MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, APRIL 2 2005 - COLUMBUS CREW 3, LOS ANGELES GALAXY 0
COLUMBUS CREW HEAD COACH GREG ANDRULIS
"Actually, I think we didn't get into any rhythm in the first half. Defensively we did what we wanted to do in the first half and pressed them a little bit. We played about eight games in this kind of weather through spring training we thought we would be all right. Clearly getting that goal early in the second half made a big difference for us, then you can spread it out a little bit. I think there is a long way to go. I don't think we got enough actual shots off or had good goal-scoring situations. We took advantage of two really good set pieces and Ante's finish was clinical."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD EDSON BUDDLE
"I liked how we came out and pressured them, especially playing at home. We want to win all of our home games. It feels good to start out as well as you can and to get two is a blessing. I am glad my teammates got me involved. He (Ante Razov) is very easy to find. He is a good target and we played well together tonight. If we continue to do that we will be successful."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD ANTE RAZOV
"It always feels good to score. The way I was approaching it was we got three points. The most important thing for me was Edson and I were involved. We combined well tonight. When the ball's in the box, you have to pounce on them."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH STEVE SAMPSON
On whether the difference was the opponent or the newness of the Galaxy players:
"It was a combination of all that, but certainly I don't want to take anything away from the Columbus Crew. I thought they played very well today."
On what positives can be taken away from tonight's game:
"I thought that even after the goal they scored early in the first half that we regained our composure and started to find our rhythm and create a couple of opportunities. Probably the most positive thing is that I now know what we need to work on going into this next game. A lot of that is going to be in our marking responsibilities in the back. You will see, next week, players in offensive positions that will make a difference for us."
On his team's defensive performance:
"Our marking was not what it needs to be. I thought the one-goal deficit going into the second half was not necessarily something so terrible to overcome given we were playing against the wind. But to give up that early goal in the second half was unacceptable. Our marking had a lot to do with our guys not being able to play together and train together. It was obvious to me that there was a lack of communication in the back. That will get sorted out. I do not have any qualms about the fact that we can solve that pretty quickly."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY DEFENDER TYRONE MARSHALL
On the game:
"Obviously, what went wrong was that we gave up three goals. Three goals came from three lobbed balls into the box and guys just lost their man. As defenders, we have to be accountable for everybody and help each other out. So, it was our fault in the back tonight. We could say that guys were not here, but that is not the road that we are going to take this year. So, we are going to go and get back on the drawing board and try to work it out to bounce back next week and see if we can get the win at home."
"I thought that Jovan [Kirovski] did well up top, 'Pando' [Ramirez], Paulo [Nagamura], all those guys did well tonight. We were trying to move the ball, but obviously the wind conditions were not the greatest. We tried to move the ball around and see if we could get some opportunities, but they (Crew) played well. So, we have to tip our hats to them."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY MIDFIELDER GUILLERMO RAMIREZ
On his first MLS game:
"The situation was really against us because of the wind and the cold weather. We just made a few errors and they scored on the first and second ones."
On playing his third game in a week:
"It really hard because you do not have enough time to recover. But, I always try to give my best for the next game."
