Portland Timbers Quotes
Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
Overall thoughts on the game:
“We’re obviously disappointed in the draw. For me, the fact that we are so disappointed says everything about how far we’ve come as a club, and the culture we’ve created and the standards that we have, that literally we take the field with this group of guys and we expect to win every game we play. If we don’t win, we’re not happy, we’re not pleased. I thought, honestly, from a mentality standpoint, from an energy standpoint, (it was) one of our best games of the year. Games at this level, especially when you got two good teams with a lot at stake, they’re like it was tonight. This is how games are. They’re tight, it’s a battle, it’s chippy, there’s not a lot of rhythm. But in saying that, we were, in my opinion, clearly the better team. We had better chances. They had very little from the run of play. We had 57 percent possession, so that shows we were the deciding team for most of the game. But you have to give them credit. [Vancouver] came in here, they fought hard. Clearly their plan was to chop the game up. It fit the way the game went in terms of the officiating, the way the game was called, I thought it helped them. But in the end, I thought we did enough to win the game and played well enough. If we continue to play the way we did tonight, we continue to show the fight, the focus and the mentality we had tonight, we’re going to be in good shape. We need to move on, we’ve got a big game on Wednesday, Open Cup game. Opportunity to, if we win, come back here to play for a trophy. And this group is going to be up for it, I’ll tell you that, just like they were up for it tonight.”
On some of the chances that were created:
“I thought we were better. Again, we’re creating chances, a great goal. Valeri to Ryan Johnson, good finish there, that’s the chance he missed in the San Jose game, so credit to him. Games at this level, when you got two good teams, they’re going to be like this. You see it every week, especially as it gets closer and closer to the end of the year, as it gets to the playoffs, teams don’t play as open and they don’t gamble quite as much. Like I said, they’re just trying to pinch the game, they’re not trying to control the game. They clearly came in here to try and pinch the game, pinch a result, and fair enough, they did. They got a point. But we make the play on the corner, it’s a 1-0 game. Again, I think even though it was a tight game, even though this was, for me, a typical MLS game, a playoff-type game, end of the year where teams are playing for playoffs, that’s a 1-0 win if we make a play on the corner kick.”
On the team’s reaction to the draw and maturity of the club:
“They’re not happy [with the draw]. It’s not that they have to rant and rave. We have a very mature team in that regard. We don’t get emotional. We have passion, certainly we have intensity. This team is mentally tough. You can just tell. They weren’t down, like I’ve seen some teams that don’t have the right mentality. This team, they’re professional. They’re mature, they stay level-headed.”
Timbers midfielder Will Johnson
On the physicality of the match:
“Yeah, we did fine. Obviously, it's a chippy game, there's a lot of fouls. I would have liked to see the game been sped up a little bit more, the tempo pushed. Obviously, it's a chunky game and he's calling it tight like that, it takes a lot of rhythm out of the game.”
On the result:
“You have to go and try to win games, you have to make plays. I think a lot of those draws are from a lack of making a play. We need guys, collectively, to step up within the shape of our team. Step up and make plays, especially when we're tied late in games, realize where we are, we have to push for the win.”
Timbers forward Ryan Johnson
Thoughts on the result:
“We wanted to win, but at the end of the day we got the point. We kept Vancouver below us and that's where we wanted to keep them.”
On the team’s confidence in continuing to create scoring chances:
“You know, that's the number one thing we want to do, is to keep creating the chances like we are and at the same time keep positive in the possession. That's where we want to be, we want to make sure we're on the ball, you know, not playing defense. We've been doing that for the most part this year and that's what we want to continue doing because the goals are going to happen as long as we keep creating the chances.”
On the quick turnaround to the U.S. Open Cup semifinal:
“It's a completely different mindset now. We are just two games away from winning a cup here, and, you know, that would be a huge accomplishment, to win a cup for the Timbers. We're just two games away, all we have to do is go through Real Salt Lake, and we'll be in the final. So it's kind of a different mind-set.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Quotes
Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie
On the team’s performance and result:
“I know that we've got a lot of character. Tonight, we were missing seven players that would normally start, so we're very depleted, but the players didn't use that as an excuse. They dug in and they played well. A little disappointed in the game and the goal that we lost, but I felt that we were very comfortable in this game."
