Quotes: Portland Timbers at New York Red Bulls
Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On earning the first road victory:
“I thought it was good, it reminded me a lot of last year when we went on the road and beat Sporting Kansas City at their place; very similar game, we went down early and we battled back. I thought last year [that game] was a real turning point, it gave us confidence that we can go in anywhere against any team and get three points. I thought after we gave [up] the first goal we were the better team the rest of the game. I thought until the first goal they were probably better, they had us on our heels a little bit, but after we gave up the goal you saw the response. We showed what we are capable of. I thought we were very dangerous all night, I thought we defended well overall. It looked like the old Timbers.”
On Maximiliano Urruti's performance:
“We believe in Maxi, early in the year he missed some chances and lost a little bit of confidence, but he's in great form right now and that's exactly what you want out of your strikers. He and Gastón [Fernández] and even [Fanendo] Adi, all have done well recently with their minutes. Right now we have all three of our strikers playing pretty well. That will be important down the stretch, and certainly on Wednesday [against Chivas USA] we’re going to need to use all three.”
On the team's performance:
“I thought everybody did well. It was a team effort, I felt everybody put a shift in. Obviously the regulars brought it like usual, but I thought it was key that some of the new guys we inserted did well, like Jorge Villafaña, Rauwshan McKenzie and [Norberto] Paparatto. I thought Rauwshan McKenzie was really good all night, he hasn't played a lot of minutes and he went into a very difficult situation playing a great team on the road and I thought he was up for it against two of the best strikers in the league. And then Paparatto went in and he made two or three good plays he needed to make. I thought it was a real team effort tonight and we can build off this moving forward.”
Portland Timbers forward Maximiliano Urruti (Translated from Spanish)
On his brace:
“To be honest, I'm very content because I got the chance to score two goals. I think we played a smart game against a very good team with an extremely talented player such as [Thierry] Henry. But we were able to come away with three points and we are very happy with the result.”
On helping the team earn the first road victory of the season:
“We really needed those three points, we have been looking for them for a couple of games and we were fortunate enough to get them tonight. Now we just have to keep it going and it will lead to important things for the club.”
On getting used to the team and the league:
“It always helps out the player to get minutes. Continuity is very important and little by little I'm getting used to the league and that's one of the most important things.”
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts
On the second half:
“I think we were a little bit more aggressive than we were in the first half. We were getting tighter to the players, so we drew more fouls. That was the reason why we got more cards.”
On how the team can build off of this win:
“We just have to learn what we did right from this game, take out what we did bad also and prepare for our next game against Chivas; because it's going to be another tough game on the road.”
New York Red Bulls Quotes
New York Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke
On not getting the win after being ahead:
“Yeah, absolutely. We did enough to win the game, but we didn't finish our chances and when you play a team like Portland, who is a very good team, they'll make you pay. So that's to me the boxer, you get rope-a-doped almost and Portland has talent, and has a good team and they made us pay.”
On the mentality of the team:
“I said it at halftime, we have some great play, interchange between players, ball movement and then we get to the top of the box and we either want to take that extra touch, or make that extra pass when it's not necessary. So yeah, I thought we had numerous chances but if we took those shots, instead of that extra touch or dribble, we would have had countless more and maybe one goes in.”
On the defensive performance:
“I'm trying to rack my brain for any poor passes or unforced errors out of the back. I think part of the second goal was the clearance, (Jamison) Olave did all he could to get that ball out and we really didn't react well we they won it and they just put it right down us.”
New York Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry
On the game:
“I thought we played well in the first half. Conceding that goal just before halftime killed the momentum. We got a couple of chances early in the second half, I think, and then from that point it was kind of a weird game [in both] attack and defense. It was kind of weird but other than that we were creating. They weren’t too dangerous although they were dangerous on the counter attack. Again, they got the luck of the bounce in the box and the ref could have called for a penalty [on the possible handball], I guess, [and] he didn’t and [Maximiliano] Urruti followed and put the ball in. Story of the season so far, you know. We had most of the play in the beginning but that wasn’t enough.”
New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles
On another home loss:
“It’s not just the two losses at home, we’ve lost three in a row so I felt like we played better today, got a little unlucky. Got a couple goals called offside, think we might have hit the post once or twice. I just felt like we were a little unlucky. We definitely played better than the Chicago game at home but three games in a row losing is never easy and so we have a quick turnaround, we got to go to a tough place, go to Kansas City and we got to do our best to right the ship, if you will.”
Notes:
· The Timbers recorded their first-ever win against the New York Red Bulls and their first win at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night. Portland improved its all-time record to 1-2-2 against New York.
· Forward Maximiliano Urruti became the ninth player in Timbers MLS history to register a brace, and the second this season following midfielder Diego Chara’s brace against Seattle on April 5 at Providence Park.
· Urruti has recorded four goals in the last four matches, including three goals in the last two games.
· Portland has overcome a deficit in four of its five matches during a five-game unbeaten streak (2-0-3).
· The Timbers have earned a point in seven of their last eight matches.
· Midfielder Steve Zakuani has earned an assist in consecutive matches.
· Defenders Rauwshan McKenzie and Jorge Villafaña each made their first start of the season on Saturday against New York.
· Midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe made his 60th consecutive regular-season start on Saturday. Nagbe has appeared in 79 of the team’s 80 regular-season matches since the start of the 2012 MLS season.
· Portland has faced six penalty kicks in 12 matches this season, which is tied for the most in the league. Conversely, the Timbers have been awarded zero penalty kicks and are one of only four teams in MLS not to have won a penalty kick.
· Continuing a busy stretch of matches, Portland will travel to face Chivas USA on Wednesday before heading back to the Rose City to play host to Vancouver on June 1.
