D.C UNITED HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On if this was a big win on this road trip:
Yeah. Look, every win right now is key, especially winning a 1-0 game for us right now is important because we have had some leads that we have squandered and tonight was a good effort. I thought we held the fort down. Offensively there was some pretty good stuff. We caught them on a day, they might have been a little leggy but that’s what you have to do in this league. When you find teams in certain situations you have to take advantage of.
On the difference in the game defensively:
We worked all week on how we play when we’re up a goal. That doesn’t mean we just sit back and defend. We need to play, we need to keep the ball, we need to still dictate the game and go for the next goal and I think that was a big difference in our mentality once we got the goal.
On if he got a sense of how important the game was for Dwayne De Rosario:
You’d have to ask him how he is feeling but I’m sure he is feeling pretty good.
On the presence of Dwayne De Rosario:
The way he dictated that game was pretty impressive and it’s the reason why he is one of the best this league has ever seen.
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER DWAYNE DE ROSARIO
On his return to Red Bull Arena:
Most importantly, we got three points. That’s the most important thing. I mean, as you know, it’s very tight in the East. Tonight was a game where we wanted to get three points. To come in here, in New York, (and get) three points, it’s a tough opponent, tough environment. Hats off to the guys. From the first minute to the 90th minute, every guy did exceptional.
On his return to Red Bull Arena:
It’s never easy when you come back so quick to a team you played for. Scoring against them felt great. It helped my team to win, that’s the most important thing, move slowly up in the standings. Like I said, it’s never easy when you transition, have everything turned out, in terms of getting moved last week and then playing them the week after. Everything works out the way it does for a reason. Like I said, I’m very pleased I was able to help my team get a win this week.
On if he had a little extra motivation tonight:
Yeah, for sure, one-hundred percent. You just want to do what you can to show what they gave up. In the same sense, that is the business and that is how things are done in this league and I am moving forward now.
On if there were any contract negotiations with the Red Bulls before he was traded:
No. We were supposed to do negotiations, but obviously when I was away at the Gold Cup and coming back, we never got around to it.
On his goal tonight:
It was a great ball by… I can’t remember if it was (Perry) Kitchen or Andy (Najar) that played it to me, and I saw Wolffy (Josh Wolff) pull off in the corner of my eye and I dummied it, he got the ball great pass through, split the defense and then just my focus was to get control of it where I could hit it and I hit it far post and the ball was able to stay in. When it hit the post, I thought it was going to come back, but thankfully it stayed in the net.
On the Red Bulls midfield struggles since he was traded:
No, I mean, those things could happen. They’re a team, so far, even when I was playing with them, we were great. We were getting a lot of opportunities. To stop them defensively was huge for us and I think when we look at these guys and say listen, we stopped some world class players tonight. To come in here and come out with a clean sheet, like I said hats off to the guys, that’s hard. They didn’t really have a good scoring chance because we limited every opportunity they had going forward and you have to continue to play that way not only on the road, but at home as well.
On if New York seemed like a different team than the one that played Toronto on Wednesday night:
Two different teams played against them. The way Toronto played against them, they let them have the field and dictate everything. We went down, we closed them down. We didn’t play timid, we didn’t play scared, we took it to them from the first whistle to the last whistle.
On what D.C. United has said to him about next year:
I just want to play. We’ll take it as they come, but right now, the way this has happened, I am just focused on playing and let my play do the talking. It has done it in the past and I am going to continue to do what I do and give 100% every game and for this team and we will take it from there.
D.C. UNITED DEFENDER BRANDON MCDONALD
On the difference defensively tonight:
We were disciplined when we had to be. A lot of communication and there was a lot more communication on the field. When it came down to it, we were disciplined at the right times when we needed to be.
On getting a win on the road against New York:
This is a huge win for us. New York, coming off a 5-0 win, you know they are going to come in confident but it was a big test for us and we overcame it.
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH HANS BACKE
On the match:
In the first half, we looked a little bit fatigued. Too many, absolutely too many unforced errors in the first half. So no rhythm in the passing game, giveaways, way too easy. Then suddenly we started very well in the second half, controlling it totally the first 15 minutes, and it should be impossible to score (against us) when we have the shape. We have eight players on the right side, but we’re absolutely too sloppy in the defending. We just need to use our bodies. It was absolutely not good enough, the defending game from our midfield and sometimes even from the back four. When I talk about the goal we conceded it’s absolutely too easy in today’s football.
On Dwayne De Rosario:
I don’t bother that much that he scored the goal, that’s pretty normal every time you play you own former players. That’s not that surprising, it’s more the way we defended when they scored the goal was, as I said, it’s not good enough. I think it’s probably better that I just analyze our own players, what kind of performance they had.
