D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH BEN OLSEN
On tonight’s performance:
“I was just told we hadn’t won here in 13 years. This was a good thing. We got that monkey off our back. It’s always a tough place to play. In this league you get teams that are down on their luck with injuries. They (the Earthquakes) have a lot of them and you have to take advantage of it in this league. I was just happy we took advantage of a team that’s down on their luck. I was proud of the guys. Dwayne is obviously in a very special place.”
On Brandon McDonald:
“He’s been great. He and Dwayne and Austin Da Luz were our three additions and I think all of have contributed in one way or another, in particular Dwayne tonight. Brandon did good in back. He and Dejan (Jakovic) both worked very hard back there. They were very physical with Alan Gordon, who is always a handful. But overall, a pretty good night for us.”
On the red card:
“It was disappointing. But Andy brought him down so it probably was a red card. It just means someone will have to step up next week.”
D.C. UNITED DEFENDER BRANDON MCDONALD
On playing San Jose:
“It was a little bittersweet. All of those guys have been my friends. The main thing now is I hope to be moving on with D.C. United”
On Dwayne De Rosario:
“His record speaks for itself, right? This guy has been in this league a while and he’s a great player and he proves it year after year.”
D.C. UNITED FORWARD DWAYNE DE ROSARIO:
On playing in San Jose again:
“Those memories can never be erased. I have some great memories and good friends and it’s nice to see the Bay Area get a team back here. Hopefully in the near future they’ll have their own stadium. It’s always nice to come here and play. I’m just happy first and foremost that we came out here and played the way we did and were able to come out with a positive result.”
On his second goal of the night:
“Chris played a great ball across after cutting back and I just opened my foot and tried to hit far post and thankfully he was able to hit the back of the net. It was a great ball by Chris and he found me in the corner. It was a one-two play and a great finish.”
On Brandon McDonald:
“He’s done a fantastic job gelling with the group . . . Being a force and a voice back there, and also being a leader really holding it down. It’s been very good to see.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH FRANK YALLOP
On the result:
“Losing at home is never good, especially when you have to win. We didn’t play well. It took us 30 minutes to get going. We had a spell [of good play] at the end of the first half. For the last 15 minutes we had a go. And then at the end, they had 10 men, and we started to have a few chances. But I think the quality was off tonight with us. They had two terrific goals, but I would’ve liked to score at home for sure. We had enough chances to get it done on the score sheet.”
On making playoffs:
“There are still enough games [to make it] but we’ve got to start winning. As soon as you have not enough games to get points in then you’re out. We can win away if we get ourselves sorted out. We had a better record on the road last year, so I’m hoping we can get ourselves together and make sure we do get our wins that we need to get. We can’t give up.”
On team’s effort:
“I think we tried hard tonight. It’s just lack of confidence, really. You look at it and when you’re not playing well as a unit or when you’re not playing well as an individual it looks like you’re hiding from the ball. We kind of shied away from playing forward, and when we did we actually looked not bad. But you’ve got to have that desire for 90 minutes. You’ve got to get on with it. We’re going to talk about it and address it, but it’s got to be in the players to really fight for their lives now.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD ALAN GORDON
On team debut:
“We had some trouble syncing up tonight. That’s what happens when you have new faces. Also, we had some key guys out. We never really had our rhythm and a couple of mistakes were costly tonight. It was closer than the score indicated, but we just have to find a way to bounce back and rebound.”
Impressions on team since being traded:
“This is a blue collar team. That kind of fits my style. That’s what the roots of this team are from what I’ve seen over the years. Playing with Wondo (Chris Wondolowski) has been a pleasure. He is a finisher, a hard worker and a leader. I’m looking forward to playing alongside him and building a connection up top. I feel like I can come in here and add some strength up top; a physical presence who can battle. I want to come in here and score some goals and do anything I can to help on that end. That’s what I’m looking to do, and that’s what I will continue to do moving forward.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER JON BUSCH
On match:
“We just have to pick ourselves up and get after it again next week; it is almost a must win. These next two home matches are crucial for us. Unfortunately, we’ve put ourselves in a tough situation. Bottom line: we need to start picking up points. We all have to do it together. The best thing about this team is that we don’t point fingers, we don’t blame one other. We all have to pull it together, we are one team. We have to rebound as a group.”
