QUOTE SHEET
Real Salt Lake 1-3 Los Angeles FC
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Head Coach Freddy Juarez
On what went wrong:
“There were some sections of the game where I thought we started off well. 15-20 minutes of what we wanted. This team is very good, and very good on the night. We were going to play direct. We were going to play in behind them, stretch them and get in behind. We were doing a little of that. We were having a little success, but when we got in that area, we just weren’t getting the cross off with numbers arriving. We knew that we didn't want to play in the middle of the park. We started getting a little fatigued there around the 20 minute mark. We started giving up passes, and they started to gain a little control of the ball. We lost a little focus. Instead of our controlled block, we almost got caught man marking, man oriented. You saw the goal that pulled our two center backs out and someone shoots through, which wasn’t a good goal for us to receive. On the second goal, when we’re pushing and almost creating something and then they find Rossi really easy. Our shape that we’ve been talking about all week against this team, you have to be a plus-one in the back when they’re on the attack. We let ourselves down there. In the second half, for about 20-30 minutes we were pretty good. We created some chances, some point blank opportunities. The quality just wasn’t there. The last 15 minutes, both teams just got fatigued. They pinned us in, and we just started losing rhythm with the ball going out of bounds and that type of stuff. Aaron’s right. It was a little lack of sharpness, when we lost our focus after about the 20th minute mark. We got a little sloppy with giveaways and you can’t give the ball back to LAFC, because they’re the best in the league at keeping possession.”
On not being on the same page:
“I’m going to have to go back and watch the game, and I will. I thought the first 20 minutes were pretty good, and then you’re behind. When you get scored on at home, it takes mental strength as an individual and as a team, as a collective, to rise back up. Once we got scored on, you started seeing some of those miscues and, not necessarily casualness, but you’re rattled. You’re rattled and so you’re thinking a step behind. Your mind is still on receiving the ball, and the game, and the hole you’re in, and those miscues start happening. When we start the second half, the guys are full of energy and they’re inspired, all of a sudden we’re creating chances. If we score right there, we could have been in the game 2-1 or 2-2 right away. It didn’t happen, but I don’t think it’s necessarily all on these guys being in different positions because they really weren’t. It was more when you go down a goal, you lose some focus.”
On Rusnak missing:
“We wanted to get in behind as often as we could tonight. If Albert was in, that still would have been the game plan of getting in behind. I don’t want to talk so much about Albert, because we all know how good Albert is, but the fact is that he’s not here. He does at times make a difference, when we give it to him in a tight area. We’re not talking about Albert. We wish him luck with the national team. I thought we started off the game very dangerous, we just lost a bit of focus on the goals we gave up.”
On Glad and Onuoha missing:
“They’re good players, but I have all the faith in the guys. It wasn’t the quality. We spoke about how they would get the goals, and the one where Rossi is wide open, running at our center back is a tough one. I’m actually looking at the highlight right now, and that’s on our shape behind the ball. We talked all week about how they would attack, and it’s all about organization. I thought against LA Galaxy, last time we played them, and Minnesota, the one thing we had consistently in those games was good shape when we’re in the attack. We’re close to them so they can’t counter attack quickly, or we’re plus-one. I just saw the highlight in front of me, and we were at a 1v1 or 2v2 against Rossi, one of the best players if not the best player in the league.”
Defender Aaron Herrera
On what went wrong:
“For me, it was just our quality on the ball. Every time we turned the ball over, they were coming right back at us, because we had players pushing forward that got caught out of position. If we had a soft turnover, they were just shooting down our throats the other way. We just need to be better on the ball.”
On Rossi’s goal:
“Like I said, just soft turnovers on our part. I was pushing forward to try to support the attack. We probably had a decent chance out of it, but if you have a soft turnover against a team like LAFC, they’re going to be going straight back down your throats the other way. It’s tough. Obviously, it’s a mistake. Mistakes happen, and we have to be prepared for it. Rossi’s a great player, so if he gets isolated with a player, he’s likely to punish you, doesn’t matter who you are.”
On missing Glad and Onuoha:
“Those are two of our top guys on the team, so obviously we miss them a little bit, but Holt and Marcelo can step in in a heartbeat. It was a team effort. There wasn’t any individual that let the game slip out of our hands. It was a team effort on the ball, and being in a good shape when we turn the ball over to win the ball back right away or prevent a counter attack. That’s where LAFC specializes. They have some extremely fast players up top, so anytime you’re missing one of your starting players, it’s never a good thing, but they’ll be back next game, so we’ll be alright.”
On missing Albert:
“We definitely didn’t come out with as much energy as we should have, especially against a team like that. I think our game plan was working. It’s tough because when you’ve got players up top that are as fast as Douglas, as fast as Corey. We were getting in behind, but it’s tough to follow up whenever we’re counter attacking that fast, especially when LAFC was just attacking us. It was the game plan, getting in behind them early. Albert is always the guy who helps slow down the game. He’s really calm on the ball and can connect passes, but it definitely was just a lack of energy to support our front guys and it ended up hurting us.”
Goalkeeper Andrew Putna
On the main issue of tonight's match:
"I don't know. I think we lacked a little bite winning second balls. In the first half we got in their half a fair amount, in behind, and when we turned it over we didn't have the bite to get it back, or get the foul, because the goals they scored in the first half were both on counter attacks."
On coming out for LAFC's two goals:
"Once it's within five, six yards from the goal you just try to spread yourself and make yourself as big as possible. I was talking with the guys in the locker room, it's a game of inches at that point, the first goal was right over my left leg and the second was right over my shoulder, a lot of times when it is point-blank you expect the guy to just slot it in. I think both finishes were quality."
On the changes in the backline:
"It was a team effort, the guys who were in there, Marcelo [Silva] and Erik [Holt], are both capable of doing the job. It started from the top, to the midfield, to the defense, it was all three lines, I don't think it was necessarily one or two players, it was the whole team that could have done better."
