Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 1-0 Austin FC
Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Head Coach Freddy Juarez
On how proud he is of the team:
“The environment was really good. If I go back and think about the game there was probably a little bit of nerves with the guy’s natural understanding that it’s a home game. We came back from that road trip, but we didn’t get the results that we would’ve liked. It added a little bit of extra meaning to the game. I thought the guys handled it well. The one thing we have to understand, I said this from the beginning of the week when I was interviewed was Austin is a very good possession team. If you’re not sharp when you choose to press, or if the collective timing isn’t great, they’ll break you down. I thought in the first half we did a good job of absorbing and controlling the moments. I look at the second half, I think we were just too anxious. They went a man down and we just wanted the second goal so bad. We stopped a little bit of our intelligence. The psychological part goes away. It’s like let’s go get this second goal. I think we lost too much control in the second half. Now it’s rolling the dice and it became too open. We gave up too many opportunities because we decided we didn’t want control of it. I told a lot of the lads that we have to learn from this. It’s an experience. I get that you want the second goal. I get it 100%. We want to please the fans. We want guys to get goals. But it has to be done with controlling intelligence.”
On setting the tone for the second half of the season:
“The most important thing was to get three points and start the second half of the season strong. After games like this we have more belief in ourselves and our guys get to take a little bit of a breath. This got us on the right track at home in front of our fans and the best thing is we know that we can get better. We aren’t particularly happy with how we played, but we got the result and that’s what matters most. Now we get to celebrate the win and get ready for Houston. I thought in Portland we had a fantastic second half but we didn’t get the result. Today was probably not our best game but we ended up getting the result. Soccer is just a funny thing.”
On if this win can get RSL over the hump of dropping points:
“I think so. [This win] is building blocks. There was a point where I sat down on the bench and told the guys that there’s not a whole lot of control going on, but that we’re going to have to see the guys pull it through. They have to endure this and deal with it instead of us having to try to fix it for them. And that’s the first thing I said when I went into the locker room. It wasn’t the best game for us. The most important thing tonight was to get the result, to get the three points. And we endured. We suffered. We made the plays that we needed to when we needed to. Would I have loved to have more control? Absolutely. But at the end of the day we had a shutout. We got three points, we won in front of our fans and we started the second half of the year with a W, and that’s always important. I believe it’s something that we can go back to later. When we bring this game up later down the road, they’ll know what I’m talking about. ‘Remember that last game?’ We didn’t want it to become a track meet. We need more control if we ever go up a man.”
Forward Bobby Wood
On scoring with his family at the game:
“That was amazing. It’s a special moment for me and I won’t ever forget it. It’s something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”
On winning tonight after a tough road stretch:
“It was great to get the result. That’s all that mattered today. We talked about it all week with the coach and the team. All that mattered was getting the result. We played well [on the road] and we didn’t get the results in a couple of games. Our mentality was getting three points and we did that today. The team’s proud, and we should be proud of ourselves for sure.”
On team chemistry:
“We’ve had some tough moments. Today wasn’t a pretty win, but we showed that we are a team. We grinded it out and that’s important. The team’s great. We’re a great group of guys, everyone gets along and today everyone fought for each other. That’s what matters. I’m glad we got the team result.”
On playing as the lone striker:
“It’s not a problem at all. Playing as a lone striker is not something I’ve done a lot of times in my career. We’ve got great guys on the wing, in the midfield and on the bench. We have a lot of talent and it’s fun playing with these guys. I’m enjoying it and it’s something that I want to continue.”
Goalkeeper Zac Macmath
On Austin FC’s dangerous deliveries in the 2nd half:
“Obviously, I think we could have managed it a little bit better. But to be fair to us and to them, their keeper made three or four world class saves. If we put that game away 2-0 or 3-0, I think the game changes completely.”
On getting 3 points and a win:
“That was our goal. The whole week we spoke about that no matter what we needed to get three points. It was a tough 3 game away streak there. Coming off two losses. This was a big game for us and I think the guys showed up well.”
On Toni Datkovic starting last two games
“I thought he did really well. Obviously the last game against Portland was a bit unlucky. A tough place to go play your first game. I think he fit in really well with Marcelo back there. I think the backline in general had a really good game.”
