MLS 2009 QUOTESHEET
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2009 – D.C. UNITED 0, CHIVAS USA 2
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH TOM SOEHN
On the game
[We’re] obviously disappointed. I’m flustered that we could come out and not have real energy in the first half. I think we’ve been saying the right things all week and then to come out flat and have them take the game to us was very disappointing. We tried to energize ourselves and get some legs on. In the end, we didn’t have the legs to begin with. And then you get down on a goal and then make another mistake for the second goal and obviously it’s disappointing on all fronts tonight.
On the starting lineup
I just wanted to get some energy on the field and make sure that we had them under pressure, try to inject some life into our lineup.
On the Moreno substitution
Christian [Gomez] was forced to play with his back to goal a lot and they were surrounding him. Jaime [Moreno] is obviously more capable of doing that and injecting some life. We were looking to add some possession at that point.
On Sasha Kljestan
He floated inside a lot and we lost track of him. But in the end we didn’t have the ball. You need to punish him when he comes inside and you open up the field and we didn’t have enough possession. And in the second half I think we did. I watched the PK, or the call on Jaime [Moreno], and I was disappointed with his decision because he got nothing of the ball, and Benny [Olsen]’s reaction. We need to finish the game with 11 guys on the field. The hit on him was pretty hard, but he’s got to control his emotions at that point.
On Olsen’s reaction to being fouled
It’s real surprising. And then when I saw the hit on him, I could see why he got pretty upset. We’re down two goals at home. Obviously there’s frustration.
On the fans
I mean we’re all disappointed. I thought the fans were amazing tonight. I’ll always say this is the best fan base in the league. They put on quite a show. Unfortunately, we didn’t put on a show for them.
On playoff hopes
Well, our playoff hopes are slim now. We’ve dug ourselves a major hole. Now we’re looking at everybody else, but in the end we still have to look at ourselves and find a way to pick ourselves out again. But it’s slim chances now. That’s the reality.
On taking Khumalo out at halftime
Nothing to do with the wrist injury. We’re looking to inject a change and get back into the game. Boyzzz [Khumalo] put in a lot of minutes and it might have affected him. I’m not sure, but he wasn’t finding the game enough and it was time to get some different legs out there to try to impact the game.
On preparing for the next game
We’re going to work our tails off to make sure that we’re fit, we’re healthy and ready to go and we’re going to take these last two games as best we can.
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER BEN OLSEN
On the game
They were a better team. They took advantage of us, from some of our shortcomings and obviously after I’m out, the game changes. I think they were better without me out there. They’re a good team. They played hard and worked hard and we let a lot go on their end. I don’t know if we really matched that fight early on. That was part of my frustration.
On the home stretch
I don’t know the numbers exactly, but it doesn’t look so great right now. I can certainly hold my hand up today and say I was a part of this loss. I’ll take this game if that’s what you want. I’ll take the loss on myself tonight.
D.C. UNITED FORWARD SANTINO QUARANTA
On the game
They were better. We didn’t really play well in the first half. I think we attacked a little bit better in the second half, but in the end we just weren’t good enough.
On consistency
We put ourselves in a situation where it puts a lot of pressure on us to win games and it’s unfortunate that we put ourselves here because we let a lot of points go again. If you’re not playing consistent this time a year, you’re not going to make the playoffs and you’re not going to do well. We really dug ourselves a hole now and who knows where we go from here, if we can even get into the playoffs, but we’ll keep fighting and stay positive.
On pressure getting to the players
I don’t want to make excuses. We’re professionals. This is what we love to do. We enjoy going out and playing in front of the fans. Maybe it’s expectations. Maybe we’re not as good as we’ve been. I don’t know if it comes down to individuals, if it comes down collectively, but we’re just not good enough, and myself as well. I don’t know.
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER CLYDE SIMMS
On the game
They played harder. They were better with the ball, so they deserve to win for that.
On a changing lineup
We train so much with each other, I think that we’re so used to one another that I don’t think it makes that big of a difference. No matter who is in that position and at what point in the game, I think that we’re able to play it and help the team, so I don’t think that’s the problem.
On the rest of the season
[The last two games] are must-wins. I think before this three game stretch I felt like if we won two then we could make the playoffs. So we lost the first one so we have to win these last two.
CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH PREKI
On the game
From the first moment we were ready to play and the way we see the game on the bench it was just a matter of how are we going to break them down and score a goal. Once we scored one goal we knew we were going to get more chances and luckily we found the net one more time in the second half and we killed the game.
On performances he liked
I liked all my [team’s] performances. I think all the guys worked hard for each other. They looked good as a group. Commitment was like I said pretty good from the first moment and I always tell them, when we are committed like that as a group we’re a tough team to play against and we showed that tonight.
On how important this game is in the playoff race
It’s important, every game is important now. We said before the game we have all these games in hand but they mean nothing unless you get some points. And we threw a couple of points away last weekend against New York at home so we had to make sure tonight we got something in this place. It’s a tough place to play, in front of good supporters here. This is a building where it’s always hard to play and our guys showed that they had a good mentality going into this game.
CHIVAS USA DEFENDER CAREY TALLEY
On the game
I think it went exactly how we thought it would or exactly how we wanted it to go. To be honest we planned on coming in here, getting three points, pushing the tempo the whole time and I think from minute one we were on top of them and I think we played pretty well tonight. I was pretty happy with the team’s performance.
On Santos and Padilla
Maicon [Santos], he’s our set-up goal force. He scored one this year since he’s been in and finally Jesus [Padilla] was able to get on the scoresheet for us. And I know that it’s something he really wanted and maybe it was a little pressure he was putting on himself to get [a goal], hopefully this will help him a lot. But I was happy to see both those guys, anytime you get any guys who are new or just coming in, contributing as it is so we’re happy with it.
On the game plan
I think our game plan was to go out and push them and make them play from the first minute because some guys have played three, four games in ten days. And I think until MLS rosters get larger, it’s going to be very tough for these teams coming down the stretch that are playing CONCACAF [Champions League], SuperLiga, things like that, to actually have the manpower to compete game in and game out. Instead of piecing together lineups and maybe not having everyone together for practice, injuries and whatnot. I think that was our plan. They had a few guys who had played a lot of minutes and we came up, like I said, first minute and played well.
Broadcasting and P.A. Request: When speaking of the organization, please refer to the team as either “D.C. United” or “United,” but not “the D.C. United” or “the United.” We appreciate your cooperation.
Doug Hicks,
dhicks@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5448,
Boris Flores,
bflores@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5452,
Kyle Sheldon,
ksheldon@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5450 or
Cristina Cruz,
ccruz@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5440
