What was said after Atlanta United’s 4-0 win against D.C. United on Saturday at Audi Field:
Interim head coach Stephen Glass on tonight’s performance:
“I think from the start of the game there was a stronger focus from our side. It looked like there was a bigger determination not to lose a goal. Obviously, we bore the fruits of that early in the game. From there, we find ourselves up instead of down and the team grew in confidence from that. They then built on it throughout the night. The players thoroughly deserve everything they got tonight.”
On the substitution situation at start of second half:
“To be honest, I don’t want to focus too much on what happened. I think they fielded an ineligible player. But, it is what it is and to be honest I’d rather just move on. I think in the heat of the moment you push for your team. I was thinking about Wednesday night and all that stuff coming up. I think it was better for the players to play, everybody wants to play. So, I’d rather just focus on the team performance tonight.”
On the progression from Jon Gallagher the last weeks:
“I think Jon is responding to playing a number of games in a row I think. He’s getting some consistency. He looks to me like he believes in himself a little bit more. He knows there is a coaching staff that believes in him. He has found his way into the team through hard work. At the moment he’s keeping himself there through the same thing and his quality is coming up. His first goal tonight was a good finish, but on the second goal he looked like an assured player when he sticks it in the net. The growth in him has been fantastic. It’s hard to put the finger on exactly one thing, but I think he’s worked hard and he’s enjoying his football at the minute.”
On Brooks Lennon’s development and if the third goal was one of the better goals he’s seen:
“Brooks has been great. There are a few guys who we’ve asked to play multiple positions. Brooks has played right back, right side midfield or right wing and I think he’s done well at all of them. One of his key attributes from either position is that he can deliver a great ball. I think Adam (Jahn) movement for the goal he scored was great. Cutting in on his left foot was great by Brooks. He’s similar to Jon (Gallagher) in being a confidence player. I just hope that all the players grow from a performance they put in tonight and the reward they got.”
On tonight’s performance providing confidence for the remaining games:
“I think it’s important that we build on it. We’ve won games in isolation, so I think it’s important that we build on this performance. You saw a group that was assured tonight. They believed in what they were doing, they were very focused. The work rate off the ball contributed greatly to the performance on it. We were ready to react if we lost it. It’s important that we do build on it. It’s hard to say that it will definitely happy, because we have been here before, but the way the group performed tonight they like that feeling. They will want more of that.”
On the midfield play, in particular Mo Adams' performance:
“Mo has been great in training. He’s had to wait his turn, but his performance levels in training have pushed him in. So, that’s good for a coaching staff to see. In terms of what I saw from Mo last year (with ATL UTD w), sometimes when a First Team player comes down to the second team the attitude isn’t perfect. Every time we had Mo last year, he was incredible to the younger players. I think he came into tonight, he looked composed on the ball and off it. He looks ready to contribute a lot the rest of the season, as is the whole group including the players who didn’t play tonight. It’s important that the group is recognized as well. There were a few players tonight who haven’t played a lot of minutes that contributed tonight.”
On what the team needs to do looking forward to Wednesday’s match:
“We need to learn our lessons from the previous games we have played against Orlando. The last time we played down there, we put up a good fight and had a good second half performance. They probably have been better than us in the games we have played them this year. We’ve had opportunities to score goals, but we haven’t really taken them. We’ve been punished quite severely by them, which they have done to a number of teams, so we need to learn those lessons from the games we have played. The team selection tonight was not with an eye towards Wednesday. We aren’t at the stage where we can start protecting guys. We protected guys later in the game that were on yellows. We were careful on guys not getting a sending off tonight, that’s the only thing we did with an eye towards Wednesday.”
On Emerson Hyndman’s play further up field and an update on Ezequiel Barco:
"We know Emerson’s quality when he plays higher in the midfield. He’s a clever footballer. When you see him confident, you see him playing more one-touch football. You see him driving with the ball a little more. Not coming quite so deep to receive it, you saw a lot of that from Emerson tonight.
In terms of Barco, 100 percent I see him playing for the team the rest of the year. I think on Thursday we did the press conference and I said that three of the four players that were potentially available. (Matheus) Rossetto was the player not potentially available. Two other lads, Miles Robinson played tonight, and Jürgen Damm came on as a sub tonight. Ezequiel has been training. He is day-to-day. I don’t want to divulge what his injury is, but he’s been carrying an injury where he has been able to train. He’s still been feeling thing, he’s had a couple of setbacks unfortunately. There is nothing sinister going on with him. I’ve seen the suggestions. I’ve seen the suggestions that I’m not being honest that he’s training, he’s 100 percent training. I read an article the other days saying, “alleged injuries”, he has an injury. So, that’s the simple facts. I’m not being misleading in any way. The club is not being misleading in any way. He wants to play, we want him to play, and he will play a part later on in the season. I don’t know when, but hopefully very soon."
