Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 1, Chicago Fire 1
Sunday, June 1, 2014
MLS Regular Season
Toyota Park – Bridgeview, Ill.
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the match:
“Awful game today. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve told the league when it’s this hot and humid in Chicago in June, we don’t want to play afternoon games. This is not fair for the players. It’s difficult. It’s not fair for the fans. We shouldn’t be playing this game at this time. Difficult, difficult game for the players to deal with.”
On players suffering from the heat:
“Difficult conditions. You can’t play these games this early in the afternoon.”
On Robbie Rogers play:
“Rogers played very well. He did a good job for us.”
On Landon Donovan’s goal:
“Not his best day but he got a goal and he hung in there for 90 minutes so that was good. It was a lousy game today. There’s no other way to put it. I think Chicago played a little bit better than us, but the conditions were difficult for both teams and it made for a not-good game.”
On the penalty kick against LA:
“If a referee doesn’t see it, he shouldn’t call it. If he thinks he saw it, then fair enough. It may have been a foul but it was probably outside the penalty area. I don’t know how they do that without discussing it between the linesman and the referee. And if they did then they got it wrong.”
On getting a point on the road:
“[Happy] we got the point. We’ll take the point and get out of Chicago.”
On Dan Gargan’s condition:
“Just heat issues.”
LA GALAXY CAPTAIN AND FORWARD ROBBIE KEANE
On playing the game in hot conditions:
“I don’t know who makes these fg stupid decisions. Play a fg game at three o’clock in the afternoon. Who wants to watch that crap? Do you? I don’t want to watch that crap. These people who haven’t got a clue about soccer make these decisions when we play a game. Why not play at eight o’clock? It wasn’t on national television. It’s so stupid. They need to look at these games and use their head and be clever. No player wants to play in that humidity. Everyone was affected by the heat. Why would you want to play at three o’clock in the afternoon? On the hottest day of the year so far here in Chicago, knowing it is going to be that hot. And you can’t blame the Kings-Hawks game because you didn’t know that was going to happen until two days ago. This is absolutely ridiculous. We have to stop. We have to listen to the players instead of listening to people who have never kicked a soccer ball in their whole life.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN:
On his goal:
“I feel great. I feel great helping the team. To get a tie on a day where we didn’t really play well and sometimes during the season you have to games where you don’t do well and you have to find a way to get something out of it. I’m glad to help out.”
On the conditions:
“That’s the way the league is at times. There are games where it is ugly. You play during the day, it’s hot, the field is slow and that kind of stuff happens. You have to have the character and the resolve to find a way to get a result and we did that today.”
On the team battling the conditions:
“It was difficult for both teams. Both teams you could tell couldn’t really get around the ball and press the ball. You couldn’t move efficiently as you wanted so again, it probably doesn’t look great from a spectator standpoint but that’s the way it goes.”
On Robbie Rogers’s assist for his goal:
“I thought he did well. Coming into the game was tough and he hasn’t played in a while so fitness wise it was going to be tough but I thought he defended pretty well. He made a few good plays and the assist was a really good ball.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER ROBBIE ROGERS
On looking confident on the field:
“I think just being able to train for three or four weeks and sustaining that kind of workload has really benefited me. I think there’s tons of things I can improve on and today I thought there were things I could have done better but I was happy to provide Landon with that assist and get a point on the road. I really think these are the kind of games that when you get three points, and I think we are a good enough team to do that, but sometimes you just kind of have to grind it out.”
On the heat affecting him:
“For me, not too much. But I could tell it affected the other guys. I only played like 60 minutes or something which is a bit different, and it was hotter in the first 20 minutes of the game and you could tell guys were tired on both teams.”
On a turning point for his comeback:
“It’s one assist in one game. It’s a lot of work that I have ahead of me this season so it’s a positive to contribute in that way and to help defensively but there’s a lot of work to be done.”
On his assist being against Chicago:
“No, it doesn’t mean anything to me. I think maybe this is my third or fourth assist I’ve had playing in Chicago when I was playing for Columbus. I’ve had some success here. I don’t know why. I’ve always enjoyed playing here and the fans are great. It’s a great city. I enjoy it.”
