Head Coach Caleb Porter
On getting first road win since March 9
It's important. We knew going into this game we had seven road games out of the 11 games that we had, so it's good to get that winning feeling again on the road, and we've played a very good team in a tough place to play.
For us to play as aggressive as we did, to really do some things, adapt our style of play a little bit, you know, to kind of take away what they want to do and actually because we went more direct we created a ton of chances and problems for New York, and we knew that in our scouting. Scored three goals. We got good performances across the board and we showed a lot of team spirit and unity, as well, today.
We have to keep building on it. We have massive a massive hole; we have to continue to hunt the teams ahead of us.
On battling back from an early goal down
I think our mentality's just shifted. You know, last, really, four games, even though we didn't get the win at Orlando, I said it, we played excellent, we were aggressive, we took over the second half and in Chicago, you saw we battled back, last game, battled back.
Never felt like we were even going to be when we conceded out of the game and the guys just kept responding. They have a lot of belief right now in that locker room. Actually, as much as you think we would be sky-high, we're not. We're very even keeled. We're keeping our highs low. We're taking the emotion out and we're just focusing on improvement and taking it one game at a time.
On if there is a confidence shift in the locker room
Yeah, I mean, again, you can talk about the all-12, this, that. But the fact of the matter is, we've lost nine or ten games by one goal. You can look at that one of two ways: We're either a really bad team, or we were close to being a very, very good team. And I look at it as the latter.
We were really, really close in every single game, and we played really well in a lot of those games. People forget that; I don't. I know every game we've played, I know exactly how they went, and it was just frustrating we weren't able to get that turning point and that breakthrough.
We came in on the road with no center backs; we have three center backs out still, and we end up getting a great performance out of the group, in a game really with, New York the way they play, Abouba and Alex were going to be under pressure. You have two young homegrown kids, and they were up for it. That was a good thing to see.
On Pedro Santos' performance
He's quietly putting together a career year. You look at his goal production, his eight goals, seven goals, I've lost count -- that's quite a few goals. Is it seven? Listen, that's a lot of goals. He's producing. He's confident. I thought he was really hungry today and stuff.
If you saw, I thought we won actually the loose ball duels today. You look at New York, they want to win the 1 vs. 1 duels and they want to out-fight you, and I thought we out-fought them today in all honesty and that's a big part of why we won the game. I thought we fought hard, won the individual duels, first and second balls.
And then I thought our football showed, as well. We were very clinical. We got in behind them. Some nice passages of play. We should have scored -- I said it at half time, a couple more goals in the first half, hit the post, missed two breakaways, so I thought we were very clinical. I thought we got really good performances out of the bench, again, so that's a massive help, as well, when you can sub guys in.
Wil had to come in with an injury and so we have to sub in Guzman, and then David Accam just looked tired, so Luis went in. He'll get better. He had a couple moments where he's got to be a little sharper but he was lively and he was always a threat, and if you're always a threat, good things happen. At the end, he played a great ball in for the goal.
On how to improve going forward
Just got to focus on each week and really our preparation. I thought the guys were spot on in their execution for the most part. We need to clean some things up on the goals obviously, but we scored three goals. We did a lot of things we wanted to do, and I thought it worked, you know, and so it starts with the training ground.
We had really four good days of training and we have three next week, and we're playing another team next week in San Jose. It's not going to get any easier. They are a team that man-to-man marks you all over the field, another team that wants to out-fight you, press you, turn you over. It's a little bit of, you know, a psychological game in terms of how they play and they disrupt you, and so the nice thing is we're in a rhythm now with this type of game because New York is the same way, so now we move on to the next week, clean some things up, and it won't get any easier.
We have to stay really hungry. We have to keep hunting the teams ahead of us, but we are starting to turn the season a little bit and we are starting to putt some pressure on the teams ahead of us.
On why Wil Trapp was subbed at halftime
He had a little bit of a knee tweak. We hope it's not serious. I don't think it is, but he had to come out. Obviously we wouldn't have subbed in Wil at halftime -- I'm sure you guys figured that out.
Forward Gyasi Zardes
On the team’s fight to win
It says a lot about our fight and their character. We went up two times and Red Bulls came back into the game. That hard fought battle at the end allowed us to secure the win.
On impact over the last three games
I think the additions to the team. Our substitutes have been extremely effective once they step on the field and I think that is a positive thing for our whole roster. We’re adding depth to it, it’s showed the last three games and we are utilized some of the new guys we have signed. Also, the guys that stepped up, we’ve had a lot of injuries, guys whose names were called, like [goalkeeper Eloy] Room and [defender Alex [Crognale], did a phenomenal job today.
On team chemistry transition
I think everybody has been extremely welcoming as far as for the new guys to get acclimated to the team. Every time they have the opportunity to train, we are starting to gain more chemistry and it’s starting to show in games.
On moving forward
We have to progress each and every single week, every single game. We have six away games and four home games left so it’s a perfect opportunity for us to overcome obstacles and challenges together like we have been doing.
On midfielder Pedro Santos
He’s adjusting to the new position, the number 10 position, and he’s playing extremely well. He’s a lethal attacker and the more we get him on the ball and in dangerous spots, allows him to have goal-scoring opportunities and he’s starting to put them away. I’m really excited for what’s to come for Pedro.
Defender Hector Jimenez
On team’s fight to win
Very determined, even though they were in the game. It was 2-2 at some point and we had a feeling they were going to get the result. It feels good to get two wins in a row and hopefully we can carry that momentum into San Jose.
On regaining team’s confidence
Our last three games have been really good results. The guys are fighting for each other and we are coming together more than before obviously because of the season we have been having, but we are on a good wave right now and hopefully we can keep riding it. From the Montreal game, we had really good sessions at practice and some of the guys talked about that earlier today and it carried into this game. Hopefully, we can better, the performance can be better and San Jose is a fairly good team that plays similar to the Red Bulls. Another good week of practice and hopefully get another result on the road.
On team’s mindset moving forward
We’ll have the same mindset today over the remaining 10 games that we have. We have six on the road and four at home so we have to take advantage of home games. We showed that we can win on the road so hopefully we can get more results like we did today.
On winning tonight
It’s special knowing that the Red Bulls are a really good present team and it’s a really tough place to come and get a result. For us to get a good result today, shows a lot of character. Everyone played a big role today, our subs came in and gave us an extra boost. It’s great to see [midfielder] Pedro [Santos] get two goals and [midfielder] Luis [Argudo] finally get his first, especially having his family here. It was a special one for him, it was a good game for us and we are excited for next week’s game and moving forward.
