Atlanta United 2, Nashville 1: What was said

“Start with the last one. Franco Escobar got knocked on his thigh and felt already something there. Another moment he felt it a little bit more so then we didn't want to take the risk to continue. I don't know if its the same as Miles Robinson, but it looks a little bit like it but maybe not so high. Miles Robinson had it really high in his thigh, so that we have to wait you know, we have to wait for MRI or something like that. And Josef doesn't look really really well right now, but I cannot say anything about it. We have to examine him tomorrow in hospital we will get a good opinion about it.”

Overall can you talk about the result of the night:

“Well you know Nashville played compact and it was difficult to create or find your free man in the midfield but I think we were patient and we didn't let us provoke to let us play the first ball directly into the midfield you know and you saw when we were patient and we suddenly had our midfielders free and then we came out quite well I think. Strong. So I think we would deserve a good to score a goal and out of nothing with a free kick they scored a goal so it was forth course for us very disappointing you know we had the control and out of nothing they scored a little bit of lucky goal and so we tried to continue that at half time and they are probably going to be more impatient and try to press us a little bit higher on the pitch and we have to try and explore the spaces they left behind and then I think in beginning we did that and then afterwards you know it was more surviving also with injuries and some players were a little tired so we had substitute guys because of injuries but also guys because were tired of course. In the end you know three points the first game. Last year we lost the first game. It’s a good start it’s the first step of 33 to go. We had to come from far you know with injuries we have right now who stayed in Atlanta come back very quickly because we need them because of injuries of Franco and Josef right now.”

Goalkeeper Brad Guzan 

 On the performance tonight:

“You know I think obviously the injuries, you start and stop a little bit. The game really never had a flow to it. I think the quality showed through in terms of the two goals, and then they get one off a set-piece and it all the sudden becomes a game. To be able to hang on for probably the last 25-30 minutes, that speaks volumes to our character.”

On the conversations with the backline:

“Just making sure that we knew where (Hany) Mukhtar was in terms of his movement and trying to get on the ball and link their midfielders to their strikers. Clearly, he wants to be the guy that makes them tick, so we had to make sure we kept an eye on him, but also being aware of some younger guys stepping on the field and being asked to do a job and so we knew it was going to take a collective effort to make sure that we did some dirty running tonight. Yeah, at the end of the day three points is a good start to the year.”

On maintaining the concentration despite the injuries:

“Part of team sports isn’t it? Next guy up, step up and do a job. Laurence (Wyke) came on, was fantastic. Adam (Jahn) came on, was fantastic. You know, it is what it is. That’s not our job to worry about. Our job is, whoever gets called upon to step on the field, is to make sure that one

Midfielder Emerson Hyndman 

On the goal:

“I don’t know. All I remember is just taking off the chest and hitting it as best I could and thankfully it went in the top corner. But, you know, it was probably the best one I ever hit.”

On if the raised flag from the assistant referee impacted the play:

“Don’t ask me. I have no idea. All I know is I was concentrating on the shot, so I haven’t even seen it.”

Defender Laurence Wyke 

 On how it was to play:

“It was a shock. I mean, I’m happy that I got onto the field and, you know, I did a job for the team, and got those three points really. Big crowd. First game of the year so, you know, it was a lot of stress out there, but I thought I handled it well. The team handled it well. We got three points which is all that matters."

On when you signed the 4-day contract, any thought or hope that you were going to play:

“I always had to be ready. On the bench or in the 18. Didn’t think it was going to happen. But, you know, have to get on, have to do a job.”

On what Brad Guzan said to you as you entered the game:

“Probably just, ‘calm down a little bit.’ I was a little bit anxious going into the game. Just needed to just steady it, get everything together, relax, and do my thing you know?”

Nashville SC head coach Gary Smith 

 On his thoughts on the match:

“I was very, very pleased with the way my group performed and getting ourselves back in the game after a difficult opening. It’s a very talented Atlanta side and they caused us some very serious problems in the first half. There was some I felt serious issues in trying to get pressure on the ball, but as the game wore on, I felt that we won to the challenge and really gave a decent account of ourselves. The second goal was a bizarre moment in the game. I think the assistant on our side puts the flag up, our guys certainly shouldn’t stop but they did. It created a moment of confusion that they were able to take advantage of. Second period, I was very very pleased with the way we applied ourselves, a bit more pressure to try and disrupt their possession and the momentum they were building. A couple of better choices, we may well have found ourselves with an opportunity to earn a point. Alan’s (Winn) final moment being one of the biggest examples of that, does extremely well to get himself to the dead ball line and the final ball really isn’t good enough at that part of the game.”

