Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
Overall thoughts on the match…
“I thought everything went exactly the way we had hoped. We wanted to put some different guys in this game, but we felt like we needed to also keep some experience in the lineup. There’s a lot that goes into how you put a game together and who you pick and who you don’t and also thinking about RSL. I give a lot of credit to my staff because we spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right way to go. And I thought it paid off today. It doesn’t always, but today it did. It puts us in a position where we have a bunch of fresh guys to go into that league game. We got the result. We move on in the competition. The guys were very professional in the first half. Second half, shut the game down and got another clean sheet, and we go through in the competition healthy."
On the play of Jack Barmby…
“Thought he had a good first half was able to find the ball a lot. I thought he made good decisions. There is a real balance in how we play our wingers. It’s important that our wingers help us keep possession, but they need to bring penetration. There’s been some times when our wingers try to penetrate too much and we lose the ball and we end up defending too much because of that. Then there have been some games where we don’t penetrate enough. I thought today that Barmby really brought that right kind of mix of a guy; at times he comes inside and now that movement opens up space for others. It allows us to get extra numbers central. It allows us to move the back four of the opponent because now they have to make decisions. I thought he was good in that aspect and effective as well in getting in crosses. A good shift for him. He’s a young player. I was really proud today. There was a lot of positives, but one of the biggest positives I think is when you look at the youth in our team. We played today nine guys, 25 years old or younger, started seven. Barmby’s is 21 years old so that’s positive that we can play a lot of young guys and mix them in with some experienced guys up the spine, which was the plan and get the job done. That gives us a lot of hope for the future, not just now, but the future knowing that we have youth in the team."
On what this performance tells him in terms of readiness for CONCACAF Champions League…
“I think it’s good. I’ve been saying in the first 15 games having to play so many guys because of injuries has really helped us. It hasn’t always been perfect. We have dropped some points because of it. But now when we hit that midseason with the competitions kicking in we have guys who have played, guys who have bled in the uniform and gotten results. And learned what it takes and taken ownership in the season. They are very bought in and more confident because they’ve played, versus if we probably didn’t get guys injured then we are throwing guys in for the first time in this game and in Champions League. We wouldn't have as much evidence to go on to make good decisions like we did today. Today’s another game where we have evidence. Where we know what guys can do and stocks go up and down all the time. Barmby’s stock went up so now we know we can count on him. I think the last couple of weeks Taylor Peay his stock has gone up. Amobi Okugo I thought was excellent today. To know that we can put him in a game and not miss a beat. There’s a reason, he’s 25 years old, but he’s started I think it is over 100 MLS games. Jack Mac [Jack McInerney] is another one. He’s 23 years old and people don’t talk about that. People talk a lot about Jordan Morris and his age, but we’ve got a guy in Jack Mac that’s bagged a lot of goals in this league and he is 23 years old, and he bags another one tonight. Zarek Valentin, he’s 24 years old, Taylor Peay’s 24, Neco Brett’s 24, [Dairon] Asprilla’s 24. [Fanendo] Adi's 25. Jake Gleeson is 25. Darren Mattocks is 25. [Lucas] Melano is 23. Alvas Powell is 21. So we’ve got a lot of guys with many years left to play. That's exciting."
On the return of Darren Mattocks in the game…
“The thing about Darren that’s good is that as an attacker we can work him off the bench. Whereas a guy like Alvas [Powell] we probably need to get him a game with T2, 90 minutes. He played 60, we will probably get him a 90 with T2 because you don’t sub your defenders. With an attacker like Darren we can kind of bleed him back in off the bench. I thought he put a really good shift in. He was dangerous. That’s the good news, bad news – we’ve got a bunch of guys back. We have a lot of evidence to go on to make decisions. It’s going to be fun to pick the lineup every week and I’m sure it will be fun for you guys as well. The good thing is I don’t think we can make too many bad decisions because we now know what guys can do and we are going to need guys for three different competitions that we will be compartmentalizing for the rest of the season.”
