MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2005 - KANSAS CITY WIZARDS 2, NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 1
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION COACH STEVE NICOL
On the game:
"The first half, we played some great stuff. Unless you take your chances
and when you're on top you take advantage of it, they're always liable to
bite you. That's really what happened for us. We should have been ahead but
we weren't. The ploy they used on the first goal was a ploy we've spoken
about, and to be caught with it, it's not real good."
On whether someone was to blame for the goal:
"Individually, we don't pull people out. At the end of the day, it's a team
game. If the first pass is stopped, the second one doesn't happen. It's not
surprising.
"We can't be too disappointed. We had some great passing movements, we got the ball wide and we just couldn't get the finishing touch on things. We paid for it. If you give a team like Kansas City a goal, it gives them heart. If we get ahead, it's a different ball game and they have to go out and get goals. We couldn't take advantage of the pressure we had. If you don't, what happened tonight is what happens to you."
On the second goal:
"We were in the middle of a substitution, but it was a good finish, to be
honest."
On the momentum of the game:
"We never had a hold on the game that we had in the first half. We didn't
have a hold on it in the second half, but at the same time we had some
movement and chances, but we never took them. We have to take them against a
team like Kansas City."
On what needs to improve:
"Small things, a slightly better ball in, a slightly better run. We're not a
million miles away, we're pretty close on where we want to be."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER AVERY JOHN
On the game:
"It was a mistake, and they got two goals. At the end of the day, it's just
one game. We still have a couple more games, we can make up for it. We can
try and be focused and not make as many mistakes as we did tonight."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER JAMES RILEY
On playing right back:
"I felt fine. It's my position to be honest in a three back or a four back.
I'm lucky to get a shot. I could have done better with it. At this level,
you make mistakes and they capitalize. I definitely continue to learn, it
was a big learning curve tonight. We got caught twice tonight and we got
punished."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION STRIKER TAYLOR TWELLMAN
On the goal:
"Obviously, Shalrie made a nice run. I kind of wish it was me getting on the
end of it, but at the end of the day we scored a goal."
On the team's play of late:
"We're kind of in a rut, to be honest with you. The month of July, we didn't
play well. In the Dallas game, we snuck one out. Every team goes through it
and it's just a matter of getting out of it. We've got enough games to do
it."
On players back from Gold Cup:
"At the end of the day, we had the same result. It's a matter of us all
being cohesive. We had a lot of guys back tonight and we didn't do our job.
A big part of that has been myself. Obviously, you can probably hear it in
my voice, I'm under the weather. We need to get more chances. I've got to be
a better option up front."
KANSAS CITY HEAD COACH BOB GANSLER
On the team's play:
"In the first half we were so mediocre with the ball. It's not that we
didn't want to attack. It was one pass, two passes and then out. We laid
some out for them, we had some turnovers in our own half, and consequently
they had opportunities. We wanted to attack just as much in the first half
as we did in the second. At halftime, it was a matter of, 'let's take care
of the ball', things we talked about in terms of swinging the ball out. We
thought it was there the first half."
On Josh Wolff:
"Josh is our catalyst. Guys have to run off him and trust him. The first
half, we weren't even getting it to him or we would get it to him in such a
fashion that he would be double- and triple-teamed by the time it got there.
Obviously, excellent running off the ball by Klein. Sealy showed that you
don't have the only guys from Wake Forest who can play. He freed himself and
Josh found him. It certainly was a tale of two halves. In the first half, it
was a combination of their good play and us not playing well offensively.
The second half, we hung in there and we were better with the ball."
