MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTE SHEET
SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2005 - COLORADO RAPIDS 2, LOS ANGELES GALAXY 0
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH FERNANDO CLAVIJO
On the level of play:
"I'm happy. I think we came out and showed attitude, and we have to recognize we are capable of doing that all the time. There were a lot of ups and downs but I think we did well overall, we kept the ball and we didn't give them a lot of room or chances."
On keeping focused after the two goals:
"It was obvious we were not the same team coming out in the second half. In the first five or 10 minutes, we were a little bit flat. It was a concern, but we managed to keep them away from our goal and keep going from there. When we had possession I think we handled the ball well, we got it in their end and behind defenders to create more scoring opportunities. We didn't give room to the players who could hurt us."
On keeping possession:
"When we do that (maintain midfield possession), we manage to do well to keep the ball down and win games. Sometimes we get forced to play one direction only and we don't change the feel. Today you have to look at Kyle Beckerman, who was amazing defensively ,and Alain Nkong, who was able to connect with the forwards. If we can keep good pressure and if we lose the ball, get everybody behind the ball, it would be outstanding."
On team cohesion:
"I think it's still a factor - we're missing Pablo Mastroeni, he hasn't been able to be there. I think that everyone is stepping up in that position. When we play this way as a team we always manage to come out with a win, but it's only one game. We've had a good second half of the season, but we have a lot of work ahead of us still."
COLORADO RAPIDS GOALKEEPER JOE CANNON
On the opponents' intensity:
"Our defense played well, but fortunately it felt like L.A. came out like we've come out a couple of times, with really no energy or passion. Credit our guys, the midfielders and forwards didn't really allow any guys to break through, and the defenders were great as well. I have a great group of guys in front of me."
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER MIKE PETKE
On his return to action:
"I didn't feel 100 percent. I thought I played well enough but I didn't feel 100 percent as far as my injury goes. The doctor said that it wasn't going to get any worse, it's just going to be painful and I knew I'd have to deal with it and that's what I tried to do tonight as best I could."
On the defensive play of the forwards:
"It helped us tremendously. If we can get that out of everybody every game we'll be OK. If we play like that every game we should win every game. Hopefully it's going to be an impressive showing by us in the second half of the season."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY ASSISTANT COACH AFSHIN GHOTBI
On not winning away from home:
"The players wanted to come and perform well and get points on the road. I thought we came out and sat back to let Colorado come and look for opportunities to counterattack. Unfortunately with two young players in the central defense there were times that we made errors that cost us on the back. After you go behind one goal it is not only tough on your mind, but also on your spirit. It is certainly hard to come and play at elevation here in Colorado."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY DEFENDER CHRIS ALBRIGHT
On losing the game:
"It was poor effort on a lot of us including myself. We just weren't sharp this game. This is a tough place to play coming in with the altitude and all. If you take early goals here, you are pretty much doomed."
On improvement:
"I don't know. We need to be tougher, find a way to create more chances and a lot of other things, for sure."
On team recovery:
"We certainly have some things to sort out. We've got to be able to put points up on the road whenever we can. We get shutout on the road. We have to find a way to stay focused."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY DEFENDER TODD DUNIVANT
On the couple of losses to New England and Colorado:
"I thought we really put a good 90 minutes together against New England so we were confident coming into this match. We just didn't have it today and that was obvious from the very beginning."
On bouncing back for next week's game:
"We have to look at that game against a Chivas team that will always play feisty and we have to focus on that game."
