Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On how he felt about tonight’s game…
“I thought we played really well. In terms of performance, shots, chances created, you know everything. I thought we were the team that looked to be more of the aggressor. We left it all on the field. I’m not sure there is anything more the guys could have done. We had some good chances. Ultimately with the chances we had we probably should have found at least one goal. You’ve also got to credit their goalkeeper. For their team he was the MVP. I thought overall across the board it was a very good performance. We defended well from start to finish and their chances were few and far between.”
On not missing a beat despite having to deal with a lot of injuries…
"Honestly, I thought our guys threw everything at them. I thought we got good performances out of pretty much everybody. We have Diego Valeri, Will Johnson, Ben Zemanski and Diego Chara all out, if you look at our first choice midfield three, none of those guys were in there, yet we were still able to, against one of the best possession teams in the league, control the game and create more chances, get more shots and more corners. Really promising. I thought George Fochive in his debut was outstanding. I thought the backline, again, a real positive, but again not just them, the entire team. I thought defensively we limited their chances to one or two clear ones. Then I thought again we had enough chances. We didn’t struggle to create chances. We had enough to get a goal. We were just a save or two off from finding that winning goal.”
On how well the defense played tonight…
“I thought they looked extremely organized. Our team defending was tremendous, so real pleased with that. We are going to grind out points and find a way to win games if we do that, but we are going to find goals. If we defend like we’ve been defending I’m confident over the course of the season we are going to be in a playoff position at the end of the year.”
On if he saw this complete of a performance coming after the team’s preseason form…
“You always hope. Our preparation was really good. Everything you saw today, we were organized. I thought the plan on both sides of the ball was good. As a coach you want your team to perform well and you want to increase your chances of winning by limiting their chances and increasing your chances of scoring and we did that. Ultimately you don’t always find the goal, but I thought against a very good team in terms of performances, chances and flow, we deserved better. We didn’t find a goal but we created more chances than we had created in any of the other games in preseason. So that’s a really good sign.”
On Nick Rimando’s performance...
“He’s a great goalie. I thought again he was their MVP today. You want three points; you are never going to be happy at home if you don’t get three points. But ultimately I thought our performance was very, very good on both sides of the ball. Sometimes you just don’t find the goal and sometimes it’s because the other team has a really good goalkeeper that makes a couple plays. “
On the level of the team’s play being like “midseason-like form” tonight…
“I thought we looked really organized and really aggressive. I thought our fitness level was high. Again I was really pleased. You guys know me, if we drew that game and played like crap then I’d come in and tell you. I don’t sleep quite as good as if we would have gotten three points tonight, but ultimately I feel really good about the performance and that gives me a lot of promise going into the next game because I feel like there is not really a lot to address and correct other than finding that one goal.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury
On tonight’s performance…
“We had so many chances, so it’s frustrating having so many chances and only coming away with a point. I thought our guys played extremely well and limited a very, very good team on their attacking end. So frustrating not to get three points, but definitely a performance we can build on.”
On tonight being a good sign and the defense turning the corner from last season…
“Absolutely. I think Adam [Kwarasey] and the back six – the back four and the two holding mids – that core, we know that we can continue to hold teams. You look at tonight and you saw a team like Real Salt Lake that is very dangerous going forward, had two shots [on goal]. We feel very comfortable with the group we have in there right now. We are going to continue to limit teams and now it’s just a matter of getting things clicking going the other way.”
On being a more dominant team in the second half…
“I think there were periods in the first half; you know first game of the season everybody is going to come out on the front foot. It was a bit more direct then we probably thought it would be especially against Salt Lake. So in the second half we wanted to try to keep the ball a bit more and create chances off of that. I thought we did good job of it. Again it’s just frustrating coming in here and not getting three points in the first game when you play that well.”
On what it says about the team overcoming injuries and having that performance tonight…
“The depth on this team is incredible. I think another example of that tonight was George [Fochive] the way he filled in there and played an extremely good game in his first MLS match. So kudos to him for being prepared and ready for when his opportunity came; he made the most of it.”
On playing at such a high level in the first game…
“I think for us it’s a matter of the work we put in during the offseason. For guys to come in fit and then preseason the coaches getting us ready for this first game. It was a long preseason but you could tell tonight we were sharp in all areas on the field.”
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey
On what it felt like to lift the log in front of the Timbers Army tonight…
“It’s always nice to keep a clean sheet. Today I have to give a lot of credit to my defenders. They were solid throughout the game and didn’t let them have a lot chances today. I don’t think I was on the ground once in this game so I have to share this one with my defenders.”
On if he prefers a game like the one tonight…
“Yes. I like to win. If you keep clean sheet, most likely you’ll win. Today we didn’t score, but we were the better team and had the better chances and outplayed a really, really good team. We should be proud of the performance but of course we should have scored one.”
On his first Providence Park regular-season experience…
“The fans were singing throughout the 90 minutes, which is fantastic. It’s probably normal here, but the first time for me, so it was a nice experience.”
