Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 2-1 FC Dallas
Toyota Stadium; Frisco, Texas
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Interim Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
On what changed in the second half:
“Obviously you want to score goals and get a lead going into the second half, but what we have been working on all year long has been making sure that we are very aggressive in the attack and in doing so, sometimes you are going to get hit on the counter. Today in the first half I felt like we got hit on quite a few counters and handled it well. I think we had 16 or 17 crosses in the first half, none of which were of real good quality and then we gave up a soft goal late in the first half. But again, it allowed us to now get on top of them and really open them up with our attacking structure and we did a really good job of doing that. I think it's finding a better balance of how much we want to really impose ourselves from a direct perspective and really open them up and create a little bit more width in the attack. That is something we will hit on, because when we do that we take over games. It’s that balance between those two things that we’ll look at as we look towards San Jose.”
On the decision to bring on Justin Meram:
“Since we’ve been playing the 3-5-2, there’s been all kinds of different learning curves and different ways to play it. I think the system itself is expressed with the players that play in certain positions. In the first half we had Jony [Menendez] on one side and Chang, who is more of a two-way winger on the other side. Then switching it up and putting Brody on the right side means that we need a little bit more of an attack on the left side. With Meram, we’ve had some great chats over the past month and a half to two months about his role. It’s to always be ready and always come in and make a difference. I thought the last couple of weeks of training, even coming into the Chicago game I thought he was bright. I thought tonight was really the highlight of what Meram can bring to this group, which is great quality in the attack and now he has added to his game the commitment and desire to want to get back and help defend and make some plays on that end. I thought it was a complete performance for the 20 minutes that he was in there. In football, you don’t need a long time to contribute and Meram made the argument for that tonight.”
Forward Justin Meram
On his mindset as he entered the match:
“I just wanted to come in and make a difference. This is crunch time and I love these games. I have been in the league for a long time and I know what it means. It is hard to win any game on the road, I don’t care what position the opposition is in. You have to come in and you have to dig deep. I just told myself I have to come in and make a difference. The shot off the crossbar really pissed me off and then I had to create something with some good passes. I’m glad I was able to contribute and we got the win. This is how you build momentum going into the postseason.”
On providing both assists in the match:
“It’s about time he gets me an assist, man. I have been passing the ball to Albert [Rusnák] all year. I love this man, he works so hard. He does a lot of things on and off the field for this Club. He made me feel at home when I came to this team and that’s why he’s our captain. I am just glad he could put the game-winner away.”
Midfielder Albert Rusnák
On what it took to get the comeback win:
“Heart and desire more than anything. We spoke about mentality the last couple of weeks. Things haven’t been easy. A mistake today by us gives them a lead and then road games are always difficult. We’ve done it many times this year on the road when we come back or at home where we go down and manage to find a way to win the game. That was a very important win.”
On Justin Meram’s impact:
“He changed the game. This is what you want from your subs, for them to come in fresh and make an immediate impact. It’s not always easy because you are not in the rhythm of the game. You come in cold and the game is fast-paced, up and down. It’s not easy for a sub to make an impact like he did today.”
On what this club means to him:
“It’s not my first year here. RSL is the club where I have played the longest throughout my career, so to wear the armband means a lot to me. It didn’t matter if I scored the goal or someone else, three points is what we were after.”
On the importance of this win:
“Huge. I am hoping that we are going to be above the playoff line, but I don't know who plays who. We don’t care about that, we knew that we had to take care of our game first and then see what the other results are.”
