Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 0-1 Seattle Sounders FC
CenturyLink Field; Seattle, WA
April 7, 2019
Real Salt Lake
Head Coach Mike Petke
Overall thoughts on the match:
“We had more than two or three chances. It was more like five or six chances. Savarino cut in twice, in the first half, Sam almost on the goal line. It comes down this. I’m getting sick and tired of coming out here after games and say ‘we deserved more out of the game.’ For me we all need to grow up a little bit. Yes, we’re a young team, but it has to be pushed into the past and we have to be a bit more savvy in certain situations, we have to get a bit more clinical. We have to start games well and I think we started the game well tonight against one of the hottest teams in the league. Getting back and preventing. Seattle caused us some problems and we have to learn to deal with things like that. The end of the first half and into the second half, we changed and we started really playing. I’m challenging the coaching staff and my players so that the days of me saying the boys did well tonight but it just didn’t go our way. Those days have to be over. It starts with me. How do we connect more passes to start the game? Lodeiro runs 14 kilometers a game and that’s a lot. How can we grow up and do things like that and work like that and figure this out? Yes, we’re young compared to the league compared to other teams but that’s no excuse. Let the critics point to that. Let the fans point to that. For me, we have to grow up and at times that we’ve won games and turned it on, and now to come back to this a little bit, it starts with me then my staff and the players. Starting this week it isn’t going to be much different because we prepare the players. I’m getting tired of preparing for other teams for how they play. The league has gotten so much better and bigger and you’re almost forced to do it. We have to take a look inside of ourselves now.”
On the next steps:
“The next step is taking a look at everything. We watch the game four times, by the time Monday comes around my staff and I have watched the game four times. Challenging the guys that if they aren’t re-watching the games, this is a team sport. But there are individual factors. What could an individual have done differently? That’s a challenge I have for them. This we’ll talk to the players about where it starts and it starts tomorrow and let’s be more. It’s a competitive thing. Let’s get more accountable every day at training and that starts with me.”
Midfielder Kyle Beckerman
On what was said at halftime:
“We felt as the game went on we were getting ahold of the game with a little bit more time. It was just about staying in the game, knowing we were going to get another chance. We just didn’t over the finish line tonight but we have a lot to look forward to.”
On the takeaways from the match:
“We can take a lot. We didn’t come in here to just defend. Maybe we didn’t have as much possession as Seattle did, but it’s the same things we’re trying to do. When we get the ball down we’re able to create. We can’t play like that again next week and defend as much as we did. We’re going to start over and be ready for next week. Tonight was something to build off of.”
Sounders FC
Head Coach Brian Schmetzer
On the team’s bend but don’t break mentality this game:
“Clean sheets are always good, it guarantees you points. I think over the course of time this club has always been a pretty good defensive club. It starts with the work that Tommy does with the goalkeeping crew. You know we have been fortunate to have Román Torres, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou. We’ve had pretty good players. Commitment to defend, starting with the guys up front, I thought Will [Bruin] did a good job today in his time out on the field. Not just on the attacking end, starting defensively. You guys saw the amount of ground that Nico [Loderio] covers on a game by game basis. It’s hard to play against a guy like that who is always chasing you down. I think they are committed.”
On challenge for Will Bruin to get the start tonight:
“I didn’t think there was much challenge at all. Tonight, I just said it, I thought Will did a great job. He was active inside the box, he had a few shots on goal. A couple of times we missed him when he was open. Will is a little different than Raul [Ruidiaz]. He’s good in the air and he’s a bigger body. Will sometimes puts himself in good positions inside the box, we just didn’t see him. Overall I thought he was very good. It’s a shame he wasn’t rewarded with a goal.”
On Cristian Roldan’s opportunities this game:
“Cristian got around the corner quite a few times. I think Jordan [Morris] wishes he got that ball back when Cristian nicked the ball off the guy on the touch line. When Cristian goes forward like that we actually like doing that because he is goal dangerous.”
Goalkeeper Stefan Frei
Overall thoughts on the game:
“Good, we got three points, and we maintained a shutout at home. But the rest not too happy, honestly, I think we need to put this team away. To let them linger on and hope and chances is something we have to fix. Again, great that we got three points and keep it going but lots to do better in this game.”
On what’s missing from scoring more goals:
“I think at the beginning it’s the final pass and a little bit of patience at time and waiting so that window to hit the final pass is a bit bigger. But especially second half there’s a lot of sloppiness on the field, a lot of build up and not being able to maintain possession. Stupid little mistakes like balls slipping under our feet and giving up possession, those are frustrating things. Those little stupid errors that are turnovers.”
On RSL’s chance in the 70th minute:
“A long and hopeful ball and trying to make Brad [Smith] aware that there’s a guy behind him and yell away to let him know that I wasn’t coming and that I had to somehow deal with it and honestly don’t really know how the ball squirts into the perfect position for him to make a run on it, but that’s all it takes, right? If we are sitting comfortable at two or three nil maybe they aren’t even pushing as hard. But that could be costly when we let costly when we let teams linger on.”
