D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
On the general perspective of tonight’s game…
I thought the early goal was big. Their shape was pretty good in the early part of the game. It was tough to break down and once we got the PK, they had to open up. I thought we exploited them in a lot of different areas, wide, especially. I thought Eddie was fantastic today. I thought Silva was good, Rolfe really was trouble for them inside and then our outside backs really gave them a host of trouble.
On Bill Hamid’s week and what he’s meant to the team…
I’ve talked about it before, there are joys to this job, and one of them is watching these guys grow. It’s very rewarding for those of us that have been around to watch a guy like Bill Hamid grow from being a young kid to learning to be a pro. I know it mean’s a lot for him to be on the All-Star team. You could see it when we told him, and he certainly deserves it. We’re excited for him and it’s important for him to stay level and to not get too high, not too low. I see him hopefully getting to the national team and being a guy that can be in the World Cup.
On the status of Chris Rolfe…
He was just cramping. He had a little bit of a bug this week, we had a few guys that were struggling and he just kind of started to seize up. We got him out, Lewis Neal came in and calmed the game down, and Jared, and Conor did a good job to finish the game off.
On the Fulham game coming up…
I’m looking to get guys minutes. We still have a bunch of games coming up and we still have a few guys who aren’t 90 minutes fit because they’ve been on the bench and they haven’t been going down to Richmond, so this is a game to utilize those guys, and get them up to speed because we’re going to need them in the next month or two. I’ll also use some starters and mix it up. It’s good; I always enjoyed these friendlies as a player and I think the guys are excited about it. Our minds are on that but more on Toronto the following Wednesday.
On Eddie’s performance and people starting to notice his versatility…
I’m not so concerned with them, but I think it’s important for Eddie to have people behind him. That’s not only our staff and our organization, which has been completely on his side. It’s important for the fans to get behind him because in a lot of ways he’s as good as it gets in this league. He has an ability to score, hold the ball up, he’s technically sound, has good pace. He’s as well rounded a forward as you can get in this league and now it’s nice to see him touch the net a little bit. He does a lot of scoring in the summer traditionally, and we hope the goals keep coming. Tonight I thought he’s worked as hard as he’s ever worked on the defensive end for us. Part of that’s scoring goals, you score goals and you’re a little bit more energized as a forward.
On Perry Kitchen contributing more goals…
He’s always been a force on the set piece stuff and he anticipates the second run very well. It’s great, in a season you need that if you want to make playoffs. You need contributions from guys other than Fabian, Eddie, Rolfe and Deleon. Davy needs to chip in a couple, you need backs to chip in, but Perry’s proven he can help us out with that stuff.
D.C. United keeper Bill Hamid
On the result…
It was just very crisp, it was very lively. From the first second we jumped on them and we put pressure on them and we kept possession and we moved the ball around, and we won the game.
On his first MLS All-Star nomination…
It means the world to me, honestly, to be recognized in that sort of light. I think a lot of guys on this team deserved it, and kudos to those guys for having a great season so far. I’m just going to go in and represent D.C. United, represent the Black-and-Red, represent the fans the best that I can and do my best to try to represent MLS as well.
On receiving the news of the All-Star nomination…
Benny came up and told me prior to training. He told me to keep it quiet, I had no idea to be honest, but he came up and told me while I was getting my ankle taped. He gave me a high five, and said congratulations and I got a little emotional. [Head Athletic Trainer Brian Goodstein] kept asking me, “What’s going on bro?” and I’m like “Nothing man.” I think he thought I was having a baby or something. Like I said, it means the world to me.
On the biggest thing to take away from 100 MLS regular season appearances…
I just gained a lot of experience, just settled down in the goal and learned how to keep my head and learned how to organize. I just feel like I’m getting better game by game and I want to prove it to everybody and help my team do the best that we can.
On the team’s recent success…
The chemistry, the bond, the fight, the hunger, the mentality, it seems like a lot is going well. But, you know, knock on wood we want to just keep on going and not let this get to our head and not be satisfied, to continue being hungry and continue getting points.