On his assist:
“I just kind of noticed that the guy put his head done when he was passing it to the outside midfielder and it’s a slow field, you can pick things off, so I kind of just read that and when I went to take a touch, I reached for it and I saw Robbie. I also saw Landon coming in the back post so I thought just if I could whip it into the back post he would run on to that. He had an amazing finish. It wasn’t an easy ball to finish. Those are the kind of balls a winger and an outside back has to play and we work on that kind of stuff. It’s not a routine thing but it’s kind of something you do ten, twenty times at training so it was a great finish. You have to give Landon a lot of credit.”
On the differences between the first and second halves:
“I felt like Chicago got a little tired and were playing very direct and launching balls behind us. I thought in the first half they were finding little passes here and there so it made it a little easier for us to predict. I thought we started off the beginning of the second half really well. Chicago got that goal but besides that I thought we were playing pretty well. We finished the game all right. Everyone was dead at the end of the game. We will take that point on the road.”
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH AND DIRECTOR OF SOCCER FRANK YALLOP
On today’s performance:
“I thought we played really well today. I thought we had some great individual performances from a lot of the young guys playing, and other than one mistake, I thought we very deserved to win. Obviously very frustrating points wise, but very encouraging performance wise. I thought they gave their heart for this club and the team today and tried their best to get the result.”
On decision to start Chris Ritter:
“I think Chris has done well in the games he’s had with the reserves, trains well. With a few bumps and scrapes that we do have, I thought our forward play has been good. I thought today, other than the chance that they got and they scored on, we kept them pretty quiet. A very good team that’s good at going forward. The stability of Chris next to Jeff, it really wasn’t a defensive move. It was more making that box that Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane love to operate in. I think that Chris, Jeff, Baky, and Jhon did a really good job making it difficult for them to get any space and go and that’s reason that I am playing Chris. It loosened Jeff to get on the ball and we had some good solid possession and solid attacks.”
On the original back four together after a couple months:
“I thought they did well. Gonzo’s not really training much. He got an injection before the match, he has to get his ankle cleaned out, but I think he has done well for what he’s done. Baky and Jhon were strong, and played with authority today. Lovel wasn’t our best player but pretty close. I thought he had a great game. Once they start to play together again, and it’s been up and down and injuries and other things come into it, but I was very happy with the chances we didn’t give to L.A.”
On the health of the team:
“I think we are okay. Lovel has just a bit of tight hamstring. Quincy has been feeling a little bit fatigued. With the game on Wednesday I thought ‘take him out.’ We were one up at the time. I think we are okay. I haven’t check with Bo [Leonard] yet, but I think we should be okay.”
On changing to a more defensive formation in a 4-2-3-1:
“The balance has not quite been right and I think the balance was good today. I think we created enough chances to win the game, but we limited them to not many good looks. Whether it’s Chris or the system we played, I liked it. Logan probably would have played in there had he been healthy, but I was very happy with Chris’ performance. I was very happy with the whole demeanor we had and the way we went about it. I thought we played high up the field, which is important. I thought we created some good turnovers, our penalty comes from a turnover, but it was good play by us.”
On Landon’s performance today:
“He scored so…that’s Landon. I actually texted him when he broke the record and I was there for his first goal in the MLS and I just saw it again today, but Landon is a good player. I think you saw his quality on the finish, and any time we can keep him under wraps, and Robbie Keane, two very good players. Our team did a nice job of that, we didn’t give them some good looks, which usually they have.”
On Duka and Ward out wide:
“I think both guys did well. Dilly’s been kind of injured all year and he played in the Columbus game and wasn’t effective. He never got himself going. I talked to him this week and said ‘you got that game under your belt; that was the game to get your legs moving, now we got to start to play.’ I thought he did well, a couple of shots, but he is going to tire. He hasn’t played much, but I liked the fact that they are attacking players, both of them, with Harry and Quincy it’s four good attacking options we have and the supply was good from Chris and Jeff. I though Grant Ward played well today. He is a good player, a young kid. It’s a shame we’ve not had him and just got him now. We got to make a decision pretty soon so we will see how that goes.”
