What was said following Atlanta United’s 3-1 loss at at Vancouver on Saturday:
GERARDO MARTINO
“We weren’t able to control (Kendall) Waston. He was the decisive piece for them this game. Aside form that, I thought we controlled the game pretty well and maintained possession. But he was a physical factor that allowed them to win today.”
-
On Vancouver’s tactics against Miguel Almiron
“Their three holding midfielders were their first line of defense. I thought we started well and were able to find a goal early, but after that they were able to defend him well. The biggest factor in this game were set pieces.”
-
On if the game felt the same as the losses to NYCFC and D.C. United
“I think all the games are different. The game against New York I think we were outplayed. The game against DC we made some bad mistakes that cost us that game. Today, we weren’t outplayed, but they had one player who was very physical. He was the difference-maker on set pieces.”
-
“In the league there’s not many guys like Waston. We haven’t had problems up until now. He’s a player that’s done damage not just to Atlanta but to other teams in this league.”
-
“We will have to analyze this game first before we start looking to Chicago on Tuesday. I think in general you’ve seen this season we are a team that doesn’t change a lot. We want to play our style and we will try to not get too far from that.”
-
On Josef Martinez not making the 18
“He wasn’t feeling physically up for it today. We thought it wasn’t worth the risk to play him.”
-
-
GREG GARZA
“It’s tough getting a first goal and having everything turned upside down, but it feels good to get a goal with these colors, these stripes, and hopefully get more goals and assists on goals in the future, but ultimately our heads are down with the loss.”
-
“We have to turn the page as quickly as possible and focus on Chicago as quickly as possible. Start looking at their virtues and what they are good at and use the same game we did against them at the beginning of the season.”
-
“We emphasized this week not receiving a goal on set pieces and we receive three goals on set pieces. That’s pretty unfortunate for us. We still tried to emphasize our game as much as possible. We still tried to play out of the back. We still tried to play our game. But it was difficult. You had a team that was very well organized. You can’t be scored on three times defensively. We will have to regroup, turn the page as quickly as possible.”
-
“We went through about 15 different videos on how well they are on free kicks. I don’t know what happened to us we just couldn’t’ execute defensively. It’s unfortunate for us to really give up those three goals. It wasn’t one player every single time. We will definitely have to turn the page on that as quickly as possible, forget everything that happened and focus on next week.”
-
“You could see the problems he caused us. It was pretty obvious on three goals with him being involved. It’s pretty disappointing after all the videos we’ve gone over to still go through that and suffer three goals defensively.”
-
-
MICHAEL PARKHURST
On defending the corner kicks
“We didn’t go a good enough job. The first one we pushed out but we don’t stay organized. They get a second ball. Waston is a beast in the air.
“On the others we tried to have a guy in a zone and a guy marking but he’s very good in the air, obviously. We paid the price. We gave up too many set pieces, too many corners, too many opportunities for them. It’s a strength for them and a weakness for us.”
-
“We knew we would. It was our strength. Their strength was counter-attack and setpieces. Their strength won out today. They were very organized defensively. The dry turf made it difficult for us to play quickly, to play through lines. We weren’t good enough defending their strengths.”
-
On negating Almiron
“They had a constant pressure on him. They had a guy always aware of his whereabouts. We didn’t do a good enough job getting him in the game, giving him the ball. That being said he almost scored a goal today in the second half. Had a big chance.
For us in the back it was difficult to get him the ball through the lines because of the dry turf. We need to do a better job of getting him and the rest of the offensive guys in good spots.”
-
On Chicago
“They are a much different team than the last time we played them. And we played up a man for about 80 minutes. It’ll be a difficult game. They are high on confidence. They are playing well. I’ve been impressed with not only their results but the way they’ve been playing. They are a confident group. (Bastian) Schweinsteiger has brought that with him. It’ll be a tough inter-conference battle. We will be ready for it.”
-
-
VANCOUVER COACH CARL ROBINSON
Thoughts on the hype around Atlanta and the match
“Well, the talk is right because we know they’ve spent a lot of money, but they are top players. You know, the front forward they had today, we knew he would cause us problems and I think you saw in the first 10 minutes we were a little bit disjointed, we gave away a silly goal, a good goal on their behalf. They caught us in the transition, we didn’t recover properly and the fullback taps the ball in at the back post. I thought, character wise, from the first goal we conceded, we responded very well. We kept ourselves calm, we didn’t get caught up. You know, it’s easy when you’re at home to play ‘gung-ho’ and if you do that against them, they pick you off because they are really excellent with the ball. I thought it may come down to set pieces and I was right.”
