Portland Timbers Quotes
Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter
On the match:
“It was an even game. We played level with them for 90 minutes. I was pleased with that side of it, but obviously disappointed it didn’t fall for us. We had four clear chances in the second half and ours didn’t fall then [Clint] Dempsey finds a goal somehow. That’s the difference. We need to put this behind us and get ready for Vancouver. It hurts now, but hopefully we can get three points next weekend."
On his team’s defensive performance:
“It was a very good defensive performance. I thought we managed the game exceptionally well. From the start of the game through the first half and came into the break in a good position which was the goal. We had nearly 50-percent of the possession, which doesn’t usually happen here against a team who likes the ball. They didn’t have many clear chances and we probably had the better of the chances in the second half, but we leave empty-handed. It hurts, but we have to put it behind us. We can’t lose energy because the result didn't come because these guys fought hard today. They fought really hard today and I was proud of their effort.”
On how he felt about the attacking side tonight:
“I thought we created enough to score. In a game like this you have to keep it tight. We’re on the road, we’re playing one of the best teams in the league, the Supporters’ Shield winners, two of the best strikers…we had to be organized, and I thought we were. We played a great game and we had, like I said, four or five clear chances in the second half. Darlington [Nagbe] had a shot top of the box, [Fanendo] Adi had a couple, [Maximiliano Urruti] had a shot and Gastón [Fernández] had a shot. Those chances are better than any they had, but we still leave empty-handed and that’s football.”
On the mindset in the locker room:
“They’re disappointed they didn’t get the result and felt they deserved better. I felt they deserved better. That’s clear. They played well but fell short. We score one of the four chances in the second half and the result is obviously different but we have to move on."
On turning focus to the next game:
“We’re going to get back to work. We’re not happy with the result, but we’re not going to lose any energy. We’re going to keep fighting. It’s a long season. With the way the results fell this weekend, we lose a point on a few teams. That’s it. Not a lot changes, it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t make up some ground on teams, but we lost a point on a few teams – that’s it. Now we need to go get three points vs. Vancouver."
Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe
On having more chances in the second half:
“We didn't really do anything different. I think maybe they tried to push the game a little bit more and tried to find that goal and we were able to find little gaps and chances.”
On not being able to finish chances:
“I’m not too sure. I wish we knew. Maybe it’s something we can work on. I feel like overall in training and other games we finish chances. We had three against Dallas but in this game we were just a little unlucky.”
On losing four straight against Seattle:
“I’m not too sure what it is about them. I know they don’t feel like it is going to be an easy game when they play us. I know they are still worried in the back of their head when we play that we can beat them so I don’t think it is anything too serious.”
On if Seattle has controlled the games against Portland:
“No I haven’t ever felt like they own us or are playing better than us or anything like that. They just finished their chances and we didn’t.”
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey
On the goal:
“It was a throw-in and there was an open man in the box and I guess he got a shot and I came down and saved the first shot and I got a weird spin and it was loose and I couldn’t find it and then Dempsey basically was on the line to tap it in.”
On the defensive performance:
“I thought we played a good game. I mean it’s hard when you lose one-nil and they get a goal like that. It’s been kind of the rhythm or the melody of the season so far. We play well but we can’t score that opening goal and win the games. Instead we end as a draw or we lose. We need to keep working and hopefully the luck will turn.”
On the atmosphere:
“It was a good atmosphere. It’s nice to play games that matter for people and it was a nice atmosphere and it’s a shame that we didn’t win and give the fans three points to cheer all the way back to Portland and have a good night.”
On the rivalry and how that affected the match:
“You could feel the rivalry but I didn’t think it was nasty or an ugly game. I expected it to be a lot more nasty and a lot more challenges but you definitely can feel the tension and rivalry on the pitch. It was nice to experience that. We have them three times this season and they won the first one and hopefully we can win the two next ones.”
Portland Timbers midfielder Jack Jewsbury
On the match:
“Yes it’s disappointing obviously especially with the high amount of emotions that go into a rivalry game. I thought we were very organized defensively and didn’t allow them too many clear cut chances. Unfortunately off a long throw-in is the one they get the goal. You are obviously disappointed to not come out of here with at least a tie and I thought we had enough chances on the road. You are not going to get a ton of clear cut ones but I thought we fought and played well enough to possibly get out of here with three.”
