D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
Thoughts on the match:
It was always going to be a tough task with the two days ofrest, but I thought the guys pushed through it. I went with a lot of guys whoplayed minutes. I could’ve changed it up but I wanted to push them, and theyresponded.
It was a pretty good performance overall. We know what weneed; I know what we need for next year. But it’s not as much as you guysthink. I still have a lot of confidence in this group of players. There’s goingto be some changes, for sure. It’s not going to be the same group of guys nextyear. It’s that simple. We have to get some additions. We’ve got to get better.That, combined with some of these young guys getting this experience willhopefully be a good recipe for a successful season.
I was hoping to get out of this with a .500 [record] orabove, but that didn’t happen. So I’m disappointed in that.
On Dwayne De Rosario’s impact on the team:
He’s been pretty good [laughs]. He has changed the entireteam. With Dwayne we are always a play away from either him setting up a goalor doing it himself. We haven’t had that player probably since Jaime [Moreno] –it’s really nice to have a guy like that. But it’s my job to get him a littlebit more support, both up top and in the back, and make this group a betterteam.
I’m disappointed because this latter part of the season,this last stretch has not been good. We have some excuses, some injuries, andin a lot of ways they are real. But I still think that with a break or two wewere a playoff team. That’s what’s disappointing to me; that I couldn’t squeezeenough out of every guy to get into the playoffs. Next thing you know [Chris]Pontius is out, Dejan [Jakovic] is out, [Branko] Boskovic is out – I guess hereI go with the excuses.
Again, I know what we need for next year. I know it’s noteasy to find what you need in this soccer world, but we will get that and makethis team better.
On Charlie Davies’ season:
I look at [the season] as a huge step for him. He’s probablynot very happy with the playing time he’s had, but he has scored 11 goals. Ilook at it as a wonderful comeback. Because of the last stretch, in which hewasn’t getting as many minutes he is probably not happy about it.
It’s pretty remarkable that he’s come back and contributedto this team. Anywhere you cut it, whether it’s the beginning, middle, or theend [of the season], if you take it as a combined season he’s a big part ofsome of the success we’ve had this year.
We are going to have a lot of work in the offseason. I washoping it wouldn’t be quite as much, but it’s going to be a lot of watchingvideos and again, making this team better.
On his first year as Head Coach:
Every day is a new challenge. Fortunately, every game andevery practice is a learning experience for me as well. I’m not in over myhead, I’ll tell you that much. I feel partly proud for what I’ve done thisyear. But I’m also pretty hard on myself and know that I could have gotten thisteam into the playoffs. Maybe that’s the part that was green on my end, notknowing how to get them to the playoffs. As we as a group get better, I willget better as well.
D.C. UNITED FORWARD JOSH WOLFF
Thoughts on the match:
I thought the first half was one of our better collectiveefforts. We held our lines pretty good, and we got after them offensively.Unfortunately we gave up another goal on a set piece. It’s disappointing. Inthe end we didn’t do enough to get the result, even though at time we foundsome space out there. Obviously I wanted that one chance at the end to go in.If I could have just gotten my head [to the ball] I might have been able to geta goal. There were things that could have been cleaner.
Thoughts on the 2011 season:
Realistically I think we’re all disappointed. Four weeks agowe were pushing for the playoffs, and now the season is over. Obviously wemissed some points and there were key injuries to guys like [Chris] Pontius andDejan [Jakovic] that were detrimental to our side. Saying that we were still ina very good position to make the playoffs. There were 12 to 15 points out therewe didn’t take and it’s disappointing. That said there were positive stridesmade this year, and we’re looking forward to getting back at it next season.
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER PERRY KITCHEN
On the match:
I think we put it all out there. It’s a trend that hasn’tbeen good where we keep coming up short in the end. We have time now to thinkabout our mistakes and make adjustments. We’ll be back ready for next season todo better.
On his first professional season:
I thought overall it was a good learning experience. Thereare definitely things I can get better at and work on. I’m going to train hardregarding those things and come back better next year.
On becoming the first rookie in United history to lead theclub in minutes played:
It’s definitely been fun this year. I’m always going to goout and play wherever the coaching staff puts me, and I’m going to do what Ican to contribute to this team and this organization. I think I did my best atthat this year.
SPORTING KANSAS CITY HEAD COACH PETER VERMES
On clinching first place in the Eastern Conference:
[I give] credit to the guys. They put us in this position.They worked hard. They believed in what we were trying to do and they stayedcommitted to each other and the organization. From that part, I’m extremelyproud because sometimes it’s easy to lose your belief and spirit and I thinkit’s just the opposite with this group of guys. That really tells you somethingfor the long term – it’s not just right now – and that’s part of it I’m veryproud of.
On the game:
I thought that the first half was good for us. We wereputting a lot of balls in the box. [D.C. United] had one really good chancethat kind of ricocheted and [Dwayne] De Rosario hit over the top. I thought wewere very disciplined and organized. They had a few chances here and there, butI think it was very hard to break us down tonight and I’m really proud of theteam defensively. It’s not easy to come on the road in this League and get aresult. The guys did it and it’s a good confidence-builder here at the lastgame of the season going into the playoffs.
On containing Dwayne De Rosario:
I think it was a little hard for [Dwayne De Rosario] becausehe was a man on an island tonight playing as one up top. He’s a great player.He’s done so well in this League. We talked about how he was going to besomebody that was really going to be fighting to score. Obviously he wants histeam to win and also has a chance to increase his numbers for the Golden Boot.But I thought we did a really good job containing him and he’s a great player.
SPORTING KANSAS CITYFORWARD KEI KAMARA
On clinching first place in the Eastern Conference:
[Clinching first place] is great. It’s been a long season.I’ve been with this club for two full seasons now and it’s been really, reallygreat out here. The fact that we played our last game of the season knowingthat we were going into the game already in the playoffs with a chance toclinch first place was big for us.
On the go-ahead goal:
[The goal] was very important. We kept pushing and pushing,but at the same time D.C. kept doing that counterattack that they’re very good at.We were very nervous about that, but Besler came up big and he’s had such agreat year. Putting that goal in gave us the home field advantage.
SPORTING KANSAS CITY DEFENDER MATT BESLER:
On containing Dwayne De Rosario:
[Dwayne De Rosario] is a challenge. He’s probably the MVP ofthe League, but we kept him off the scoresheet and that was one of our goals.
On securing first place in the Conference:
It’s a great feeling to come back from where we were at [thebeginning of the season]. It shows the character of this team and we never losthope.
On his goal:
[The goal] was important. It was D.C.’s last goal in frontof their home fans. Obviously they were out of the playoffs already, butthey’re a prideful group and it was a tough match. We were away from home andonce we got the first goal it was natural to sit back a bit. They threw a lotof numbers forward at the end, but we handled it pretty well.