-
On Kendall Waston’s performance
“I’d prefer it if he heads it in, to be honest. I thought he had waited too long, but it was a good goal, he controlled it well and I think if you ask him he will tell you that he has played centre forward in Costa Rica prior to coming, so he won’t play centre forward here.”
-
-
On whether this was Waston’s best performance
“I think Kendall’s been, I don’t want to use ‘absolutely’ but I will, absolutely excellent since the start of the season. He’s been very mature, he’s 29 years of age and I think the responsibility he’s taken on board from being captain, I think he’s grown into that role. He’s been a monster for us, he really has and this was another strong performance from him, as well as Tim [Parker]. They’ve got a really good relationship there, back with David behind them. You might get side-tracked because he scores two goals, there’s other games where he’s been phenomenal for us. I wouldn’t want any other player when the ball is coming in the box, especially when you’re defending a lead, and time and time again today he’s shown how crucial he is for us.”
-
-
CENTERHALF KENDALL WASTON
On his last goal with his feet
“In Costa Rica. So it’s a long time ago. But I’m very happy that I can help the team to win this game. And the most important thing is that everybody worked very hard and we did a great job today.”
-
On his first goal in the match
“I saw AJ (Andrew Jacobson) in his body position that he was going to throw the ball back, so I ran back so I wasn’t being offside, and at the moment I just needed to chest it and just kick it. So I feel very happy that I can score.”
-
On responding from giving up the first goal
“They scored the first goal, we kept playing our same style and we felt confident that in some stage of the game we can come back. And hopefully in any set piece because we knew we were practising very hard during the week [on] all the set pieces and the transition game. So we felt very proud of that, what the coaches and the staff tell us to do, we did it and that won us the game.”
-
On if this was his biggest performance in a Whitecaps FC kit
“I don’t know, I just go to the field and try to do my best. I think just to help the team, obviously if you play good you help the team. The most important thing here is that everybody thinks collectively. We know that if every individual does their job very good, the team is going to be affected in a positive way.”
-
On injuries on the team and the international break coming at the right time
“Well yes, I think all the guys that are injured can get their time to prepare themselves and recover very well. So hopefully we don’t get more injuries and get everyone to 100 percent.”
-
On who had the bigger day, Kendall or Costa Rican national teammate Keylor Navas
“Keylor now, definitely. Winning the Champions League, you don’t win it every day. And now he has two Champions League, so all of Costa Rica is very proud of him.”
-
On a letdown on weaker teams, and being better vs. stronger teams
“I just think that we try to play every game in an intense way that we want to win. It doesn’t matter against who we play, but every game is different and obviously every time you step on the field you want to do your best and try to win the game, that’s the most important thing.”
-
-
On who scored the last goal
“Here it doesn’t matter who scored. The thing is, we score and win this game because at the end of the game, nobody wins the game but the team. Here the most important thing is the team.”
-
-
STRIKER FREDY MONTERO
On Atlanta’s style
“I’m proud of our team today, looking against the quality of players Atlanta has it’s not easy to come back. I mean we knew they were going to attack, they were going to look for the game, to win the game, and that gave us some spaces. For us was good scoring goals from set pieces and we knew during the week that was going to be a key for us to win the game.”
-
On getting back on the scoring sheet
“Yeah it’s good. Of course the feeling after scoring goals is good. I like to have that momentum, so I want to stretch it this time even more than the last game when I was scoring goals and I was on fire. But to be honest I’m happy for the team, we got another three points at home.”
-
On making sure Parker’s header was in
“Well after the goalkeeper, I was the second player close to the ball and I knew the ball wasn’t in 100 percent and I just tried to score that goal.”
-
On Waston’s first goal
“Especially coming from that big body, doing one touch, two touch to put the ball down and then finish it. That was a good move right there and we’re proud that that goal gave us motivation to come back and keep fighting for the game, keep fighting for the second goal, and he got the second one too.”
-
On playing up for big opponents and playing down for weaker opponents
“To be honest that’s something you see really often in the MLS. It’s not such that the best team is going to win every single game. Sometimes that happens when the team at the bottom of the table goes in and wins against the other team at home. For us it’s just to try to be consistent and build that balance between having not many goals in our end and scoring more goals when we have the opportunity. Today was a good game for us and I’m happy to contribute with one more goal.”
Previous quoteboards
