QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 0-4 MINNESOTA UNITED FC
ALLIANZ FIELD; SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA
SEPTEMBER 6, 2020
Head Coach Freddy Juarez
Overall thoughts:
“I thought the guys put in a good effort in the first have and tactically we were hard to cope with. It was hard to deal with for Minnesota. I continue to think we had a goal from Rossi’s shot then we had two offside calls that were tight. I thought we were good in the first half and in the second half we started off well. Up until the goal, we didn’t have many mis queues but then we weren’t ruthless enough and missed tackles and didn’t win the ball back. It deflated us there. Maybe it was potentially my fault not bringing in fresh legs early enough. But, it’s deflating when you score a goal and it’s clear and obvious and what you’re told is they didn’t have the angle. It’s tough. Overall though, good first half and not a good second half and it’s tough because I don’t think Minnesota is four goals better than us.”
On not coming back as in previous games:
“Maybe I can take the blame. The thing is we have a good squad but it’s hard when not everyone is 90 minutes fit. So maybe I could’ve gotten fresh legs in. The guys gave what they could and did it well especially in the first half. But that’s the thing when you go through these rotations. You have to mix and match because it’s a long haul. You have to look at who you are. You want to win, and your energy and focus are there but you’re also having to plan multiple games ahead of you. So, the explanation is that there’s times you score and times you don’t. Today we put the ball in the net three times and all three times it was taken away. I’ll take responsibility for the subs because I think the subs could’ve come in knowing that some guys aren’t quite match fit and it showed in the second half.”
On the goals conceded as it relates to goalkeeping:
“For me that’s not a good question. For me, it’s that we’ve given up goals tonight. It wasn’t the goalkeeper’s fault. The other night we gave up four goals. It’s the team and the team wasn’t good enough in those moments so it’s never just the goalkeeper.”
On VAR not having the angle:
“That’s frustrating for the guys because in the first half they were good. The angle of the shot that we had wasn’t the one they had on replay. There are a couple things because they say it’s inconclusive. I get frustrated because I was once told by a former coach that it always evens out in the end. But I feel like lately when it’s something close for us it doesn’t get looked at. Yet, when there’s something close for the opponent it’s always looked at. For me that shot today was frustrating.”
On the formation change and what it means moving forward:
“I thought there was a lot of options going forward and in almost instantly against any formation you have a numerical superiority. Right down the spine of the field and with more time and training you have the chance to see the sophistication of different personnel. There’s a lot of things you can do with it that we just didn’t have the time to nail down. With more time, you can bring more out of it and it requires a lot of fitness. Especially for the outside players in the diamond to try and cover the wide areas when you don’t have the ball.”
Midfielder Nick Besler
On the second half:
“It’s hard to explain right now. In the first half I thought we did a good job of keeping them in check. They didn’t have a ton of chances but neither did they. We had a goal called back and one we feel crossed the line that wasn’t called. Once they got the goal in the second half, I think we had the chance to win the ball back after it ping-ponged around and they scored. After that we couldn’t quite put our stamp on the game.”
On the formation change:
“I think we could’ve done a better job of keeping the ball in the midfield. We had the number advantage and I think we could’ve had longer spells of possession. We had pace up top and you saw where we got in behind a fair amount of times and unfortunately, we couldn’t really create anything from it. In the end we could’ve done a better job of keeping the ball with the number advantage.”
On the squad rotation:
“I think any time you get an opportunity and you don’t win, you always feel a little discouraged. I don’t think anyone who was on the field tonight should be too disappointed, that’s part of it. That’s just part of it when you try and go out and win every single game you play in. The longer you stay discouraged the longer it’ll have a negative effect on you. We’ll definitely be upset about this one but come training, we’re going to have to start training for Wednesday.”
Defender Nedum Onuoha
On the mood in the locker room after the match:
“We’re disappointed. Given how the first half went we felt pretty comfortable with how it went. They never really looked like they were going to open us up at all, so to finish the game losing 4-0 we need to take a good look at ourselves. We’re disappointed. At the end of the day we made too many mistakes so now we’ll review it and get ready for Wednesday.”
On the mistakes:
“I think there’s a mistake involved in every goal we gave up today. In this moment now you don’t want to just look at it with the emotion you have and say it’s this or that. We need to calm down a little bit and see the bigger picture and what caused some of those bigger moments because I feel like they were avoidable. Like I said, we’ll look at the bigger picture to try and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
On Giuseppe Rossi’s ‘would-be’ goal:
“I’ve had the chance to look at it and in my opinion it’s a goal. That’s the opinion of quite a few others as well. Whether you’re with RSL or not, it looks like a goal. Goals change games and I think with us 1-0 up at that point, I’d fancy us to go on and win the game. Maybe you can cry about decisions, but the fact is we conceded four goals. So, that’s more of our reality.”
On momentum moving forward:
“I don’t think tonight ruins our momentum from previous matches. It’s been a tough spell of matches for us going behind and we just have the belief with our matches coming up. We’re disappointed but we’ll draw a line underneath it after we look at it. We’re a good side, a confident side and we’ve got better performances in us.”
