Orlando 3, Atlanta United 1: What was said

What was said after Atlanta United’s 3-1 loss to Orlando on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:

Atlanta United interim head coach Stephen Glass

On Orlando’s press in midfield and how it affected the team

“Yeah, I think so. Especially in the first half it affected us. I think when they set up we knew it would be a little tighter in midfield, but there are ways to pass that pressure. We didn’t quite find a way to do that. Subsequently, when they were winning the ball back we were out of shape and there was more space for their players to play. Generally, the whole shape was a little too easy to play through. We didn’t get a grip on the game.”

On the video assistant referee decision

“I don’t think there is any doubt (there should have been a penalty kick called). When a player gets kicked and he has stud marks on his neck, that’s high and dangerous. There are rules in place for that. Obviously, the referee has decided not to call a PK and the Video Assistant decided the same. I don’t know if anything will happen after the event like last week. We had a player suspended after the match, and there wasn’t even a free kick given against us. You never know what happens.”

ExplorePhotos from the match

On the team’s performance in first half vs. second half

“I think in the first half, we didn’t cope with their shape in midfield. We didn’t cope with the way they pressed us and the way they were using the ball. We managed to fix that in the second half. A couple of substitutions, a couple of positional changes helped us. There were things, that if you have been working with a group for several months it’s easier to fix on the fly. It took until we got into halftime for us to fix it tonight.”

On his observations of the final 20 minutes with some different players on pitch

“Yeah, we rolled the dice a little bit. With 30 minutes to go we subbed in Cubo (Torres) and Ezequiel (Barco). They are obviously limited for time at the moment. Part of the process right now is to get everybody up to game speed as long as they can. The team itself is suffering because of some of the top individuals aren’t able to play right now. But, as long as the players and the team are moving in the right direction, we are going to get where we want to be.”

On what was missing from tonight’s performance

“I think in the first half we were waiting to see how the game was going to pan out. I think Orlando looked in the first half like they were up for the fight a touch more. It took until halftime and we got our pride knocked a little bit, and we came out fighting. I think overall, the first-half performance is what cost us the victory tonight.”

On Barco’s performance overall tonight

“He looked good. He gave us a little spark there in the second half. Obviously, you are pushing him for the 30 minutes we could tonight. I think he will get some confidence and some fitness from that and we will look to build him up continuously. We want our best players on the pitch for as long as they can. He has missed a little bit of training here and there, and it’s tough with no reserve games or anything like that to get him fully up to speed. He’s going to have to use the First Team games to get up to speed, but overall I thought a positive performance in the second half from him.”

On the youth in the lineup showing with not having enough leadership on the field

“I’m not sure I would say that. I think it’s that we’ve had to limit the amount of time and game practice to actually move things around. I think as the season progresses, hopefully you’re going to see a team that learns on the go. And if we’re not coping with a shape, or something like that, it will be easier to change it on the go. We have not had preseason games – us as a staff – to be able to fix problems and put two or three different things in place. So that’s been the difficulty, but you will see a group that gets better as the season goes. I think the second half, you saw a group of players that looked like they were fighting for the jersey, looked like they were trying to fix some of the issues from the first half. And I think there’s no doubt we were a lot better in the second half than we were in the first, which is a positive and we’ll look to build on that toward Wednesday night.”

Atlanta United defender Brooks Lennon

On Atlanta’s strategy facing Orlando City SC

“We knew they were going to come in with a high press. We knew we would have some of the ball and so would they. I don’t think we moved the ball quick enough. We had too many cheap giveaways in the first half that led to goals. We came in with the game plan of trying to try to break them down by possessing the ball and finding gaps. Like I said, we were just moving the ball too slowly and unfortunately gave the ball away too many times and they capitalized.”

On what scoring his first goal with Atlanta means

“It means a lot. My first goal for Atlanta United. It’s tough to score with no fans but it meant a lot to me personally but in terms of the overall result it’s just not good enough. I wish I was scoring in a game that we were winning but we just need to go back and keep training hard and get things right.”

On how his head and neck are and about how the team can move the ball faster

“First of all, my head and neck is okay. I had a couple hard knocks today. I’ll be alright. Thanks for asking. Secondly, I think it’s just game by game we need to build off our performances. I think tonight, the way we played in the second half was positive. We were able to pull a goal back with I think more than 10 minutes left to go in the game so we had ourselves a chance to get back into it but unfortunately we give up the third goal because we were pushing for our second goal. I think, like you said, game repetition and the more we play the more we create more chances like we did in the second half the more we are going to capitalize and win more games.

On Jürgen Damm’s impact and how he’s building chemistry with the attack

“It was a great assist tonight to my header. He had a couple good chops on the guy and he was dangerous at times tonight, which was nice to see. He came on with loads of energy and that’s what we need. We need guys that want to be out there, work hard and create chances so it was nice to see him get an assist tonight and we just need to continue to build off our performances and our chances and start burying the chances that we get.”

On the feeling in the locker room after losing to Orlando City SC for the first time

“It’s tough. These type of things mean a lot to this club. Losing to a team you haven’t lost to before in franchise history. It’s really tough. Guys are really disappointed in the locker room right now but Glassy came in and told us we have another game on Wednesday against a good Miami side coming in at home so we just need to put this one behind us and focus on trying to win that game.”

Atlanta United defender Anton Walkes

On what the objective was going forward

“I think the intensity might have been a bit too slow. That is one thing I will hold it down to, especially between us. We need to move the ball very quickly, especially with them so deep. I think looking back now, if there is one thing that I could change it is definitely the speed that we were playing at. I think it affected our whole team and it is something we should have done better.”

On Orlando’s first two goals

“That was individual mistakes that occurred multiple times within that passage of play. So, if you look back at the goals, we’ve almost given them and just invited them to go and attack our goal which is something we should never do. It is too easy. We have to look at that and make sure we don’t do that again come Wednesday.”

On what was missing from the team

“Individual mistakes. You can’t boil it down to players as themselves, I think it was something that was a chain reaction. Small things would trigger off errors and they capitalized. This is a league where it is very ruthless, and teams are looking for individual mistakes and errors across all types of positions and open play. ... Teams, like I said, they want that against us and we can’t give it to them.”

On building out of the back and if the team will work on it in the coming weeks

“I think weeks is a bit too long for us, we need to change something come Wednesday and we are going to look at that straight away. Especially from what I saw, I think there’s a few things that I could have changed individually within my position and just making sure I can get the ball as quick as I can to the forward players. Looking back, I will hold myself accountable for some of the stuff, too.”

On getting ready for Wednesday’s match

“You have to put things right. We don’t want to lose. That is one thing we are going to be known for. We’ve got the identity that teams know we are one of the bigger names in the league and we have to back ourselves and show what we are worth because we have to give something back to all of the people that are supporting us and the club.”