Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 3-2 New England Revolution
Gillette Stadium; Foxborough, MA.
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
Do you feel like this short offseason benefitted the team?
“If you were to ask me this question finishing up preseason I would have said no, but a few weeks later, this game had the same feel as some of those games in the playoffs. The feel part is really the players’ determination to overcome adversity. We talk a lot about mentality around here. We talk about what it takes to be a winning team, and on days when things aren’t going your way, who are you and what do you stand for. I think tonight the guys showed a lot of resolve, a lot of commitment, a lot of desire. Deserving of the result.”
When you’re playing in conditions like tonight’s game, what is the message?
“We wanted to be more direct tonight and pick up second balls. New England is a team that really prides themselves on doing the same thing. Any pressure on their center backs and they knock it up to [Adam] Buksa and then from there they pick up second balls and they start their game. So, that was something that we were weary of, and the best way to fight that is to do the same thing and win the midfield. I think tonight Pablo [Ruiz], Everton [Luiz], Scott [Caldwell] did a really good job of picking up loose balls and really playing from there. In games like this, it’s about putting balls in dangerous areas. I thought the first half we got into good areas, and we didn’t have numbers in the box, and we didn’t have service. So you do all this work, and a game like this is a game of mistakes. Who’s gonna make more mistakes? I thought the second half we approached it the right way. We got the ball out to [Andrew] Brody a couple times and to Tate [Schmitt] a couple times and started putting the ball in the box, dropping their lines deeper, picking up second balls. Those types of plays build momentum, build belief for your group and really puts a lot of doubt into the opponents.”
Do you feel like there’s something special brewing? When do you start thinking that”
“It depends on what you define ‘special’ as. I think ‘special’ is commitment. I think it’s work. I think it's a belief. I say this all the time, we can talk about talent, but who are you when the talent isn’t there? Who are you when you aren’t in your best form? Who are you? Are you just going to crumble? Everything that we talk about with the group is about mindset. You can overcome so much with mindset. Especially in particular times where you didn’t have a full preseason, you didn’t have a lot of players available, you still don’t have players available. You can make all these excuses, and we like to make excuses as coaches at times when things are going your way. So what we’ve really focused on is that. When you talk about ‘special’, I think it’s about work. I think it’s about belief. I think it’s about understanding that if you stay in there long enough, things are going to go your way. It may not happen now or the next couple of weeks, but if you stay in there, things will turn in your favor. That’s how I’ve experienced the game as a player and that’s how I’m experiencing the game as a coach. It’s all about mindset. You have to believe that you can achieve these things because if you don’t, you will validate it. If you don’t believe, you will take the necessary actions to validate it. If you believe, you will take the necessary actions to validate it. You choose how you will go about it.”
Defender Tate Schmitt
Thoughts on game-winning goal
“We were just pushing the play forward, slipped Jasper [Loeffelsend] into the middle, the ball got deflected out, and I took a touch into that space. I was at the point where my legs were about done, so it was more just a hope. But I put it on frame, and good things happen when you strike the ball hard. That is what our mentality was in the last 15 minutes, play balls into the box and we will get those bounces, get those flicks, and we had to believe in that. We had those two opportunities that went our way, and the third one continued after that. We were fortunate to have that hard work at the end and get those three points.”
On team belief
“I remember Scott [Caldwell] running off the field saying ‘C’mon guys give it our all. We got 25 more minutes left,’ just instilling that belief into us. I think Pablo [Mastroeni] has done a great job this whole preseason saying ‘Any little factors that don’t go our way, don’t make excuses but find solutions for them. Always have that belief that we will get something out of every opportunity that we work for.’ I think it just rolled into the game. We had those variables, the weather, that we couldn’t control. We had those bounces that didn’t go our way, but we just kept with it, stayed the course, and we found those opportunities at the end that made the difference.”
On playing in the snow
“I think the biggest thing is being defensively sound. Whenever there is a little mistake from a guy slipping or someone not taking the right touch on the ball, you have good support behind you. That all comes with the communication from the team, making sure players are more disciplined, back behind the ball instead of being in a more eager, forward position just in case it doesn’t go the right way. I think that’s one of the things we’ve been working on is being defensive minded first, especially on the road. I think even before those two goals went in, we did a great job just absolutely battling and fighting for every little play. Pablo [Mastroeni] told us before the game ‘there are 5,400 moments in a game, and you have to help the team find the one that will change the game or not. Be the one that makes the ball go the opposite way for the other team.’ I think we found those chances, stayed the course, and had the will and desire to get those three points, which was big.”