On if it's too early to say what the identity of this club may be:

“No, I think we are working towards what our identity will look like. You’ve seen snapshots of that tonight. Consistency is always going be the most difficult thing for a brand-new group but what I’ve think you’ve seen is a group that full of energy, positive where possible in their play, we have players in the group that want to make things happen. Quick to transition from defending into attack. Did they always make the right choices? No, that’s part of the growing pains of a brand-new team. With regards to the group in general, I think you can see a very good team ethic and for me, there was a good balance to the game. We look to threat, for the most part we look to defend very well and looked organized. Guys have taken on both roles and individual workloads very well. They had two shots on goal and had two goals in the first half. That’s pretty disappointing from us and high quality from them, but disappointing from us.”

On Atlanta's second goal:

“Well, I think it’s that they have three outstanding attacking players in the middle of the field. Their shape is a very difficult to deal with. I felt we coped with that for large portions of the game. The reality is that at some point, those talented guys are going to find some space. The disappointment was how it got there. In the end, yes, we maybe could’ve got a bit more pressure on the ball, but it’s a very good finish. If you give top-class players the opportunity to have a clear sight of goal, unfortunately that could well be the result. To that point, ten minutes into the game, I felt as though we were in a reasonable position. We looked as I said, competitive, well organized, and it was difficult for them to break lines. But as soon as they did, there was a change of gears and before you know it you’re one-nil down and I think that’s what we have to take on the chin. We’ll learn from it, there’s a lot of growth still to come in this group. The disappointment for me is that we haven’t been able to capitalize on one or two very decent moments to get something out of the game.”

Nashville midfielder Dax McCarty 

On if the cohesion gets better as the season goes on:

“Yeah, I mean, I think we started the game a little bit nervy. Um, and then we grew into the game obviously. After their first goal, it was obviously an unfortunate goal to concede, it kind of came from nothing like you said. I thought we grew into the game, we fed off of the energy from the crowd, we knew that Atlanta does unique things when they attack. They’re a difficult team to deal with and I thought that we dealt with them relatively well. I don’t have the stats or have it in front of me but they had two shots on goal and two goals. When that happens you can think of it a few different ways, you can say well they’re really efficient or we’re just a little bit unlucky and they’re finishing the few chances they did create. So obviously it’s disappointing to lose the game, but for me I look at it and think we can take some positives because both goals are preventable.”

On out-shooting Atlanta but having unlucky bounces:

“Look, I think the attacking side of the ball is always is going to be the last thing that always clicks. When you’re putting together a team from scratch, I think we got ourselves into really promising positions and some really good opportunities to get our dangerous attacking players in 1v1 positions, create chances, try to get some shots on goal. I think we didn’t test (Brad) Guzan enough. I think when we got the ball on some promising positions out wide, maybe our service was just a bit lacking in key moments. We talked about that, we talked about how we’re going to have to get better and get sharper. Defensively felt solid, like I said, two shots on goal, one of them obviously is a World Class finish, little bit of confusion on that one. You lick your wounds and you move on, I think we’re going to learn from it this week, we’ll watch video and keep growing as the season moves on.”

On an explanation leading to Atlanta's second goal:

“It was unfortunate. The assistant referee raised her flag and a lot of us paused for a split-second expecting a call of offside. She put her flag back down after probably two or three seconds and then, you’re kind of like scrambling, like “oh crap, what’s going on right now?” The ball bounces around and cleared out and look Emerson Hyndman has a fantastic goal, right? I think maybe if we don’t pause for two or three seconds, we can eliminate that. It’s disappointing, it’s a lesson to be learned for us because you have to play to the whistle.”

Nashville defender Walker Zimmerman 

 On being the first goal-scorer in club history:

“It’s really special. I mean, you said, it’s history. It’s never going to be erased and will stay in club lore forever. Obviously still disappointed with the result. I thought we deserved more out of the match, but, certainly excited with the goal.”

On the goal:

“We had a set piece, I knew Hany (Mukhtar) had some really good service. Just wanted to be really aggressive with it with the near post run. I got up with (Josef) Martinez, and then we both kind of headed it off each other, and it fell down and just trying to instinctively get a foot on it and a toe poke getting it by Brad (Guzan).”

On the rush and the moment of scoring that first goal:

“Yeah, it’s funny, I almost always freak out when I score. I always think before the game, of having some preconceive a celebration or thing. Normally, I just scream or run around and stare at my teammates and it never goes as planned.”

Nashville forward Dominique Badji 

On the emotions of the game:

“I wouldn’t say frustrated but, I know we can do better for sure. We've show in practice and some glimpses in the game. I think there are moment s where we could have tried to make a play where instead we were kind of hesitant. We were hesitant tonight, but I know going forward, having discussed it at halftime, and in the game we know what my strengths are and it would be nice to have more opportunities to be able to really show what I can do.”

On the team's development and readiness:

“More games is what it takes. I’ll tell you after a couple more games, then you will really see what we have to offer. You saw glimpses of it today, but we’ve got so much more to offer.”

On perfecting the cohesion in the attack:

“Yeah just reps, getting familiar with the new players. You know, the environment that you practice in is a little different than in the games. You can't make a game environment and we need games. The more games we get the more we are going to start clicking and the more dynamic we are going to be in the attacking third.”