On the team’s fatigue:
No excuses. Normally we shouldn’t have any problem to play Wednesday-Saturday as a professional. These types of games should end nil-nil. When you don’t have your best day you should be so good that you defend well enough and get the tie. But you shouldn’t lose the game like this. We had three, four, perhaps five decent chances to score. I was pretty happy with the start of the second half because suddenly we looked like we controlled it totally, and we had one or two chances and it looked good, and then you conceded one. Once again, the way we conceded is not good enough.
On the play of the midfield:
I think if you look at the balance in our midfield, it’s a lot of so-called football players, technical skill, pace. But we could see normally it’s only Teemu Tainio who’s winning 50-50 for us. Of course we miss him, but we just have to live with that. We will have players injured, suspended, and the other guy just has to step up. And even if you are a so-called football player, technical wise, you just need to use your body. You need to step out in a better pressing game, win 50-50’s because that’s normally where the battle is, it’s in midfield, so I’m definitely disappointed with that.
On if any of tonight’s starters will play in the U.S. Open Cup at Chicago on Tuesday:
I think we just travel with probably, if were a little bit lucky with no injuries, 13 outfield players and two goalies; and it has to be two of these guys who played today probably as a starter has to be involved in the Cup game on Tuesday.
On the team’s mood and moving forward:
It’s been a little bit too much ups and down the last five, six, seven weeks perhaps. We haven’t looked consistent the way in the number of chances we create and how we control a game, dictate a game. And we have the type of players. We just need to not get dragged into some physical football. We just need to be sharper in our passing game. We can’t have that number of unforced errors because then we will get dragged into some physical football, and that’s not the type of football we want to play.
NEW YORK RED BULLS MIDFIELDER DAX MCCARTY
On playing against Dwayne De Rosario:
He is a good player. That is why he has been as successful as he has been. He has been top level for a while. We knew that coming in, but they have a bunch of dangerous players.
I thought we limited their opportunities to a couple of long range shots. Obviously Tim Ream had a great save off of their best chance. There was that one and obviously the goal. They’re a good team, D.C. is. They have a lot of good, young players. I thought for the most part we were unlucky to walk away with no points tonight.
On if D.C. did anything differently now that they are playing without him:
Defensively they were good, they were solid. They limited our dangerous attacking opportunities, they kept a good shape. I think their main objective coming in here was to sit back and play on the counter. I thought they did that pretty well for the most part. Their young players are getting more experience every day. They came in and gave a brave effort, and got three points out of it. It is just tough for us because it is a conference game. Obviously we wanted to create a little bit of space between us and the rest of the pack.
On taking on D.C., the team he spent the first half of the season playing for:
It was weird. Definitely an interesting experience. I am friends with those guys and know them well. I thought it was a good battle. I thought it was a fair game, pretty even game. I thought for the most part we controlled possession like we usually do at home.
We were just a little unlucky there. I thought we weren’t as sharp as we should have been in the final third and we got punished for it with them finishing one of their few opportunities.
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER TIM REAM
On losing one-nil after coming off a 5-0 win:
Whenever you lose at home it is frustrating and it is hard to take. It is just one of those plays that was bang, bang and if you’re not in it mentally and watching everything around you, you are going to get burned. That is what happened.
On what happened to allow the De Rosario goal:
To be honest, I do not know exactly what led up to it. I know I stepped up to (Josh) Wolff when he got the ball played up to him and he flicked it off my thigh. It went right to De Rosario and he took it off his thigh and had a left-footed finish. We’ll have to go back and look at the tape to see who was possibly out of position or if it was just a good play offensively on their part.
On the save that stopped a Charlie Davies goal:
Davies makes good runs in behind. He does it for most of the game. He causes havoc on all defenders. We knew that coming in from watching video of him. He made that run and it was a good ball over the top through. Sutton did a great job of forcing him wide and putting him off track and off his run. I just kept going as hard as I could. I was hoping to get back to the line before he even hit it on goal so I could knock anything away. Luckily, I slid back there just in time.
NEW YORK RED BULLS GOALKEEPER GREG SUTTON
On the disappointment of the loss:
We are real disappointed. We had some good momentum coming off our last game on Wednesday. I think fatigue set in a little bit mentally and physically. We made some mistakes and it just caught us the game.
On what happened on the De Rosario goal:
To be fair, I did not see exactly how it went down. (It happened) so quickly that I am not really watching where our guys are going or anything like that. (De Rosario) made a great touch and had a fantastic finish. Dwayne can do that.
On the team being fatigued:
We played a lot of games in a lot of weeks over the past month. All team’s go through that. It catches up to you once in a while. Hopefully we’ll have some time now. We have a week to get rested and get healthy again and come out next weekend and hopefully get some more points.
