MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005 - NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 4, METROSTARS 2
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the game:
"You keep saying you've seen the worst things and then something else jumps
up and hits you between the eyes. I mean, really we were outplayed for 69
of the first 70 minutes. Then we just found some heart and guts. We found
something that you can't plant; it has to be there. Clearly, we have a bunch
of guys that have it."
On the two substitutions at halftime:
"We were completely not in the game in the middle of the field. We couldn't
close people down. We weren't going forward, we were giving it away. We
weren't picking runners up. We were completely outplayed in the first half.
The thought was, if we leave it the way it is, eventually they are going to
score. That was the reason for the two changes."
On playing a third game in eight days:
"We've got a lot of guys who are running on empty at the moment. We've got
some tired legs. We've got the guys a few days off. It's probably good we
don't have to play again until next Monday. We'll give a lot of the boys a
few days off, because we looked tired, we looked heavy-legged tonight."
On the big crowd, the great entertainment and wonderful goals:
"I planned out the whole thing."
On Clint Dempsey:
"Clint's had a busy first period of the season. He's played a lot of games,
he's done a lot of traveling and he's done a lot of work with (the media).
He's only a young man and he just looked a bit tired and a bit jaded. But
he's always capable of pulling something out of the hat. As much as we felt
he was tired, we felt if we stuck another one in the middle and kept it
solid, he'd do something for us. In the last 20 minutes, he found his legs.
He's just one of the many guys we have with a big heart who just kept going."
On the game:
"Again we got outplayed for 70 minutes. We're chasing the game for 70
minutes. We looked tired for most of the game. The goals are just an
accumulation of being under pressure for 69 minutes of those 70 minutes. As
I said, all of a sudden with 20 minutes to go, we found something. We showed
big hearts and all of a sudden, things turned on their heads."
On Steve Ralston:
"Steve found something in the last 20 minutes. There weren't too many of the
guys at the top of their form for the first 70 minutes of the game. All of a
sudden, with 20 minutes to go, we collectively found some legs, found some
heart and just went forward."
REVOLUTION FORWARD PAT NOONAN
On the play of the Revolution forwards:
"I think our combination play and our final touch in the final third with the
forwards was not good enough. I think that's what gave them the momentum to
counter us. We were giving balls away and then they were coming back and putting balls over the top and finding guys' feet. We have to be able to hold the ball better and be able to combine better to give the guys behind
us a chance."
On losing four Revolution starters to the U.S. national team:
"We have players that can step in and do the job. You see Andy (Dorman), he
comes in tonight and helps us out while Pepe (José Cancela) steps out. Then
James Riley comes in as well to get behind and get balls in. So we have guys
that can come in and do the job and help this team win games."
On his goal:
"You don't get those chances early on. It is a matter of them needing to get
that third goal to try to tie the game up. I just saw an opening really to
just waste some time in the corner, but when I looked up I saw (Zach Wells)
was out. So I saw that I had enough room to chip it over him."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION GOALKEEPER MATT REIS
On the come-from-behind win:
"It sums up this team. We were definitely playing, probably the worst we've
played all year. We had no energy and the second half we just kept giving
the ball away, giving the ball away. If you give a team that much
possession, that much time and space, they are bound to score on you. Going
two goals down and then basically turning the switch on and battling right
back was awesome to watch. We got a good timely goal from Heaps. And
Ralston ... great finish. That giveaway there, you have to pounce on those.
And Noonan ices it."
METROSTARS HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On the game:
"It's a hard (loss), because we fought back to get the lead and we never had
a chance to digest it all before we were back in a 2-2 game. It was nice to
see the push to get back into the game after an early goal, but
disappointing not to finish the job."
"Again, we took the lead. [Jay] Heaps was able to find a gap between Chris Leitch and Jeff Agoos. He scored a good heard, which comes quickly after we had scored. Then, Ralston showed persistence. Jeff (Agoos), in that situation, needs to realize the spot he's in and just make a play and get the ball forward and out of the back and start over again. Hopefully, it's something he can learn from."
"They scored on their first kick of the ball and then we came back to take the lead and they were able to score the second goal by finding a small gap off of a corner. The third one is a giveaway. I still thought that generally speaking the coordination of the back four was OK. I felt like we held down their number of chances, but at the same time made a number of critical mistakes."
On Sergio Galvan Rey:
"His movement is always good. Tonight, I thought he was effective at not only
moving around, but at times he was a little stronger to fight people off for
balls and gain an edge in situations where they defenders were tight with
him. I think that's an important step for him."
METROSTARS FORWARD YOURI DJORKAEFF
On the game:
"You can't say it's a good game. How we played for the first 70 minutes, from
the first half to the second half, it was fantastic. We came here to play
the best team in the league. We played like we wanted it, we created many
chances in defense and midfield, we got a great goal to get back in the
game, great movement. The second goal we scored, after starting to miss some
passes, New England played better and we lost the game. We must learn the
game is 90 minutes."
METROSTARS FORWARD SERGIO GALVAN REY
On the game:
"I think the MetroStars were two teams, one in the first half and one in the
second half. We were able to get ahead in the second half. Unfortunately we
were not able to hold it. I think the effort in the second half was a lot
better."
On his goal:
"It was a great ball from Eddie Gaven. He came in from the side and I know
that I was going to be able to get it. When we served that ball into the middle, I was able to put it in."
METROSTARS GOALKEEPER ZACH WELLS
On the game:
"We gave them a goal in the first minute. A very decent strike, I think I was
a little out of position, but give credit to (Cancela). He took it well and
from minute one we were behind. We did a great job battling back. It was a
great play that set up the penalty kick. It was a great, smart play by
Leitch and Eddie Gaven to set up Sergio (Galvan Rey) on the second one.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to keep the lead."
On lessons learned:
"Every game is a new mountain to climb. I can take something new from every
game. This is the first time I've played this many games in MLS. I continue
to learn the good and the bad from every game. I'm just trying to keep a little perspective and keeping improving on my game."