CHICAGO FIRE FORWARD QUINCY AMARIKWA
On battling in the heat against the Galaxy:
“That’s what it was, it was a battle. It’s hot, you could tell; a little bit different than what we’ve been playing in recently. As a team, we battled, we fought hard; unfortunately one mistake got the best of us. But we’ll bounce back and hopefully get a win on the road in Denver.”
On the team adapting to multiple injuries
“I mean, a couple of guys have come down with injuries, so we’ve had to adapt. I think the guys that were called upon today did really well to fit into the system and really show themselves, and show that we have depth all the way to our 18th man and beyond. I think the guys showed well, and it’s going to carry on through rest of the season.”
On how upcoming week will test depth:
“Yeah, definitely, any time you have three games in eight days, your depth is going to be tested. I think we rose to the occasion today; it only builds confidence for the rest of the week.”
On combating fatigue after Columbus game:
“I feel pretty good. For that reason, I came off a bit early, I think in the 60th minute. Just looking to save my legs a little bit, especially since we’re going to altitude on Wednesday. I think the guys that stepped on did really well. Again, it’s unfortunate to concede that goal; but overall, I think that’s one of the better performances we’ve had, especially at home, this season.”
CHICAGO FIRE HOMEGROWN MIDFIELDER CHRIS RITTER
On first game in MLS:
“It was an exciting day for sure. Getting your first start, or even just making your debut, is certainly a special day. The game didn’t go the way we wanted it to, and I feel a bit at fault for the one goal; but definitely a learning experience, and playing more games this season could make it up.”
On the coaching staff’s advice in first game:
“He kind of just told me to play my game, which is, I think, the best thing to hear from a coach. I think the whole coaching staff had all the confidence in the world in me, so it made going out there pretty easy; so I’m hopefully doing well.”
On giving up a goal and learning a tough lesson from it:
“It just shows how quickly top-notch players like Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan can punish you, so definitely a lesson learned.”
On technical adjustments in the midfield prior to the game:
“I think we do a good job adjusting to all the teams we play. It’s kind of a mix of adjusting and letting them adjust to you, so I thought playing with two holding midfielders was effective and held them to limited number of chances.”
On being part of the first two Homegrown players to take the field in club history:
“Definitely exciting. Harry [Shipp] has done a great job this year, and I’m kind of just trying to follow in his footsteps. It’s fun to be out there with Harry, a guy I know pretty well and spend some time with off the field; so definitely a special moment.”
CHICAGO FIRE DEFENDER GONZALO SEGARES
On first individual performance coming back from injury:
“First game of the season; not completely fit yet, but it was good for me to come back. I feel that defensively, it was pretty good, but I had a few issues with the ball. Definitely not sharp yet, but you just have to keep working.”
On health of ankle after the game:
“It’s okay until the medicine goes away [laughs], then it’ll start hurting. It’s something I’ve been dealing with for a long time, I think it’s around 9-10 weeks, and the bone spurs started growing after the injury that I had. But I’m just glad that we know what it is, and the injection definitely helps me be in the game and not have pain; it’s something that we eventually hope will get fixed.”
On being surprised about the starting backline meshing well:
“No. I’ve worked with Baky [Soumare] for a long time, with Jhon [Kennedy Hurtado] and Lovel [Palmer] I’ve been playing with for a while; we worked a whole preseason as well, so we’re used to each other. I felt we were very satisfied with how we did defensively. It’s unfortunate that the one play, I think the only look that we gave them, they definitely took advantage of that; that’s what you get with Keane and Donovan. I think we learned from that, and we’ll just keep building up. There’s an important game against Colorado this Wednesday, and we need to go over there and get some points.”
On tying Chris Armas’ mark of 214 appearances for the Fire:
“It’s definitely an honor. Chris is a guy that helped me a lot when I came into this league, he’s a Fire legend. It’s definitely an honor to have as many games as him. It’s not easy to stay at one club in MLS, and I’ve been lucky enough and fortunate to have been here for that long.”
