CARSON, Calif. -- LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena spoke to reporters after the Galaxy's 3-1 MLS Cup Playoffs Knockout Round victory over Real Salt Lake.
On the play of Emmanuel Boateng:
“Obviously he had a very good game. I think he had two great goals. He really didn’t foul the player on the penalty kick which was unfortunate. I think it got him a little angry, but I think he made up for it for sure. We’ve been looking for him to break out a little bit and he did today. He had a great game.”
On what made the Galaxy so effective from kickoff:
“I think that’s a team we’ve been playing with over the last 2-3 weeks getting them ready for the playoffs. They’ve been training together and they know each other and each other’s responsibilities. I thought they played in a very cohesive manner. This is the best collective effort we’ve had in a while. I was pleased.”
On how Emmanuel Boateng has been able to settle into his role with the team:
“He’s a young player. 21-years-old. You have your ups and downs during the season, but he’s got such a great attitude, a very likeable and personable guy. He’s competed throughout the season. He’s a good professional. We think obviously over time, he’s going to become a real good player. There’s obviously things he can do still to improve, but he’s got the right kind of attitude to get better. He’s worked real hard this year to position himself where he is today.”
On how important Boateng is for the team chemistry:
“Every sport has a different collection of players that make a team better. If I can use my NBA analogies, there’s the right pieces around LeBron James with Cleveland. It’s like that in every sport. You can’t have 11 Robbie Keanes on the field and you can’t have 11 Emmanuel Boatengs on the field so you have to have the right balance. When there are other young players like Ema, committed to work and complimenting the other players, I think it really helps the team. Today, he was a complimentary player. He took the game into his hands for a while in that first half and scored two great goals.”
On what it was like have Landon Donovan back on the field in the postseason:
“We have a smart player on the field. That’s been one of my statements…We actually did something right this year. We progressed Landon in the right way to where he’s ready now to play regular minutes and did it in the right manner. And as he got fitter and sharper you can see that his intelligence, his ability to communicate, his technical ability is something unique and something we haven’t had. And I think he really compliments the group. He’s not the same player he was 10 years ago, but he’s still a pretty damn good player. I think being able to add him to the group and get him to where he is today is going to hopefully make us a better team.”
On what, if any, negatives he could take from the game:
“I would say that the coaching was fantastic. I think the players could have been better. All kidding aside, obviously I don’t want to concede a goal. It would have been nice to get the fourth goal in the second half in the first fifteen minutes and deflate RSL a little bit, but we weren’t able to do that and they kept coming at us. So maybe if we would have got that fourth goal, we really would have been positioned to kill off the game in the right way.”
On Alan Gordon’s performance and his status for Sunday:
“He’s fine, he’s not going to have a problem. He knows where the goal is, you don’t have to point him in that direction. He’s a target forward, he holds the ball up and he gets in front of the goal. He works real hard and he did his job today.”
