Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the performance…
I think in the first half for a good while we were pretty dominant especially on the flanks in regards to balls being played from the outside in. They did a good job and obviously their goalkeeper came out a few times and tipped theball away from us and stopped the attack. Credit to them they came in and they came to defend and try to get apoint. That was their goal, but I thought we played well. It’s good because we have been very consistent in our performance and we continue to be in a good place.
On the midfield battle tonight…
I thought at one point they had the central midfield battle won. They were having some goodcombination play and building up through the central channel. We made a good adjustment at halftime pushingJulio in as one and then two more attacking type guys in Espinoza and Zusi. I thought at that point we solidified the midfield in that we were very calm and our buildup was very good and the switching the point of attack was excellent.
On the performance of Omar Bravo…
He tries to get on the end of things because of runs. He is not typically in the build up of the game. He is the guy that gets on the end of stuff because his running off the ball is so good. He got on the end of the goal which is normally what he does.
On replacing Jeferson with Aurelien Collin at halftime…
At that time our triangle was two holding with one in front as him as the playmaker. I just didn’t think it was working so I moved Julio into the middle of the midfield as the one and just inverted the triangle. I thought tactically it solved all of the issues we needed. Julio brings experience and calmness and when he gets the ball it is very easy for us to build out through that central channel. I think at that point, it really brought their players in and we were able to find the outside channels a lot and get great service into the box. I thought it was really good and that’s where the goal results from.
On the advantage of being able to play Kei Kamara out wide…
The way our system is, it always puts most teams in a mismatch situation with a guy like him. I think the only team that has a guy that’s even remotely close to his size is Seattle with Tyson Wahl when he’s playing left back. Outside of that, with everyone else it’s just a physical mismatch. You incorporate that with his movement off the ball now is just fantastic and then the players being able to play him into the channels and in those seams, he becomes a handful.
Sporting Kansas City forward Kei Kamara
General thoughts on the match…
Team worked hard, team worked hard. You know, having the 12th man out there, the fans were so amazing, we needed to feed more off their energy but you keep going. That’s the game of soccer, that’s how it goes. You win some, you lose some, you tie some. Right now I feel like we just gotta look to the next one.
On the match against Columbus coming up on Wednesday…
It’s a big one. Just gotta take care of the body and just be ready for it. This is it right here. Win against Columbus definitely puts us top.
On staying patient in possession lateinto the match…
We knew they were going to pack it in, so all we had to do was keep passing, keep passing, not get frustrated and find that little space when it opened up.
On the goal for Sporting Kansas City…
Good finish from Omar. Great finish from him to be able to put that one in the back of the net. Obviously, I saw Omar. In the first half actually he kept making those runs, and we talked about it at halftime, I said ‘Sorry, I’m still trying to get it over’ and in the second half that one worked out perfect.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi
General thoughts on the match…
Overall I just thought it was an ‘OK’ performance from us. I thought we were just a little off here and there. Passes weren’t quite as sharp as they usually are but overall a point is a point and going down to the end of theyear like we are now, I guess we can take some good out of this game.
On the performance in the first half…
First half I thought we were a little unorganized, just in our shape, we had allowed them to play to their strengths, play to their ability, and they got a lot of counterattacks against us and we were recovering a lot of the first half. We made a change going into the second half, and I think it helped us quite a bit. It allowed us to get a bit more possession and create some more chances.
On the atmosphere Friday at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park…
Oh, it was incredible. It seems like it gets better and better every game, which is hard to do because it is so good. It’s awesome, the fans were just incredible tonight and we hope we can keep it up for them for the rest of the season.
Philadelphia Union Manager Peter Nowak
General thoughts on the match…
High intensity game, that’s what I meant by a physical game. Good football that everybody appreciates because both teams put a lot into this game. The home fans could be a little disappointed with the result but I think overall it was a very good MLS game.
On coming back from down a goal in the second half…
I am proud of the team effort because they played with a lot of heart. They continued to work hard even in difficult situations. It was a very physical game. They got the job done, so there was a very positive side especially being behind and then also the outcome we had.
On the expectations for the side heading into the final stages of the season…
Expectations are always high. We have to raise the expectations of our team regardless of their age or experience. We have to go into the game with the mentality to win the game or that we are able to win the game. It is a good sign for them and it is good for their confidence and I am looking forward to the last five games of the regular season.
On the performance Zac MacMath and the rest of the young players in the side…
He’s not the only one, I think Jack McInerney came in and changed the game, as well. His movement and he tried to hold the ball for us, a little bit unlucky with the shot but he brought us life. I think Zac was doing a great job with the back line as well. Okugo, with Brian Carroll and even Pfeffer. It was a big game out there, another big game for him and you have to be ready, whether he is going to get pushed off the ball or not. He is a kid that wants to learn and especially be in a game like that.
On getting a result on the road…
I believe that every point at this stage is very valuable weather you play home or away. We see the standings are tight right now. We are happy with our effort. We have been preaching the whole season long even last year that we need to be consistent with our game. I think this is another game that we play good 90 full minutes of a high intensity game. We didn’t back down today.
Philadelphia Union Forward Sebastien Le Toux
On his current scoring streak…
My confidence is good. It’s nice for me to get seven goals in seven games, and it’s good for my team, but right now my own goals are not as important. It’s good to get a point tonight and it’s what we needed and we are happy with that.
Coming from behind on the road…
Especially here, it’s a big place, and it was a full house. Going somewhere and allowing a goal isn’t very good for our confidence, but we have some character. The guys that came in, in the second half did a great job and we evened it. We showed character and that’s good to see.
Philadelphia Goalkeeper Zac MacMath
Thoughts on defensive performance…
I thought we did really well. They put a lot of pressure on us. They were trying to put a lot of crosses in, and I thought we dealt with it pretty well and we were unfortunate not to get the shutout.
On missing key players…
No matter who is on the field, I think everyone is responsible and capable of putting out a good performance and that showed tonight. We had a really good performance tonight, no matter who was on the field.
On the goal…
I think it was when the ball went off the referee unfortunately and they came down, got wide down the side line, might have been out of bounds. They got the cross, might have dipped a little bit and the defender wasn’t sure where he was, kind of lost track where he was, and Omar Bravo just hit it one time.
On his confidence…
I try to be confident because that’s the best thing for the team because it helps me and it helps everyone and builds confidence for the team. I just try and go out there and be my best and help the team.
Philadelphia Midfielder Zach Pfeffer
Thoughts on the game…
As a team, we stuck together and fought hard throughout the whole game to get a very good point. At this point in the season, every point matters. I think we could have had more goals, unfortunately we didn’t, but I think we played well as a team and came out with a good tie.
On getting time with the team as a 16-year-old…
I’m feeling confident. Anytime you get out on the field and get a chance to play, you enjoy it and it boosts your confidence. The more playing time you get, the more experience you get and for me I’m just feeling good, I’m trying to build off that and continue to work hard so I can continue to play.