United head coach Ben Olsen
On the match...
“They’re good offensively and put a lot of pressure on us but we couldn’t hold them off. We have to learn how to make the plays that matter in order to get results in this league. Whenever you score three goals, you should be able to come away with something."
On another quick turnaround...
"We have a quick turnaround with a home game against Houston this Saturday, so we have to lick our wounds quickly. We finally have a home game after this long road stretch and then six of our next eight games are at home. If we take care of those we’ll be in good shape. We’ll build off of this.”
United midfielder Lamar Neagle
On the atmosphere…
“It was a good offensive outing for us but once they get momentum it’s difficult, like you saw tonight unfortunately. The atmosphere here creates something that other stadiums don’t have and the crowd plays a large part in helping them come back like they did tonight. Once they get momentum it’s tough to change.”
On how the team can put together a complete performance…
“We need to stop that momentum. When something like that happens, guys need to step up and make plays but that’s not what happened. Most of the time this season we’ve come up big defensively and haven’t put our chances away but tonight seemed to be the opposite. We just need to put together a full 90 minutes.”
United forward Deshorn Brown
On the game...
“You have to play until the end of 90 minutes or else it is going to cost you. That is what we get tonight so we just have to learn from this.”
On scoring the opening goal...
“The ball came across and I followed the play. I made a good run and they didn’t stop it.”
United midfielder Ian Harkes
On the game tonight...
“Obviously we are disappointed to let that one slip away from us. It was a tale of two halves.”
On his goal...
“I think it was just a good breakout by us. We combined on the wing and Sean [Franklin] put a great ball back across to me. It just took a great touch away from the defender and I finished. It was a great overall first-half performance by us. Second half starting out like that with [Lloyd] Sam’s goal was great, but you have to sustain it for sure.”
On what changed in the second half...
“I don’t know if we tightened up, but I think the momentum did shift and you definitely felt it. We just slipped up on important moments and they capitalized. We have to hold each other accountable and move on for Houston.”
Sounders FC head coach Brian Schmetzer
On your emotions as a coach following a match like this...
“The emotion now is one of relief. The first thing that popped into my head as the game was progressing and after the game was what do we do as a staff, how did we manage the group in training with the little mini-break that we had. So, the first emotion was just reflection. What could we have done better? Relief that we won. We made some plays. The second one was that I was very proud of the guys. That was my second emotion. The guys never quit. We have witnessed a lot with this franchise over the years and in my time here, the game down in Portland, the win in LA, some of those moments that are just indicative of this team never ever giving up, that is what makes me proud to be part of this franchise.”
On bringing in Nohou and Kelvin Leerdam...
“Well Kelvin is a talented player and you guys saw what he can bring. We just needed to get more attacking movement up the field. Nohou we have seen before. I think he and Joevin on that left-hand side make a pretty potent combination. I was just basically trying to get some energy and some more dynamic, I would say, attacking movement out wide. They were defending inside out. They had the lead they were protecting their goal. So, we needed to do something out on the wing channels to break them down and I think both Nouhou and Kelvin helped us do that.”
Sounders FC defender Kelvin Leerdam
On his debut...
“You play a game three goals down and still win – I heard that’s the first time that a team has done it [in MLS], so it’s great for us. I hope the next game will be a little bit easier.”
On entering the pitch for the first time at CenturyLink Field...
“I am always excited if it is about soccer, it’s what I like to do. When I came in I felt the support of the fans. They were screaming and they were supporting us even though we were three goals down. It was a good day for us, but it was a better day for them.”
Sounders FC midfielder Cristian Roldan
On returning from Gold Cup...
“I sat on the bench against Nicaragua and saw a 3-0 result, then what an incredible night today coming back from a 3-0 deficit. I thought the substitutes made a huge difference. Everyone was committed to coming back, but we made it difficult on ourselves.”
On the slow start...
“It was sluggish from our side, maybe because of the break. We just didn’t come out to compete – second balls, missed passes. We really missed our passes. It took until they scored three goals for us to really turn it on. We were sharp, we committed guys forward and we scored the chances we had.”
On his goal...
“‘Don’t miss,’ because I would have gotten a lot of crap for that. As Brad [Evans] always says, if you have nowhere to shoot, if the goalie looks like he has cut all angles, shoot through his legs. I shot it as hard as I could through there and luckily it went in.”