Atlanta United forward Jon Gallagher
On his change in mentality as a player since Stephen Glass has taken over as manager:
“A lot of it comes from Glassy himself – just giving me that confidence that he has trust in me. He trusts in my ability and knows what I’m capable of, putting me up higher in the pitch. And saying you can score goals for this team. If that’s what he expects of me, then that’s the pressure I put on myself.”
If Jon had a favorite goal of the two that he scored tonight:
“I don’t know. They both were nice in their little own way. The first, obviously just to help the team kind of get that pressure off our back. You know we’ve conceded a lot in the first 10-15 minutes of the game. So, in the locker room we had Brad [Guzan], Jeff [Larentowicz] saying let’s put the pressure on them right away and we did that. But I think if you look at the second goal, it’s a little more of a team goal, which is nice. But the combination on the first goal, Adam [Jahn’s] layoff to Emerson [Hyndman] out to Brooks [Lennon], both of them were really nice goals so it’s hard to pick which one.”
On how satisfying it is to score the third goal where there was a lot of team build-up:
“Look, we wanted to make a statement today. We know D.C. has been struggling. But we felt like it was a really good opportunity for us to kick-on. So, putting four goals away and making a bit of a statement that we can attack, and we can keep a clean sheet. So, we’ll be looking to do the same on Wednesday. Another tough game. Hopefully we can kick on and put up a couple of more points on the board.”
On looking forward to Orlando and how important this win is going into match-up:
“It’s hard to deny that they have been really successful in what they’re doing. They’re playing good football. And that’s good for us because we still see them as a rival. And we know what we’re capable of. We’ve played them twice now. And it helps a lot getting the result tonight because that gives us confidence to know we can go into Wednesday and make another statement.”
Atlanta United midfielder Brooks Lennon
On scoring with his weak foot:
“I knew I had it in me to score goals with my left foot. I do it all the time in training. I got a nice ball that dropped down to me and I saw nothing but net so it was good.”
On where he would rank his performance in his MLS career:
“I think last game was my 100th appearance. I knew I was creeping close. 100 games in MLS, first of all, means a lot. It is not easy to do that, so I am definitely proud of that on a personal standpoint. Tonight’s performance, personally I thought was the best performance I’ve had for Atlanta United. I need to continue doing what I did tonight, providing assists and goals for the team so we can get three points.”
On if the team is getting better:
“Definitely. I think first of all this is going to be a game that we can build off of in terms of confidence, and luckily the games are coming quick. We already have another game on Wednesday at home and then another game on Saturday. Hopefully we can take this result from tonight and build off of it on Wednesday and continue climbing up the table because that is what we need.”
On how the team can follow this performance with an equal performance on Wednesday:
“First of all, we need to stay positive and continue what we did tonight. Every person on the field gave their best effort. The guys up top finished the chances that they got. We can’t dwell on what’s happened to us in the past, early on in the season. We have to look forward and continue to build. I think Wednesday is a great opportunity for us to continue that and get another three points.”
On his relationship with Franco Escobar on the right side of the field:
“It is going really well. I thought tonight we were really good defensively on the right-hand side. I don’t think they had any clear-cut chances coming down our side. Franco’s communication with me has gotten better every practice and every game and we have a really good relationship between the two of us. That is a great thing to have moving forward and we just want to continue to win games together.”
On Jon Gallagher’s development:
“It has been great to see Jonny on the field. Getting two goals tonight, for him, was massive. He didn’t get a lot of playing time early on when he came back from loan, but now he is getting his opportunity and he has taken full advantage of it and that is all you can ask for from a guy coming into the team. He has done really well. We all trust him and back him, so he just has to keep performing and he will stay on the field.”
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Atlanta United coming games
Wednesday vs. Orlando (6-2-4), 7 p.m., FSSE
Oct. 10 vs. New York Red Bulls (4-6-2), 6 p.m., FSS
Oct. 14 at Miami (3-7-2), 8 p.m., FSSE
Oct. 18 at Toronto (6-2-4) in Hartford, Conn., 7:30 p.m., FSSE
Oct. 24 vs. D.C. United (2-5-5), 4 p.m., FSSE
Oct. 28 at Orlando (6-2-4), 7:30 p.m., FS1
Nov. 1 vs. Cincinnati (3-6-3), 7 p.m., FSSE
Nov. 8 at Columbus (8-1-3), 3:30 p.m., FSSE
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