NEW YORK RED BULLS 2, NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 2
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On Francis Doe:
"He played well tonight. He's a dangerous attacking player who is finding his way with our team and finding his fitness. He had a big goal tonight, and he had some decent chances. He also helped create chances tonight."
On seeing a team like New England in the playoffs:
"There is obviously a chance. We have four games left, and one and two in the conference are pretty obvious, whereas three and four and five are not. It's all mathematically possible for any of the four teams remaining to be three, four, or five."
On having confidence against a team like New England:
"We have lost two tough games in this series. With the draw tonight, we have played tough, and I don't think walking off this field tonight, we are thinking we can't beat this team."
On Jozy Altidore and his health:
"He was out on the field, and he didn't feel yesterday he was where he wanted to be. We wanted to be smart, and we will see where he his next week through training. It was determined that if he could go, we would start him. I don't know if he is starting or playing in the reserve game. I haven't had a chance to talk to our coaches."
On late attacking tactics:
"They were going to drop off and we were changing the game, time was an issue, and we wanted to go forward and try and catch them a bit and be indirect as they were a bit tired. We wanted to have a lot of energy, keep it on their half of the field and capitalize on a mistake."
On the playoffs:
"The playoffs in this league, the opening rounds are very close, not much difference. We saw last year with the team we had, I would say it isn't at the level of the team we have this year, but we had a chance at the end of that series. Right now, our focus is to qualify for the playoffs, we're not there yet, we have a way to go and we have to get better. The effort in Chicago last week and the effort this week was good, and we can build on this."
On finding some consistency and familiarity:
"That is important but I think two games in a row doesn't do it unfortunately. It's just one of those odd years where we can't have the coordination to have everyone healthy at once. That's still part of the game, and there's nothing you can do about it, and we need to do the best we can. Over the next few weeks, we'll get healthier and we'll get some more continuity between us."
NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD FRANCIS DOE
On scoring his first goal in New York:
"I feel very happy about the goal because it's my first 90-minute game. I'm so happy."
On his personal fitness and playing time:
"He told me to work on my fitness. Right now, I'm getting better. I came from Greece and it had been four months since I didn't play soccer."
"I saw the playing time coming. I was playing 20 minutes and making some impact so I knew I was going to be one day in the first 11. Getting in the first 11 is a competition because we have a lot of great players; it depends on the hard work."
NEW YORK RED BULLS FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL
On the overall performance:
"I didn't have many chances but I thought it was a great game. If we keep playing like that, I think we are going to win more games than we lose. It was probably one of the best games we played so far.
"There was a feeling that we could have won the game and we should have won. I think it was a much better performance overall. We'll see what happens. We still have to make some points to qualify for the playoffs but we are looking forward."
On the second half:
"It was crazy to concede the second goal. We were on top of them in the second half and then in the counterattack, they scored the goal. It felt so bad. But we kept going. We kept believing in ourselves and we kept them on their toes for the 90 minutes. We should have won the game and we were the better team today."
On playing up top with Doe:
"I think he did really well today. He brought something different to the team. He was strong. He was sharp and lively and he scored a great goal."
NEW YORK RED BULLS DEFENDER DAVE VAN DEN BERGH
On the performance:
"Today, I think we had the best chances and most possession in the game. We took it to them. They're considered one of the top teams in the league and this shows that if we are at our game we can play with anyone."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the keys to the game:
"The one thing we spoke about at halftime was that on that field, it's all about adopting jobs; winning the challenges, attacking the runners, clearing the lanes, doing all the (little) things and doing them well. If you don't do that well on that surface, you get punished."
On the Red Bulls' second goal:
"It was a 60-yard punt. At that stage of the game, they're just getting the ball forward. He (Juan Pablo Angel) was where he should have been, it was a great finish. You see that in the park every Saturday morning. Unfortunately, you saw that tonight."
On the team's overall performance:
"It wasn't a particularly great performance. We had some balls where we looked half-decent ... and had some decent movement with the ball on the two goals. Generally, I don't think we played particularly well. We need points, and we didn't play that well."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER MICHAEL PARKHURST
On the result:
"It's disappointing to have the lead going into the 80th minute and to give it up is crushing. Taylor (Twellman) had two great goals and we should have been able to kill the game off and we didn't, and it's two lost points."
On how the team can gain consistency:
"I think it's just a mentality. We need to have the right attitude. We need to go out there expecting to win and expecting to get clean sheets and close games out. That's something we're not doing right now and it's something we need to focus on."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION FORWARD TAYLOR TWELLMAN:
On the result:
"It's easily two dropped points. As a unit right now, we need to figure out how to keep the lead. Right now, we're not doing it. It's not just the four in the back, it's the four in the midfield, the two up front and the goalie. So we got to figure it out before the playoffs start."
