New York red Bulls 4-5 Chicago Fire
Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer Frank Yallop
On the spirit of the team:
“It’s been good. I mean, you know, I think last week we had that same situation. We’re 5-2 up in this game and they nearly come back and tied it. We’re two-nil up at home and they come back and win it, [Real] Salt Lake last week. So, what I’d like to think is we’ve learned something from last week. We can only get as hairy as this, but [we’re] playing against a really good team. You can’t take away from that.”
On Harry Shipp:
“Great. Harry’s been playing really well. Each game he’s gotten better, and better, and better. I think just his passes with the one pass to Mike [Magee] when he just missed it, first half, to make it 2-1 I think, and they go down the other end and score. That pass, you know, he’s got that passing in as well as the finishing. I can’t say enough about Harry. He’s really working hard at his game, he looks like a real player, and I think he’s got a great chance at going all the way.”
On the importance of scoring the first goal:
“I always say, and I think there’s stats if you look at the stats, if you score first in our league it’s 83 percent, I think, you get a point or more. So, I think, you know, getting on the chart first is always a big thing. We’ve been a bit unlucky, to be honest. We’ve had two home games and we’ve had a penalty kick in the last minute of the game to win it and missed them both. So, we could’ve been on three wins, four wins, you know, maybe two wins, or whatever and we’re not stuck talking about it now. What I like about the group, you know, they’re really celebrating now because they deserve it, you know, we’ve deserved more that we’ve got. They have not dropped their heads, come to a really difficult place to play, and get a result, and score five goals, which is amazing really, in any game, not just coming to New York and doing it. I’m really proud of the guys the way they hung in there at the end, Sean [Johnson] made two great saves, and we preserved the win.”
NEW YORK RED BULLS HEAD COACH MIKE PETKE
On the game:
Listen, it wasn’t good enough. We can talk all we want about coming back the second half and late almost tying it. Well, when you’re down by three goals or two goals, or whatever it was, of course that’s what you’re going to do. We looked to push for the goals and we got them, so I commend their effort, they worked hard at the end, but we should never be in that situation to begin with.
On the turning point of the game:
I think the turning point of the game was when the whistle blew, to be quite honest with you. I didn’t see the urgency, I didn’t see…Listen, it wasn’t good enough. And let me be clear when I say ‘it wasn’t good enough,’ that starts with me.
On positives he took from the game:
Yes, I’m going to go and have a vodka. That is a big positive. And let me be clear, very clear, it’s tough for me to be critical of my team to be quite honest with you, because every year you got to allow yourself at least a game like this, maybe two, and I have been there before and that’s what I told them in the locker room. I told them I have been there before, so it’s hard for me to yell at them and hard for me to blow up. I’ve been on the losing end of a game like this and I have been exhausted after a game like this, like these guys are because they did everything they could to come back. So, I commend that but we’re a better team than that. You can’t tell me that two weeks ago in D.C. and home to Houston, our ball movement, everything, the way it was. To go from there to here in two weeks, on the night, we weren’t good enough. And last thing, I’m not taking anything away from Chicago, they came out like they needed the win and they obviously do. This is their first win of the season, and they came out and their game plan was high energy and try to frustrate us, and they did. So my hats off to them.
On lapses of urgency from game to game:
Listen, that’s the question that has been asked to every coach since the start of sports, I don’t have that answer, you know, I don’t have the formula to inject them with urgency. If I did, I would be a billionaire and I’d be the best coach, and coaching Barcelona right now, to be honest with you. I don’t have that answer, and I’m not accusing them of not wanting. Some of these guys might be tired, but yeah, we certainly didn’t show it for ninety minutes.
