QUOTES FROM THE GAME:
CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
Thoughts on the game: “I don’t think we played as well as we would liked to have, but every point counts and I’m really proud of the effort. I think we fought to the bitter end and as I said the soccer wasn’t great, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter, it’s three points. A well earned three points by a hard working group.”
On the game plan: “I think you always have to or want to play a certain style and play in a certain manner. We had moments where we did OK, but for the most part we didn’t connect as well as we needed to, we didn’t keep the ball in certain areas of the field where we needed to, and at the end it just became a bit of a street fight for us. To the player’s credit, they really hung in there and fought.”
On goalkeeper Dan Kennedy: “Dan’s been very good all year. Obviously he made the All-Star Team because of it. He’s playing with a lot of confidence, and I’ve been saying this all year. As you’re building your team you need to make sure you stay in games, and as you’re building your style of play, you need to make sure you stay in games, and certainly Dan’s done a great job of allowing us to do that.”
CHIVAS USA DEFENDER DANNY CALIFFOn scoring the goal: “It’s fantastic. The couple times I’ve been here before have not turned out very well at all for me, so it was great to come out tonight and get on the score sheet. It’s been a while, the first game [I have scored in] since last year, so it feels great to come in, in a really difficult place to play and be able to get three points.”
On getting the win despite Portland’s statistical edge: “You see it in soccer sometimes where teams can throw everything and the kitchen sink and have lots of opportunities and lots of shots on the night and nothing will fall, and the other team can have one or two chances and put them away and walk away with the victory. That’s the cruel beast sometimes.”
On having played the Timbers twice in quick succession: “It helped to have played them recently. I think the personnel they put out tonight didn’t change much from when we played [on July 18], maybe just one or two changes. So that was good in knowing how to match up with them and things like that, but coming in here and playing them is completely different than at your home place. It’s an intimidating atmosphere, it’s a great place to play, there’s so much energy, so for us it’s an incredible result.”
TIMBERS GENERAL MANAGER/INTERIM HEAD COACH GAVIN WILKINSON
On scoring chances in the first half: “I think we had a lot of chances in the second half, as well. We could have scored three, I think, in the first half. We had a couple of good chances. I think Boyd had a few. It is what it is. It can be a cruel, cruel sport at times. I think some of the football we played was very productive, and ultimately you’ve got to finish your chances.”
On players pressing to score: “I think right from the start, we were pressing. We played the three up top, and it was an honest three up top. Part of that was to stop them from playing out, and I think that the numerous chances that we did create in the first half were from us winning the ball in their half and looking to break quickly. I think we were pressing the entire game. The urgency was definitely there, and they feel the responsibility just like I do, just like the other coaches do. Something has to change. You can’t fault the effort, you can’t fault the mentality … It’s about putting your chances away, I think.”
On team goals moving forward: “I think you’ve always got to reassess. It was something that we were using to try and inspire the group to look at, saying, ‘Here’s where we would like to be.’ Is it out of reach? No. Would we need to go on a hell of a run? Yes. But when Merritt put me into this position, he said, ‘Start to try to find out more about the group.’ I think we have made some strides in certain areas. You could see the system that we were trying to play tonight. You could see what we were trying to do, how we were trying to create things. And again, I just think we missed that final product, but we will continue to reassess and find different ways to motivate the players.”