Seattle Sounders FC Quotes
Seattle Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid
Opening Statement:
“We were a little bit surprised at the beginning of the game because these games are typically more high-tempo, and they were just very content with pushing the ball around and back and not really going anywhere with it – sort of taking the air out of the ball and to slow things down. I thought we did a good job in the first half of not falling into their trap of getting stretched and pushing up too high. We felt we could have attacked a little bit quicker. There were times we then turned and also had possession, but we weren’t looking to make those runs behind, and those were the things we talked about at halftime. I thought we did a better job in the second half of trying to make runs behind their defense. I thought we caused their defense to turn a little bit. I thought there were times where I thought we could have taken on their outside backs one-v-one, and we didn’t do that enough. We got a goal – I thought we deserved a goal at that point – we certainly put on some pressure by the end. We all went off and we’re happy with the victory.”
On the message at halftime:
“The message at halftime was simply to play balls and move – play the ball and look to get behind. We tried to get Oba [Martins] out a couple of times, even off punts from Stefan Frei…We wanted [Lamar] Neagle to take on [Jorge] Villafaña a little bit more because we were happy with him coming to the right side and pushing [Marco] Pappa to the left. We thought we could exploit that and didn’t do it quick enough, we waited a little bit too long.”
On Stefan Frei’s near costly mistake in the final minutes:
“Stef came up to me after the game and said, ‘Sorry, I made that more exciting than it needed to be.’ And I said, ‘Just think back where you were a year ago, how far you’ve come.’ I am just really happy for him because I think he is showing our fans here and people around the league the quality goalkeeper that he is.”
Seattle Sounders FC forward Clint Dempsey
On getting three points at home before three straight road games:
“It’s huge. It’s always difficult to get points on the road and…we have [three] games in a row away, so we need to make sure that we’re ready and trying to get points out of those games and not just hoping we can win every game at home. We’ll be looking to get points in those next [three] games, as well.”
Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Gonzalo Pineda
On tonight’s match:
“At the end of the day we did what we had to do and we got three points. It was hard because it was a tight game, but at the end we had three points and that’s what we wanted before the game and we did that.”
On returning to the starting XI:
“It was great. It was very good to play in a great game like Portland-Seattle. It’s good to be back and it was so much fun out there.”
Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Osvaldo Alonso
On Darlington Nagbe:
“He is a good player, he is fast. You have to be aware when he has the ball. I think we did and kept him in front of us, at the end of the day we got the three points, and that is what is most important for us.”
On responding to Portland’s slow pace early in the match:
“We played together and I think did a good job of keeping them front of us. I think we did a good job defensively."
Notes:
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Sunday’s match marked the 89th all-time meeting between Portland and Seattle since the 1975 North American Soccer League (NASL) season.
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Midfielder Jack Jewsbury made the 310th appearance of his MLS career on Sunday against Seattle. It was also his 115th regular-season appearance with the Timbers since 2011.
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Midfielder Diego Chara registered his 125th career MLS appearance with Portland on Sunday.
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Portland’s passing accuracy on Sunday (84 percent) ranks as the second-highest mark for the team during the 2015 season so far.
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Despite the road loss, the Timbers have suffered the fewest losses away from home (12) in MLS since the start of the 2013 season.
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Playing his 15th competitive match against Sounders FC since 2011, midfielder Darlington Nagbe connected on 90 percent of his passes (56 of 62). Nagbe was also fouled five times, bringing his season total to a league-leading 26 fouls suffered.
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Defender Liam Ridgewell made his 23rd consecutive start since joining Portland on June 25, 2014, the longest current streak for Portland.
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The match was the 17th time the Portland Timbers have played a league match at CenturyLink Field in the club's history. Of all road venues since 1975, that ranks second-most for the Timbers behind Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, B.C.
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Portland's Darlington Nagbe and Seattle's Osvaldo Alonso are the only two players to play in every Timbers competitive match against Sounders FC since Portland joined MLS in 2011.
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Defenders Nat Borchers, Alvas Powell, Liam Ridgewell, midfielder Darlington Nagbe and goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey have all played the full 90 minutes in each of Portland’s first eight matches of the 2015 season.
- Midfielder Diego Valeri was in the gameday 18 for the first time since sustaining a torn ACL on Oct. 25, 2014, against FC Dallas.
