What Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino had to say after a 2-1 victory over Chicago Fire Sunday in the regular-season home finale.
On victory and what it means to accomplish the first goal on the way to a Supporters' Shield: "There will always be goals to accomplish until the final. At least we're going to try it. And the fact that the team is in CONCACAF Champions League in only the second season is a big accomplishment for the team, and doing so along with setting the league record for wins and tying the points record of Toronto
last year is also big for us. We know there are still goals to accomplish, but it’s very important what we have done up to this point.”
On starting Ezequiel Barco and Andrew Carleton and if it was a risk given their youth: "No, it's true that they're young, but they have to play because they are good players and they've have shown to the coaching staff – in Barco's case this season and in Carleton's case for almost two seasons – that they are capable. I thought the young guys did a good job in the first half. I think in the second half, we didn't play as well aside from some small moments at the end of the game. At this stage of my career, I'm not satisfied with just getting the win, if we haven't had a good performance. But I can't not value the performance from the first half and also considering the absences we had."
On what the team did well and what it needs to improve on ahead of Toronto next week: "We need to play better than what we did in the second half. Lately, we have been playing teams that have been disqualified from the playoffs. They still have given us difficult games though. We know we need to compete for 90 minutes. You can't play mostly a good game, and then have lapses where you lose control of the game. We have to make sure we are focused for 90 minutes in Toronto. Against them, we know it's going to be difficult, and we have to do our job for the full game."
On how Darlington Nagbe and Julian Gressel did in the midfield replacing Miguel Almiron: "I think neither one of those guys are straight substitutes for Tito because they play different positions, but the idea was to have a triangle in midfield that was very good with their feet and focused on recovering the ball defensively, but also with a commitment to getting into the attack, and I think Julian (Gressel) did a good job throughout the game, (Darlington Nagbe) had good moments and poor moments, but you have to consider that neither one of those guys is the exact same player that Miguel
(Almiron) is so they have different qualities than what he brings to the team.”
On what Lagos Kunga has shown in training: "I have to be honest with you guys. The first thing you have to analyze are the absences that we had within the team. If the full team was healthy and we had Tito (Villalba), Miguel (Almiron), Brandon (Vazquez), Romario (Williams), than he would not have been in the team, but he's been playing all year with the second team and for that reason, we needed him today."
On if Brandon Vazquez and Romario Williams are hurt: "Right foot injury for Brandon and Romario had some discomfort on Thursday. That's it."
On Jeff Larentowicz not starting and the decision behind that: "Because I think for the characteristics of this game and for the qualities of the guys who we were going to start in midfield, we didn't need to have both Jeff and (Eric) Remedi on the field at the same time like we did in the second half. We needed one of the two to balance the team. Because (Darlington Nagbe) and Julian (Gressel), they also provide us with some balance in midfield, and I thought that in the second half we did go to Jeff but we have four intermediate players in (Andrew) Carleton, Julian (Gressel), (Darlington) Nagbe and (Ezequiel) Barco who are capable of playing both ways and helping out defensively, so I thought we only needed one defensive midfielder today."
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