MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2005 - COLUMBUS CREW 1, METROSTARS 0
COLUMBUS CREW INTERIM HEAD COACH ROBERT WARZYCHA
On a young lineup:
"I don't look at those guys (Jamal Sutton and Marcus Storey) as young, I look at them as good players who have good pace, and that's what we needed in this game. Not only do they have good pace, they are also very skillful and in that position I am looking for the guys to be skillful and fast. I think (Eric Vasquez) had a very good game. I thought he would be nervous after he scored that goal in Chicago, but he responded to the challenge very well."
On getting his first win:
"I was very excited to be honest with you. It's all about the soccer game. I'm not going to be that excited every game and we're going to score some goals before the end of the game. That's something new for me and you never know how you're going to react. I have to see the tape before I know how I did."
On fans cheering for him:
"That's something that I'm thinking about when I have a tough time, and keeps me working harder because they remember me as a player and I wish to bring something that is sometimes missing during the games. That is great. I saw the reaction today from the fans when I walked in and I saw their reaction when they introduced my name. To be honest with you I would love to hear their reaction for a few years."
On his substitutions:
"You read the game and sometimes the subs work and sometimes they don't. But I think that after playing the game for so many years I sometimes make the right decision. I think today I made the right decision to put those guys on the field. Whether it's going to work next time I don't know. But hopefully it's going to work more times than it's not going to work.
"When I'm making subs and I'm on the bench I am looking at the names of the players and what they can bring to the game and what is missing. I'm not thinking about showing that one guy that another guy can worker harder. I'm making a sub based on what the game needed at that point."
On only scoring one goal:
"All of us would love to score more goals and love to win 2-, 3-, 4-0. Obviously we have to work harder and have the practices that will make the players better. But from my point of view, one goal is enough to win the game and if we win the next game 1-0 and have 25 shots I will be very, very happy."
On the result:
"It's not only the win - I think we played very well tonight. We possessed the ball very well. I think the responsibility on the field was taken not only by all the older players, even the younger players. You can build a team on something like this. I am always reminding the players that they have to be responsible on the field and leave everything on the field and bring their heart and determination.
"Sometimes you're going to win, sometimes not. But if the player leaves everything on the field you can't ask for anything more."
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD JAMAL SUTTON
On the goal and the result:
"I knew that Marcus [Storey] was going to get through the gap. He saw me out of the corner of his eye and laid off a great ball, and I calmly tucked it away. Marcus is a very unselfish player. I knew he saw me and I just stood back and he laid it off.
COLUMBUS CREW FORWARD MARCUS STOREY
On the goal and the result:
"Knox [Cameron] played a great ball in and there was a hole to get to it. I saw Jamal [Sutton] out of the corner of my eye and he was able to put it away.
"Robert wanted me to get wide and get some crosses in, but things turned out a little better. We went out there tonight trying to get some points. We had some good leadership from Simon [Elliott] and Robin [Fraser] and they had faith in the younger guys."
METROSTARS HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On the game: "I thought that we just didn't have good enough team effort, we weren't sharp enough so we were on our heels most of the night. When you're in a game like that there is some value to just taking a shutout, taking a point and just saying it wasn't a good night. To make a mistake at the end and see the shutout go down the drain and lose makes it especially hard. I thought Tony [Meola] played very well and that was a great thing for us."
On giving up late goals:
"I wish it was easy to put a finger on. It's concentration. In a game like that it's a lot about just realizing at a certain point in that game, 44, 45 minutes now you've just got to be smart and take a point. I don't think collectively we did a good job with that and we let one play turn into a chance and we paid the price."
On Tony Meola:
"I thought Tony played very well. He read the game well and was in very good positions all night and that's why it's even more frustrating to think that we let something develop right at the end."
METROSTARS MIDFIELDER EDDIE GAVEN
On the game:
"I don't think we came out with our best game tonight. In the 88th minute we still had ourselves in the spot to walk away with one point and unfortunately we weren't able to do that, and that's something we need to work on. Even when we're not playing our best we still need to finish off the game, take the point and go home and it's something we have to learn."
METROSTARS GOALKEEPER TONY MEOLA
On his first game back with the MetroStars:
"I thought I did all right, but the thing is I really need to limit myself in some of the things I do. I need to be more aggressive in some situations. Bob wanted me to go out there do some organizing on this big field. In some ways I feel like I let him down in the end, because if we were a little bit more organized I think we could have at least come out of here with one point."
On the game:
"We let them have the ball which is a little bit out of character with the way we play. We looked a little bit tentative and when we got it, it was almost a relief to get it, but then we gave it away right away. We just need to be a little bit sharper, but in the end, we just need to learn how to close games."
On returning to action so quickly:
"I thought I'd be back in two or three more weeks, but Bob said to me yesterday when we checked into the hotel, 'What do you think?' We had kind of chatted about it last week and threw it around, but I didn't know anything definite until he said 'What do you think about taking one or two of these games?' I said, 'Whatever game you need me and more.' He thought that with Amado [Guevara] going down and Tim Regan going down, and a few of the downers we've had the past 24 hours, and with Youri [Djorkaeff] not being here that some leadership in this game would help."
On Sutton's goal:
"It came off a goal kick and it was one head ball into Cameron and we had three guys around him and we needed a guy to take a foul there. That's where we need to be a little bit smarter. The ball squeezes out and the guy cuts across the face of the goal and I thought about cheating the other way, but I didn't know if he was going to turn and shoot. I saw the guy on the other end of the goal, but I had to play it honest. Now I'm kicking myself in the rear end thinking why didn't I cheat just a little bit. But it's just the decision you've got to make. I was able to get a hand on it, but it wasn't enough."
