three games in a row and stay 100 percent confident. So our job next week is to build that back up. We know we have a couple home games coming up and they’re going to be big games for us.”
FORWARD GYASI ZARDES
On if this felt like the previous Chicago match…
“Yeah, it’s tough to concede early in the game. I think it was a minute and 50 seconds and it’s difficult because teams like to park the bus against us because I think teams know we can exploit them if they come out and play. So, like I said before, it’s just difficult when you go down a goal and teams just play so defensive.”
On if losing three straight shakes the team’s confidence…
“No, not me. I’ve been in this league a long time. Generally speaking, I don’t think so. These guys, they know what they’re capable of. They have faith and we just take it game by game.”
On if returning home will feel good for the team
“Yeah, a game’s a game wherever you play and you want to try to get results, whether it’s a tie or a win.”
On if they are any positive takeaways from the loss
“Not yet. I mean, I have to obviously watch film and we’ll have to just get it right next time.”