On the team’s defensive play:
"Yeah, it was solid. I don't think we really were under too much trouble at all. I was disappointed with the goal we lost, we lost the runner in the box which was disappointing, and we were a bit too open on the counter attack there, but overall, I didn't think we were under too much trouble and I think we adjusted well. Losing Brad [Rusin] was definitely a blow to the game plan that we had but I thought the players responded to it well and, in the end, it was a good point."
On the first start by David Ousted:
"I thought he did well. I thought he looked comfortable. I didn't think we had really any chances against us. They weren't really too dangerous tonight, so we didn't have too much to do, but I thought he looked very confident."
On the play of goal-scorer Jordan Harvey:
"Yeah, he's doing really well. I think that he's an undervalued player sometimes. He's been doing very well defensively, but he's also been chipping in with goals. He was excellent on that corner; he attacked the ball really aggressively. I'm really pleased for him because he's the kind of player who quite often doesn't get a lot of credit, but I think within our team we value him very highly."
Whitecaps FC midfielder Matt Watson
On the result:
"I think we always dig deep when we go behind. I mean, you don't want to go behind, but I think we've shown that if we do go behind we're not afraid to come back. We don't just sit down and stop playing, we keep playing until the very end."
On the physicality of the match:
"I mean, a little bit, but obviously it's Portland, it's a rivalry, and I think it was always going to be that way. I think coming into it, everyone knows we need to show the fans we're giving 100 percent out there. So, there's always going to be a few challenges that are a little bit heavy, but that's part of the game."
Whitecaps FC goalkeeper David Ousted
On how he felt after his first start:
"That was fun; a nice place to play. An OK result for us getting one back from being down but it was fun."
On the environment at JELD-WEN Field:
"This is a lot bigger, especially the locals of the home crowd playing the second half with them at my back. But as I said, I think it was really fun. They created a great atmosphere and I think it was a physical match – maybe not as pretty to watch sometimes – really physical and a lot of intensity."
Notes:
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Portland sits in second place in the Western Conference, tied with the Colorado Rapids, just three points back of Real Salt Lake. Both Real Salt Lake and New York Red Bulls are tied for the top spot in the Supporters’ Shield race on 38 points.
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The Timbers remain unbeaten in their quest to win a second straight Cascadia Cup, drawing Seattle Sounders FC and Whitecaps FC earlier in the season, and again Saturday night in their third Cascadia Cup match of the year.
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The Timbers remain unbeaten against Whitecaps FC in the all-time MLS series between the two clubs with a 4-0-3 record, including a 2-0-2 mark at JELD-WEN Field.
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Portland is unbeaten in its last eight league matches at JELD-WEN Field, posting a 6-0-2 record and outscoring opponents 13-2 in that span.
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Overall, the Timbers are 10-1-3 across all competitions at JELD-WEN Field in 2013.
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The capacity crowd of 20,674 is the 44th consecutive sellout for the Timbers at JELD-WEN Field since joining MLS in 2011.
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The Timbers and Whitecaps FC combined for 31 fouls and six cautions, four of which were issued to Vancouver.
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The Timbers maintained 57.9 percent of the possession against Whitecaps FC.
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Midfielder Diego Valeri recorded his eighth assist of the season on Johnson’s goal in the 49th minute, which ranks among MLS leaders. With eight assists, Valeri ties the Timbers MLS record for assists in a single season first set by Jack Jewsbury in 2011.
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Valeri is the third Timbers player to record assists in back-to-back matches this season; the others are Frederic Piquionne and Rodney Wallace.
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Defender Alvas Powell made his MLS debut, starting at right back for the Timbers against Whitecaps FC. Powell becomes the youngest player in Timbers MLS history to start and play in a league match at 19 years, 16 days. Previously, the youngest Timbers MLS player to start and play in a match was defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste at 19 years, 270 days, in his MLS debut March 12, 2012.
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Midfielder Jack Jewsbury made his third start of the season in the midfield, after starting his previous 16 league games on the back line.
- Forward Ryan Johnson has scored in consecutive home matches. He also tallied in the 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy on July 13.
