MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2004 - METROSTARS 3, LOS ANGELES GALAXY 0
LOS ANGELES GALAXY HEAD COACH SIGI SCHMID
On the game:
"Tonight we didn't perform. I think there are some things that people need to look in the mirror about today. There is a lot of pride in that locker room, so they are going to be disappointed about what happened today. We took the game to them in the second half and attacked, but at that point they were bunkered in. We weren't successful. You need that goal to break that bunker and make them a little shaky. We didn't get it."
"If we play poorly like that again then it is something that you have to go in there and say 'Hey, we need to mix it up a little bit different or throw the mix around.' It was disappointing and we are certainly going to talk about it. It was one of those days, (MetroStars) did a great job finishing."
On what these two poor performances might mean:
"In coaching and in life you can't do knee jerk reactions. If a guy makes one bad pass you don't run on the field and pull him off the field. The next time the guy makes a great play you don't nominate him for world's greatest player and I think that is what we're doing a little bit right now. So, we are a team now that has played a total of fourteen games. In those fourteen games, we have played reasonably well in eleven or twelve of them. There are also a couple of games that we lost and we should not have lost as well. You have got to say that it is not all broken, and today was a case of our defending in the midfield was off. At the end of the day, the work rate still needs to be there. It doesn't matter what the tactics are. I've got to look at the big picture and look at what we have done over the last fourteen games and not have a knee jerk reaction to one game. The earlier games we won and the games we played well, I'm not saying this is a team that is ready to challenge Real Madrid on the same token either."
On improving for game against Chicago Fire:
"It is something that we have to talk through a little. I think we pushed a little bit after we came back from New York. I don't think fitness is the issue because we obviously took the game to them. My hands are tied a little, I can't make Tyrone (Marshall) heal any quicker, I can't make (Chris) Albright's hamstring good by Sunday. I can't make Carlos (Ruiz) be 90 minutes fit by the time we get to Sunday either. We've got to see how guys come through this tomorrow and we will see where we are."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY GOALKEEPER KEVIN HARTMAN
On the game:
"It was difficult tonight. We just didn't play up to what we should have. In the second half, we pressed and tried to get the game back, but (the MetroStars) went into a shell and played the game out. As a team, you go through growing pains, and if this is going to be a championship team we have to make sure we're not giving up two or three goals every game. We need to make sure that our one-on-one defending is better and then once it gets to me I have to be sure to make the saves."
On losing two in a row for the first time this year.
"We have to make sure that we continue to improve tactically. At the beginning of the season, it seemed that we were playing a lot of games. Those of us that saw a lot of minutes need to make sure that we take care of ourselves off the field and make sure that we are ready for Chicago."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY FORWARD CARLOS RUIZ
On what his game is missing right now:
"Time is the most important thing. This was my first game back with the team after getting hurt. Once I get that, I can get back to the form that I had at the start of the season."
On two straight losses:
"We need to forget about what happened in the last two games against (the MetroStars). I think the coaching staff will decide to make some changes and this team will once again start winning."
METROSTARS HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On the game:
"I thought it was good to follow up on the all around effort of the last game and get the same kind of result. It was very important for Eddie to get some goals. He started out with a little bit of pressure on him and this was a good lift to his confidence. It was good to get a shutout, and that is something we need to keep doing."
On countering the good forward lineup of the Galaxy:
"I told Eddie Pope, who had a very good game tonight, that LA has some really good forwards in Kirovski and Ruiz. I thought he worked well together with Jeff Parke, and we made it hard for them and that's the key to beating LA."
METROSTARS MIDFIELDER EDDIE GAVEN
On scoring his first two goals of the season:
"We were working really hard and I thought that we pressured them really well. They were turning some balls over and we were just passing around them and that definitely helped free me up."
On any difference in the game plan:
"We knew they were going to be coming out harder and we knew we were going to have to match their level of play."
METROSTARS MIDFIELDER AMADO GUEVARA
On overall play of the game:
"Our midfield played very well and the play of the game was very good. And when we saw them trying put in more effort and try to come back we thought we had to do the same."
On the midfield combination with Eddie Gaven:
"It was not only Eddie, although I thought that Eddie (Gaven) played really well, but it was the whole team that played well."
