MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2004 - KANSAS CITY WIZARDS 1, DALLAS BURN 0
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS HEAD COACH BOB GANSLER
On the game and the goal:
"We like to attack in a number of ways and for sure the counter has served us well. We have had a number of goals off the restart and we have had a number off combination plays as well. We felt one of the keys to be successful against Dallas was to make them defend our combination plays. We were not just looking for counters, but when one was there, we did good in springing them. We've got good team speed and we made decent passes and we got one of our midfielders naked in their box."
On changing their focus defensively at halftime:
"We knew what they (Dallas) were talking about (at halftime). They needed to come out and increase the tempo and get their first goal in the first 10 or 15 minutes. So had to take care of them and slow it down a little bit. The last thing I told our guys at halftime was that our one goal won't do. I'm glad I was wrong, but we were looking for that second goal."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS MIDFIELDER DIEGO GUTIERREZ
On his goal:
"It was a typical counter attack on our part. Davy (Arnaud) came out and distributed well and found 'Kleiney'. Klein came on with speed and Josh (Wolff) made a good run into the box. Klein was able to find me pretty much alone at the back post. Josh did a good job letting that ball go so it would find me unmarked. I knew I had time to take a touch. I thought about hitting it first time, but when I saw I had enough time, I decided to take time and concentrate and put it on frame."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS GOALKEEPER TONY MEOLA
On the team's defensive performance:
"Defensively we were solid. They didn't have many compelling chances tonight. I didn't have to make many saves tonight and most of my work was in the air. The defense was sharp tonight, I was pretty sloppy - good in the air, but sloppy in some other areas. Hopefully that won't be contagious."
On this being one of the best defensive units playing in front of him:
"No question (this is one of the best). You saw even with Shavar (Thomas) going out, we still had an idea of shape and how we would like to play even with a man down. It was an effort everyone has to make. Right now with everyone making that effort it is going to be hard to beat us."
DALLAS BURN HEAD COACH COLIN CLARKE
On the result:
"I'm not too happy with the performance. I thought we lacked heart. We came out in the first half and we knew what Kansas City was going to do, there were no secrets. We got caught with a sucker punch and we didn't react to the counterattack well enough. From there I just didn't think we showed enough passion or heart as a team to get back into the game. That's the first time that's happened this year."
On the Kansas City goal:
"Kansas City lives on the counterattack. As soon as it looks like Meola is going to get the ball or it's a bad ball they react just like that. For a very split second we just didn't react and they're gone the other way."
On the different combinations in the center of the midfield:
"We're looking for the right combinations in there. Oscar (Pareja) is still not where we want him to be fitness-wise and until that happens we're looking to get something going in there. Anytime Oscar has been on the field we've looked like a better team. Unfortunately, he's not 100 percent healthy."
On the team's lack of offensive production:
"We've got to be better all over the field. We weren't good enough moving the ball from side to side tonight. Anytime we did do that in the first half we caused them problems but we didn't do it enough and we didn't do it quick enough. It was another disappointing performance and a disappointing result at home."
DALLAS BURN DEFENDER CORY GIBBS
On his team's performance:
"I thought we did a good job possessing the ball but it wasn't good enough. When that goal went in, our mentality just went down a little bit and we weren't as lively. We need to stay level-headed and stay in the game. If we go down, we need to pick it up and play extra hard. We got an advantage with the man up but we just couldn't capitalize."
On the goal:
"They're a team that capitalizes on other team's mistakes and they do well on the counter. We got caught sleeping on one play and it affected us. We kept possession most of the time but it wasn't good enough."
DALLAS BURN DEFENDER PHILIP SALYER
On the result:
"I thought we did a good job of coming out and keeping possession, especially in the second half. They didn't really have too many opportunities in the second half. They did a good job defending. We put a lot of balls in the box and just couldn't capitalize. And then they get that one goal right before the half and it kind of hurt us. We just couldn't find the equalizer. I think if we had gotten one tonight, we would have gotten two. It just wasn't going in for us."