On if there were any adaptations between the games against San Jose…
“I think if you’ve been following our team recently the last five or six games we’ve changed a little bit in the way we’ve played. Early in the year we were really playing on the break a lot. Probably building off the end of the last year because that was working. But we weren’t quite as effective playing that way early in year. I find it very interesting. Every year is different. Every team is different. What style suits them is different. We made a decision four or five games ago that we need to be a team as Jack [Jewsbury] said that is on the front foot a little more. And they like to play that way more. We have a little bit more of a technical team this year that can keep the ball. And I think our high pressure has been much better the last five or six games. Our possession has been much better overall. And yet, we can still absorb like you saw in the second half when we got a red card that we still can absorb and counter and we did that in second half today. So I think we’ve become a little bit more multi-faceted this year then probably we were even last year. We can be up the pitch more this year because I think that’s what the group likes, and it fits them because we are different team. We have a lot of different guys this year so we've adapted to that."
Portland Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury
On the result…
“It was good. I think we knew what we were getting ourselves into. When you draw another MLS team, you know you have to be sharp, and I thought we were tonight, especially in the first half. We came out on the front foot like we had planned, and to get two goals going into the half, you feel good about it. In the second half, we knew we had to manage the game. Would we have liked to have the ball a little bit more? Absolutely, but I thought we managed it well.”
On playing alongside younger players in the lineup…
“The majority of the guys that played in the game tonight – whether it’s injuries or getting plugged into the lineup – play major minutes for us. We knew what to expect. Obviously, there’s some consistency that you worry about, but tonight, when their number was called, they put in a great shift for us.”
Portland Timbers forward Jack McInerney
On overall performance after the break…
“It’s good. You’d think that we’d come out a little rusty, but the team played well. It’s like we didn’t miss a beat since the last time we played San Jose. A lot of guys came in and put in an overall good performance. We had possession, created chances and we got the result.”
On scoring the goal…
“Diego [Valeri] asked if I wanted it and I said, ‘Yeah.’ There was just a ton of space over the wall and I felt like if I could get it up and down, I was pretty sure it would go in. I hit it solid and I got it down.”
Portland Timbers defender Amobi Okugo
On the win…
“It was great. Coming back from the break to get a win to give us a head start heading into the second half of the season is always good. Open Cup is another opportunity to win a trophy, so whenever there’s a trophy on the line, you have to be serious, and I thought we did that today.”
On keeping a clean sheet…
“Overall, we had great organization. Liam [Ridgewell] did a great job of organizing the back line. The midfield did a great job. The coaches gave us a great game plan and I think just being familiar with them since we’ve played them so many times was key as well.”
Portland Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell
On building chemistry in the backline…
“I thought we built something last year with the most clean sheets of any team. I think this season has been a little bit difficult with injuries and people coming in and out. I think we’re getting into our stride at the moment, and denying players space and shots is a big part of it. I was pleased tonight to get a clean sheet and for us to get the win.”
On playing alongside younger players tonight…
“It’s always good. It was obviously good to see those boys come in. It was good to see Barmbs [Jack Barmby]. He did very well. Amobi [Okugo] came in and played well. To be a veteran and see some young guys play well, is always enjoyable for me. It’s only going to make our team better.”
San Jose Earthquakes Quotes
San Jose Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear
General thoughts on the match…
“Tough game. It’s always tough to come up here, no matter what competition it is, it’s a tough environment to play in. Thought we got off to a shaky start in the first half and 2-0 at halftime is a big hill to climb. Give the guys credit for keeping on pushing forward, trying to find it. Just never got that one, clear-cut chance. You have to give [the Timbers] credit for defending well. Something you want to do in advance and obviously we made a ton of changes to the team to try and get some guys some chances. We want those guys to do well, but full credit to Portland. They played well, scored a nice free kick and, like I said, 2-0 is tough to come back from. We never gave up, which is a good thing and it bodes well for us in the future.”
