D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
Overall thoughts on the match:
"It’s a disappointing tie for sure, but they’re a good team. We watched a lot of film and they’re a tough team. We knew they’d come in here a little desperate and with a real sense of urgency and fight about them. We talked about matching that early [in the game] and not getting bullied around, and I thought they did that. They came with the right energy, and we didn’t. In particular, we just didn’t have that pep, that anger we needed tonight. Now, the second half was great, but it takes me to get them riled up at halftime to get that kind of response."
"We have to understand, you just have to bring that every night if you want results. It doesn’t matter who you play: If you don’t bring that in this League, it’s going to be a long night. I thought we did enough to win — the game was there for us. We’ve just got to finish a couple chances."
On Maicon Santos:
"He’s been great. He’s a handful up there, and he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. We’re trying to get him to face goal more right now; we know he hits a stinger. He was great when he came on. I didn’t think he could go another 90 [minutes], we were really grinding him out. He’s worked as hard as he has defensively, I think, in his entire career. It’s really helped him get fitter, and he’s been very good for us."
On Branko Boskovic:
"I thought he did fine. There were some really good minutes from Branko. You can tell that technically he’s really sound. He knows how to play that position. I think he got a little leggy there; that was his first real long span of minutes, so we wanted to get Dwayne [De Rosario] back in there and, more importantly, get Maicon [Santos] on the field."
On Montreal’s goal:
"I’d have to look at it again, but it was a pretty good ball. Obviously we have to do better with our defending in the box, but I’ll have to look at it again. I thought Robbie [Russell] did a good job of filling in tonight; it’s not a position he’s used to, but I thought he filled in very nicely."
On Andy Najar:
"I thought Andy had an okay day. I was looking for more out of Andy in the first half that I saw in the second half. He came out with a little more buzz about him."
On Chris Pontius playing forward:
"Chris is pretty versatile. I think he can play up top, I think he can play out wide. He didn’t get the looks at goal that we wanted, but he did a lot of work. He worked his tail off underneath. In particular, second half, he was a little better. It’s a new spot for him, he hasn’t played there much, but I thought he did okay."
On Lewis Neal:
"It was more of an attacking move. We tried to get him up more forward, and he swings a great ball. That left side, and the right side, was pretty open as far as the pass getting forward. We wanted to see if we could get him forward and whipping balls in, but I thought he did fine. It’s good to see him in the game."
D.C. United Forward Maicon Santos
On his goal:
"To be honest, I have been trying hard every game. My shots on goal have been working. I have scored a couple goals. I know him [Donovan Ricketts] from before, so I know the way he works. It was a good goal."
On the second half:
"We have more life, more intensity, more pressure on them. So there was more attack, so, unfortunately, we didn’t score and didn’t get the three points. But it was a great effort in the second half."
On the team’s progress:
"We’re making progress every game, that’s for sure. Every game. Everybody can see that. It’s the fifth game that we don’t lose."
D.C. United Defender Robbie Russell
Overall thoughts on the match:
"We didn’t win, so of course I’m not happy. We let up a goal, so of course I’m not happy. There’s always room for improvement."
D.C. United Defender Brandon McDonald
Overall thoughts on the match:
"Coming in here today and letting points go like that is not a good feeling. We knew they were going to come in here and fight and be nasty. The first thing we were saying is that we need to bring our bite as well. The first twenty minutes of that game, they were kind of winning that battle."
D.C. United Forward Chris Pontius
Overall thoughts on the match:
"It’s frustrating, but, that’s five games in a row where we are grabbing points. It’s not like we are dropping points. We have shown resilience the last few games coming from behind. "
On the offside call:
"I haven’t seen the replay yet, but arguably, we could have had a game winner tonight."
On the second half:
"We just got off to a slow start tonight and in the second half I thought we did a lot better. I think they won the 50-50 challenges, which started going our way in the second half, and you see more and more opportunities in the second half."
On Santos’ form:
"Great form. He comes in and does exactly what we need him to do. His left foot is deadly."
Montreal Impact Head Coach Jesse Marsch
Overall thoughts on the match:
"There were little half chances today that maybe if we would’ve been a little bit sharper they could’ve been goals. But the way we managed the game and how we took our time on set pieces showed that we were methodical in our approach and tried to keep the ball. I think we learned lessons from last game and got them this game. Maybe it could’ve been three [points] tonight, but one is okay."
On losing the 1-0 lead:
"It was a little too easy [for D.C. United] to get that goal, because we worked so hard to get ours. And now it’s [a shot] from distance and somehow [the ball] finds its way into the goal. On the field I was trying to say to the players ‘don’t panic, don’t get upset, you still have to stay focused, there’s a lot of game to be played left.’ Again, we could’ve taken three in the end, but it’s a step – a step in the right direction."
On the team’s second half performance:
"I think we were flat at the start of the second half, for whatever reason, and I think [D.C. United] came out with more energy. They probably weren’t happy with the way their first half went. But we came out flat, and that could’ve cost us the game early in the second half. We are still moving ourselves along in that way, but it’s a good night for a point."
Montreal Impact Captain Davy Arnaud
Overall thoughts on the match:
"It’s a point for us, our first one on the road. But I think if we are being honest with ourselves, we let two points slip away. I thought it was a good performance. We got the goal to take the lead and then we let [D.C. United] back in. At the end of the day it’s a point on the road, and when you are on the road you want to pick up points. At some point we have to turn these good performances into wins. The positive thing is that we feel that we’ve been performing enough to be able to do that."
On giving up the lead:
"We talked about when we get the lead, how do we manage it? What do we do to make it even tougher on them? Unfortunately, we gave up another goal, but after that the response was fairly good again. They had a lot of possession, which you expect towards the end of the game. But we buckled down and still got away with a point, and still had a couple of half chances to get another one."
Montreal Impact Forward Bernardo Corradi
Overall thoughts on the match:
"I’m a little bit upset because now it’s been three or four matches in which we play well [and don’t get a win]. I think we deserved more. Now we have to use these ten days before our home game to analyze what we did wrong and try to keep [going] for 90 minutes, instead of 70 or 75. I think it’s part of growing us a team, we have to get to know each other better and we have to keep working like we do everyday on the field."
On getting back to his best form:
"I spent two years and a half without playing regularly and I spent the last six months training by myself. I think I did a great job because my condition is now getting better and better every game. But I knew I would face some difficulties the first few games, it’s part of the game and it’s part of being a soccer player. I think I’ve been very professional in these two years trying to keep my condition as good as possible."
On creating chances in the box:
"With a player of my characteristics, I think you can use me with long balls, to flick balls into the other side and help the wide players to go in and face the goalie. You can use me when you make deliveries from the wings, so any time you put the ball in the box it could be dangerous for the other team. I would love to get many deliveries like the one Lamar [Neagle] made. We are going to work on this for sure during the next week."
