MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2004 - METROSTARS 3, NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 2
METROSTARS HEAD COACH BOB BRADLEY
On how much the wins and losses are due to the youth on the team:
"You never want to make excuses. I'd like to think that guys are learning every day and maturing. After they have been in situations, they are better the next time. If you look at our season there have been these stretches when we're good for a few games and we think we are about to get over the hump, and then we let a couple games get away from us. Then we have to pull ourselves together again. That it is a big part of what the whole league is about.
"Everybody is trying to be a little bit better than everybody else at all the things that matter in the game, such as being better with the ball, being a little smarter and knowing how to handle leads. It still hasn't happened yet that the team this year has shown that it's got the whole package and is a little bit better than everybody else. I keep thinking maybe we can be that team, but we're not quite there."
On how important tonight's win was:
"Today was an important win. When you play a team that is almost to the point of do-or-die, when your position versus their position in the standings is such that now a win puts you in a really good position as compared to them. Those are things that you need to take care of. To come back and to win a game like that tonight is very important in terms of standings and where we are at this point. It keeps us that much closer to Columbus and it gives us that chance next week to go back ahead of them."
On the difficulty of maintaining motivation:
"It's not difficult. Everybody realizes that we are at a point in the season where we are still playing for first place. We are still playing to improve in all of these areas so that at the end of the year we feel that we are the team that is going to win this thing. There is a process that you take a team through and it grows. It tries to get better and it tries to get to the point where it's really a good team in all ways. That's what coaching is. You are trying to move that part along. When it doesn't quite get where you want it to be, it doesn't mean you give up. It means there is more work to be done."
METROSTARS MIDFIELDER PABLO BRENES
On his first MLS point:
"I was very happy because every game, my objective is to play more and to contribute more. And getting a point in this game is very gratifying. Now, I just have to focus on getting more points, and increasing my minutes so that I can help out the team as much as possible."
METROSTARS DEFENDER CHRIS LEITCH
On the win:
"We have not played that well in the past few games. Each time you go on a skid, especially at the end of the season, you need to correct what you're doing wrong, and correct it fast. Obviously you want to go into the postseason in your best form and headed in the right direction. I think that this win, despite being a little sloppy and being two goals down, to get a win was very important for us, so hopefully this will get us going back in the right direction."
On the rest of the season:
"Our goal is to obviously win the East, and then to win the league. If we were to say anything else, we would be selling ourselves short. That's our main objective, that's our main goal, that's what we work for everyday in practice. That's why we're expecting to get better in every game; to get the results that we need to clinch the division and hopefully put us in good position for the playoffs."
METROSTARS MIDFIELDER EDDIE GAVEN
On overcoming a two goal deficit:
"I actually thought we were playing pretty well. I don't really know what happened on that first goal. We knew that if we just kept on going out, kept on playing our game, things would turn around. I think that's how we got our second goal; we just kept on playing. We created some second chances in the first half and were able to tie it back up 2-2, and then Cornell [Glen] came up really big for us again."
On his goal:
"Chris Leitch just chipped the ball in there, and I think Fabian missed it, and whoever was playing defense missed it, and the ball just rolled to me. I didn't really hit the shot that I wanted to hit. It was pretty close. When I first hit it, I thought the goalie was going to be able to save it, but luckily he didn't. It definitely felt good to get that through."
METROSTARS DEFENDER EDDIE POPE
On the Revolution's first goal:
"We are still trying to figure out what happened. It sounded like the whistle was blown and everybody kind of stopped. The ref said he was just trying to get Mike [Magee] to come back. I told him that he had another whistle to blow. When you blow a whistle to address a player, you have to blow another to get the ball back in play."
On the win:
"Obviously this is a big win, especially with those last two goals. It says a lot about the character of this team."
METROSTARS MIDFIELDER MIKE MAGEE
On his penalty kick:
"It was tough thinking that (Amado Guevara) has gone six for six and now I have to make one before he comes back. So that made it a little harder to think about. I haven't really been practicing them in practice, but they come pretty easily."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the game:
"Tough. We played as well as we have done for a while, we knocked it about and obviously when you're 2-0 up you expect to win the game."
On the way his defense played:
"Joe Franchino's old injury (hip strain) went again, that's why he had to come off. After that, I think it's a case of when we make a mistake we seemed to get punished for it all the time. On the first goal the referee gives a penalty, the second one could be avoided and the third we just tried to be too clever with a guy who's pacey. You take those out of the game and look at how we've done, I think we've done real well, but we've lost 3-2. We scored two great goals but we could have had another one as well."
On his team's chances of making the playoffs:
"We have to go and win games. It's real simple. It's not going to be easy but it's real simple. We need to go and win games."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER JOE FRANCHINO
On the result:
"I think we started off well, getting a 2-0 lead. I thought we were flying, playing well, better than I've seen in a long time. But then we let them back in the game. On the penalty, obviously I had an injury and my first step was slower than normal. He got in behind me but I let him go and he took a dive. But (the referee) didn't see it that way. That's just the breaks. I still thought we should have done better. It seemed like they were coming at us after that time. We had another couple of opportunities. I think everyone is looking for answers."
On why he left the game in the 35th minute:
"Same injury (hip strain). I was cleared by the doctors, cleared by everybody. I felt strong in training and trained all week, then as soon as I tried to do a burst, and tried to run with [Eddie] Gaven it popped."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFILDER STEVE RALSTON
On the loss:
"It's devastating to us. You go on the road, with the kind of start that we had - it's a dream start for us. We've been starting off slowly and tonight we get two goals early; it was huge for us, and we blew it. Bottom line, we blew it. We don't know how to keep a lead. We have to do a better job of keeping the ball. We don't have to rush forward and get a third goal right away. As soon as we got the ball we were just launching it forward hoping our forwards could hold the ball. We have to do a better job defensively closing the ball down. I thought a lot of times we were giving guys too much space. Tonight we gave them too much time to pick their heads up and they made us pay."