On his second half instructions with his team down 2-0…
“Try to get Chad Barrett a little more forward and run off Adam Jahn’s flicks. He was winning quite a few balls in the first half. Just had to get guys to be positive when we had the ball and rather than play the ball backwards, play it forward into little pockets that we think we can find. I think at times we didn’t and times we did. Just want to be a little more positive and take some more chances going forward.”
On the differences tonight against the Timbers versus on June 1 in MLS…
“A red card really. That’s a big key difference there. We had a ton of possession. Similarities are that they scored early both nights and we’re chasing the game. Have to try and be a little bit better in front of goal. [Portland] defended pretty well in the penalty area. The key for me was the red card. Obviously it played in our favor a couple weeks ago. Not entirely, but as far as possession goes. Tonight was just a bit of back and forth.”
San Jose Earthquakes forward Adam Jahn
General thoughts on the match…
“2-0 we thought if we could get one we could get another one and force overtime, but it just never came. Kept knocking, but the final pass in there and the final finish wasn’t there.”
On whether he thought the Earthquakes were better in the second half…
“Yeah, I think we came out in the second half with no fear. We were already down 2-0, had nothing to lose so it kind of spurred us on and we were more aggressive for sure.”
On adjustments made to the second half…
“Being down 2-0 we had to take a few more chances going forward and it left us a little more susceptible in the back. Luckily we didn’t concede anymore and we were more dangerous the second half. It just didn’t click.”
San Jose Earthquakes forward Chad Barrett
General thoughts on the match…
“Kind of the same story, different chapter for us for the last couple games. Just doing what we can to get the ball in the net and then getting the ball in the final third and getting better as the game goes on, but still not being able to complete that final pass or that final shot.”
On the differences between tonight’s match and the MLS match on June 1…
“I think we were out of it earlier just with the goals we let in. It was kind of lucky, Matias [Perez Garcia] hits it off his thigh and it falls right to [Dairon] Asprilla. Those are the kind of bounces we’re getting right now. We’re not getting the bounces going our way. I don’t think the ref had anything to do with it. I thought he did a good job today. I think we were just beat by a better team today. We didn’t come with what we needed to bring.”
On the atmosphere in the stadium for a US Open Cup match…
“It was a good atmosphere. Portland, whether it’s US Open Cup or MLS Cup, they always bring great fans out here. Especially during a weekday, I can’t commend them enough. They’re great fans.”
Notes:
- Forward Jack McInerney scored his fourth career goal in Lamer Hunt U.S. Open Cup play. McInerney is the second player to have scored at least four goals in both the U.S. Open Cup and the Amway Canadian Championship, joining Dwayne De Rosario.
- Dairon Asprilla is the third player during the Timbers MLS era to score in the regular season, MLS Playoffs, and U.S. Open Cup for the Timbers, joining Diego Valeri and Darlington Nagbe.
- Seven players played in their first U.S. Open Cup match with the Timbers during the win against San Jose (Jack Barmby, Neco Brett, Ned Grabavoy, Darren Mattocks, Jack McInerney, Amobi Okugo, and Zarek Valentin). It was the first appearance in the competition with any club for Barmby, Mattocks and Valentin.
- Defender Amobi Okugo made his first start for the Timbers, after making his debut as a substitute on June 1 against San Jose.
- The attendance for the match was 16,834, which is the highest attended U.S. Open Cup match at Providence Park. The previous record was set on July 1, 2009, when the Timbers played host to Seattle Sounders FC in the third round in front of 16,382 fans during their USL era.
- San Jose recorded zero shots on target, marking the third time the Timbers have held an opponent to zero shots on goal across all competitions in their MLS era. The two previous instances occurred on Oct. 8, 2014, against San Jose and on Oct. 19, 2013, against Real Salt Lake.
- The Timbers second shutout of the season marked their first clean sheet against an MLS side in U.S. Open Cup play (10 previous matches dating back to 2004).