Portland Timbers defender Nat Borchers
On what it was like playing against his former team…
“It was emotional. No doubt about it. Going out onto the pitch and seeing guys you played with for almost a decade was tough. Seeing them on the field and the way they battle and fight definitely brought back some good memories. But I’m really excited about our group and how well we played and the performance we had tonight.”
On how he feels about getting a draw tonight…
“You have to give credit to them. They defended well that last part of the game and they made some really good plays. Their backline was solid and Nick Rimando had a great game. On the flipside, I’m really proud of two players in particular who played really well tonight. That was George Fochive and Jack Jewsbury. They did a good job denying the passing lanes to [Javier] Morales because he makes them tick and I thought they were outstanding in their defensive qualities.”
Real Salt Lake Quotes
Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar
On his biggest takeaway from the match…
“The biggest takeaway was, defensively, we were all on the same page. I thought the fight, the commitment, the passion was off the charts defensively. Can we get better offensively? Absolutely. But this is not an easy place to play. The turf gets slick, things happen quick and I thought our focus was very good on the defensive end.”
On Nick Rimando’s performance…
“I think Nick plays well everywhere. I think the energy in the stadium is outstanding, [Portland’s] fans are great. It’s great for them, but it’s also great for us. You feel the energy, so guys just rise to the occasion.”
On whether the intensity of the match is something that benefits both clubs to start the season…
“That’s a great point. We feel like even though we didn’t play a great game offensively, we feel like it’s a win to us right now because of the commitment on the defensive end, the shutout in a very difficult place and now we’re already thinking ‘let’s get home and take care of business at home.’ That’s going to be our mentality.”
Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando
On why he seems to always play so well in Portland…
“The Northwest is just where I feel good, I guess. This isn’t about me. This is about the guys in front of me that help me out. Obviously I did my part, but they were tremendous in front of me. Second balls, to balls in the air, to covering. [Portland] has some big weapons on their team and we shut them down tonight, so we should be proud about that.”
On playing against Nat Borchers…
“Just on free kicks when he came up. Yeah, it’s weird for sure [seeing him in a different uniform]. He’s been a big part of this club for a while and it’s good to see him happy and moved on, but it’s definitely weird seeing him in a different kit. They got a zero. What more can you ask of a new center back that comes to a team to contribute and get a zero?”
Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman
On playing against Nat Borchers and what he brings to the Timbers…
“It’s a little strange seeing ‘The Bearded One’ on the other side. He’s a good friend of mine and I think he looks better in red. We kind of held off a little, put our friendship aside once we got inside the lines. Of course we have respect for each other on the field, but I think we were both trying to stay focused for our teams and we’ll chat after the game. He’ll bring leadership. That’s first and foremost. He’s a guy that goes out every day in training. He works just like it’s a game every single day. He leads by example. He may not have the captain’s armband out there, but he’s a captain-like person. He’s a great defender, he can get a couple goals for you that you can count on throughout the season and he’s going to help get shutouts for Portland.”
On how having such an intense season opener benefits both clubs…
“I think it’s probably a positive result on both sides. Both teams obviously wanted to get a win, but you can take a tie. It’s two good teams. Portland’s always a tough team, so for us on the road, I think you go for a win, but you’ll take a tie. So hopefully we can build on that and take it home for next week.”
Notes:
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Saturday’s crowd of 21,144 marked a new Timbers MLS-club record and was the team’s 69th consecutive home sellout at Providence Park since 2011. Portland has sold out all of its regular-season home games since joining MLS.
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Portland registered its fourth consecutive shutout, including the final three games of the 2014 season, on Saturday night. The Timbers extended their shutout streak to a Timbers MLS-record 394 minutes without conceding a goal, spanning the end of the 2014 season and start of the 2015 season.
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Midfielder George Fochive made his Timbers MLS regular-season debut on Saturday against Real Salt Lake.
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Goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey and midfielder Dairon Asprilla each made their MLS debuts on Saturday night against Real Salt Lake at Providence Park.
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Midfielder Jack Jewsbury became the first Timbers player to start four season openers in the MLS era.
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Midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe surpassed the 10,000 minutes played milestone in the 43rd minute on Saturday night. Nagbe also made his Timbers MLS-best 128th career appearance.
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The Timbers are 2-0-3 in regular-season home openers at Providence Park since 2011.
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Saturday’s match marked the 50th game in MLS history in which neither team was called offside during the game.
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With the clean sheet, Adam Kwarasey became the first Timbers MLS goalkeeper to register a shutout in his Timbers debut.
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Saturday’s match marked the on-field debut of Portland’s new primary kit, which was unveiled on Tuesday.
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Defender Liam Ridgewell made his 16th consecutive start for the Timbers on Saturday, which is the team’s longest current streak of consecutive starts.
- Portland held Real Salt Lake without a corner kick on Saturday, marking the second time in the Timbers MLS era that Portland has held a team without a corner kick (March 29, 2014, at FC Dallas).
