D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
On overall disappointment with the outcome of the game:
It’s twofold; obviously there’s disappointment in not getting the result we wanted tonight. But, it was a good night. Ironically I thought overall it was a step forward for us. We have to learn from some of the mistakes we made that cost us points. If we can take a large chunk of that game and build off it I think we are in good shape. There was a lot more good than bad in that game. It’s probably the best we played this year from a soccer and a mentality standpoint, so we will learn from it. It’s disappointing, but we will move on to the game next week.
On Perry Kitchen’s performance
He was great. Take the goals out of it and I still think it was his best night. His composure on the ball and the way he moved around was much better. I was really pleased with his performance. I also thought Jairo [Arrieta] and Chris [Pontius] were very good. Chris [Rolfe] looked like himself and it was good to see Michael [Farfan] out there fitting in with the group. Again, there was a lot of good in this game, but disappointed with the result.
On what he saw on the last goal:
It’s easy to say Bill [Hamid] has to swallow that up, but that ball has a little dip and it’s not the easiest ball to deal with. Bill has dealt with that before though, and he will be the first person to raise his hand and say that he could have done better. But if I’m keeping tabs, Bill has saved us much more than he has cost us.
Davy Arnaud
On the game’s outcome…
It’s hard to give up two goals to tie the game at home. It is tough to think about. It felt like a loss in the locker room. We had three points in our hands and we let two of them slip away.
On Perry Kitchen’s performance…
He’s very good. He’s an athletic guy and you saw how well he got up on the corner. It was a very good header, and he found himself in a good spot for the second one so it was a good game for him. It is unfortunate that it didn’t get us three points, but I thought he was very good.
On giving up two late goals…
We’re not that kind of team. We feel like we are not a team that is going to give up late goals and give points away. It is uncharacteristic of us. We have to learn from this because to be the team we want to be in, and to be where we want to be in the standings at the end of the year, that’s unacceptable to give up a two point lead at home. We should have been leaving here tonight with three points.
Bobby Boswell
On the game’s momentum shift…
For a while, we played the way we wanted to, and I think giving up a goal right after scoring a goal is devastating because the momentum shifts. You have got them on the ropes and then they come down and score so it is a complete reversal. We still have to see that game out. I told the guys after the game that I would take this team over any other team in the league up 2-0, but tonight was just a learning lesson. We have to see the game out and figure out what we can do better whether it’s keeping the ball, tracking runners, etc. There is a lot to be learned from a loss, and I say you can learn more from a loss than a win sometimes, and this feels like a loss because we dropped two goals.
On New York’s goal off of the free kick…
Your defenders and center backs are the guys that follow up shots better than anyone, and we were in the wall. I have to see the video on what happened and Bill [Hamid] will say that he could have done better, but we have to do a better job of helping him out. He bails us out so many times so tonight it would have been really nice to bail him out of that one.
On dealing with a free kick after a deflection…
I’ve been doing this a long time and anything can happen. Crazier things have happened so you have to prepare for everything mentally, and I am sure we shut down on two plays there, both goals. We just can’t have that happen and we will learn from it. Good teams learn from mistakes and do not let it happen again, so if we cannot learn from giving up goals off of set pieces or a free kick, then that is not the sign of a team that is going to be in the playoffs. But, I like this group. We will figure it out.
New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch
On making a comeback…
We’ve been tested this season so far. But certainly when you dig a hole, like two zero down on the road, that really tests you and you find out a lot about your guys. Certainly the fact they responded right away by getting a goal I think that was important because it gave the game a chance. Then for them to keep pushing the way they did and get the equalizer, I think it was deserved and I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the fact they believe in themselves and each other.
On handling deficits in this season…
I think that’s a good point we have seen four different kinds of games. And in four different kinds of games we have been up to the task. You know ideally we would have been a little bit sharper in the first half and maybe get a one zero lead, two zero lead, and we were hopeful that that’s the way the game would play out. But yeah, it’s important that early on we get to know each other in a lot of different ways. The way we responded, that lets you know that on the inside there’s something happening here and we keep pushing hard.
New York Red Bulls Goalkeeper Luis Robles
On handling deficits…
I think it’s important for us to face this sort of adversity this early in the season because it’s going to continue to shape us. We want to be a team that only plays quality football that puts teams under a lot of pressure, but also has that sort of spirit that fans can be proud of. I felt like even though the quality wasn’t the best today and there were moments where it wasn’t our finest, the spirit we had I felt that not only could we be proud, but the organization and the fans could be proud of tonight.
On getting a result despite not playing well…
We spoke at length at the beginning of the season how we wanted to be a road team. Not only did we want to be good at home but we wanted to be one of those teams that was a pain in the butt to play on the road. So far we have been able to do that, but it’s a long season. We can’t look at this and say its ok, we have arrived. We have to continue to build, we have to continue to get better and we know that. I know the guys will not get complacent, they will continue to improve