On his strong form in the past month…
I think there are stretches where I’m playing well and what the coaches are harping on me is, ‘You’re playing well, but let’s keep it consistent. Let’s keep going. How good does it feel?” I look in the mirror and I say it feels great to be playing this well and to be helping my team. Now it’s about being consistent and being there for my team as much as I can.
D.C. United forward Eddie Johnson
On the result…
I just thought it was a good team performance. We talked about keeping this rhythm going and treating every game like it’s the playoffs. We’ve come a long way this year, and we look at the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference and where we’re at points-wise and we’re in competition for the Supporters Shield, and that’s an unbelievable goal to achieve as a team.
On Bill Hamid’s All-Star Nomination…
Bill, he’s the future of U.S. soccer. I’ve been his roommate with the National Team in January camp, before I came to D.C. and we always talk about our goals and I share my experiences with him when I was younger. We’re kind of similar in a lot of ways. It’s unbelievable to witness all the hard work he’s put in this year.
On his performance…
I feel like the team and I, we’re just getting familiar with our understanding on the field. I feel like it has been frustrating, now I’m trying to create that understanding and those partnerships on the field. We all have individual goals and clearly one of mine was the World Cup, and you go one, two, three, four, five games without scoring and you start to put a lot more pressure on yourself. Once the World Cup was behind me, I’ve been really focused on my teammates and really trying to create something special.
Chivas USA Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera
On the result…
We didn’t look sharp, especially in the first half. In the first half we were a little bit sluggish, and a little bit slow, it could be that they are tired. We think that they carried over a little bit of a heavy load due to a lot of games and traveling from west [coast] to east [coast]. It was heavy and then a little bit humid and that could have affected us. We weren’t sharp, we didn’t look good with the ball, we didn’t look aggressive enough and they took advantage with the set pieces. When you keep those possibilities, you notice that the team struggled a little bit with the dynamic then. We tried to put some fresh legs in the second half, but it was a little bit too late because it was 3-0 at the 70th minute. We have to think that we have to rest, we have to come back home and then we have to travel again, so now we have to learn our lesson and we see we can bring some fresh legs, some fresh guys on the field because we’re carrying on heavy duty.
On getting back the team’s recent momentum…
If you are well rested, you are going to be able perform and think well. When you’re tired, even when you’re good, you’re mentally tired and physically tired. You’re not going to respond to the responsibilities and the work as well as you should do. We know, we have to live with it, no excuses. Let’s try to rest, let’s try to focus and let’s try to use other guys to see if we can give a little bit of fresh momentum to the team and continue battling because we have a tough schedule this month.
On Erick Torres’ scoring in six consecutive games and carrying the team…
It is important for him and for the team to come over [to RFK Stadium] and score that goal. We pushed in the last 15, 20 minutes. We pushed, we got the ball when we made the changes with fresh guys. We got the ball and we created possibilities. We created the goal that came in as a PK and other possibilities. But obviously, we have to have the whole [performance]. We missed 70 minutes, and right now we have to be ready to play 90 against any team in MLS and that’s why we have to think that for [Erick Torres] it’s going to be good. He’s young, he has a habit of scoring goals. It is important, now we have to make sure that the whole team continues with the good mentality. We’re not going to go down because we know at some point it’s going to be tough with the schedule. Now we have to think about the next game against Colorado, with the high altitude. We’re going to try and be positive, with a good mentality and try to win.
Chivas USA Defender Carlos Bocanegra
On thoughts on the game…
I thought D.C. did a good job today, passing and moving. They got their fullbacks into the attack very well and made it difficult for us. You know, it was a tough game for us.
On improving for a better result…
Well, I don’t think we played very well in general. I don’t think we played one of our better games tonight. And then, like I said, D.C. did a good job as well, so that combination did not end in such a good result for us. Yeah, but credit to D.C., you know, they came out and they played well.
On trying to get momentum back…
I think we’ll be fine, you know, we can’t let this one affect us too much. We won four in a row and unbeaten in five, and it had to end at some point. So, it’s okay, we know we didn’t play well tonight. If we had played very well and they were better than us and beat us then I think we would have been really disappointed, but unfortunately we had a little bit of an off night and they had a good one. So we just have to leave this one behind us and look forward.
