MLS: Sporting Kansas 1-0 Seattle Sounders
Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes…
On the foul that Dom Dwyer suffered to earn Benny Feilhaber’s penalty kick…
I didn’t get a chance to see the replay. I don’t know what to tell you other than the fact that I actually think that throughout the course of the game the referees had a very good game tonight. So the only thing I can say is that, having not seen it, I don’t know if there are complaints about whether it was a PK or not. You just hope at the end of the season everything evens itself out over the course of time, so I don’t know what to tell you. I haven’t seen it yet. All I know is that I watched Benny shoot it and score and it was a good PK. I will tell you, one thing I did see live is the courage of Dom to go after that ball. That’s what resulted in the play for sure.
On Sporting KC’s defensive form with Tim Melia in goal…
I would first say that it is based on two things. One is that there is a strong-value buy-in from the team to defend, and the other is that Tim is playing extremely well. He has added another dimension to our team that we have been looking for. I can only speak having played in a situation like that, with a goalkeeper, when Tony Meola was here. I was in front of him and we were the backline and we had a bunch of clean sheets. We won as well, and you just know that there is a confidence between the backline and the goalkeeper, and vice-versa. And when that’s going on, that is a very good culture to be wielding over the course of the season.
On defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar’s performances over the past month…
I think he’s kind of an unsung hero. It’s a good observation from you. I think in the last five games, four of them he has covered the most ground out of anybody on the field from both teams. He definitely puts the work in. He is a good front screen to the backline. He’s got a great timing for tackles and his conscience on the field is getting better and better each game. He has to sort of be the balance guy if we’re building up on the right and too many guys are going forward, he needs to make sure he’s watching out for that area. So it’s one thing to have an incredible work ethic; it’s another to have his soccer IQ for the team over the course of the game, and he is getting better game-to-game.
On pressure being on the goalkeeper or the kicker during a penalty kick…
A lot of pressure is on the kicker. When you’re the guy taking it, everybody is thinking that you should score. At the same time, the goalkeepers are extremely athletic, and extremely explosive. If they guess right way and you don’t hit it just right, there is a very good chance they make the save. So it’s definitely not an easy thing
to do, and Benny has been pretty good thus far.
On Sporting KC playing well despite shuffling lineups…
A lot of the credit should go to Besler, because he is the captain of the team and he has really stepped up his leadership within the group. It’s not easy when things are changing a lot and you have to deal with a lot of different guys and trying to get guys bought in to what is going on. As much as you don’t want to say it publicly, he is an extension of the coaching staff and he’s got to help us try to get guys to perform when they haven’t had a lot of games and to get them to buy in because they’re pissed because they haven’t played for awhile and now they have to step up. So his leadership has been a big part of our success right now when we’re struggling with some guys injured and some guys out on international duty. Hopefully as those guys continue to come back it is going to galvanize us even more.
Seattle manager Sigi Schmid
On Seattle’s 1-0 loss to Sporting KC…
I’m disappointed. I thought we deserved to get something out of the game tonight. I don’t think we deserved to win but I think we deserved at least a tie. We scored a goal that was perfectly onside and got taken away, and that’s never a penalty. I’m sorry, but when the goalkeeper comes out to punch the ball, it’s never a penalty. But those are the way things go. I’m proud of my team. I thought we had some really good looks, some really good chances.
On Seattle’s offensive approach to the game…
We were looking to counter-attack. We got some good counters early. We had that ball that Marco Pappa played into Neagle and Neagle was in on Melia. We knew we could get something on set pieces. We were dangerous on our corner kicks and our free kicks all game. So we had some opportunities there as well.
On what he expected of the match from Sporting KC…
We expected they weren’t going to change very much. They played Zusi up front but he ended up dropping in a little bit more, so they didn’t have a traditional high player. Nemeth was obviously missing for them; he’s played very well. It was not unexpected.
