Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 1, Colorado Rapids 1
Saturday, May 2, 2015 – 7:30 p.m. PT
MLS Regular Season
StubHub Center – Carson, California
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On Gordon’s Goal:
“Good goal. Alan certainly knows how to come into a game, and that’s a real skill. He continues to do it, so I give him a lot of credit.”
On tonight’s starting lineup:
“We wanted to give Maganto a start. We’re going to need those guys not only this month, but June and July. We have a very heavy schedule, so we have to have other guys playing. Leonardo came back from an injury, he was out for about a month so we wanted to give him a start. We needed to get Mika on the field a little bit. So those were the reasons, and obviously we have some other games coming up.”
On Ignacio Maganto:
“I thought he played with a lot of confidence, he was aggressive on the ball. He was somebody that they had to focus on. He did a good job, didn’t play conservative and was pretty aggressive.”
On Rafael Garcia:
“I thought he had a good game. He always does a good job for us, but again I think it’s important that our whole team be ready to play. Over the last three or four weeks he has gotten some time, which I think will give him confidence and have him to prepare to play as we get into the last 25 games or so of the season.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD GYASI ZARDES
On his chemistry with Bradford Jamieson:
“Both of us are fast, and our threat is just running. We had a difficult just finding that the first half. They sat back and waited a little bit, and sometimes they really pushed on our outside backs.”
On Alan Gordon:
“Goals. Goals. Goals. Alan is on fire and he is a threat, he is a big body. So on the corner kick they aren’t even marking him so I’m thinking, ‘Let’s do it.’ I’m thrilled when Alan steps on the field, I always expect a goal from him. Right when he steps off the bench, he is burying the ball. And that’s a striker.”
On Ignacio Maganto’s MLS debut:
“I thought he did phenomenal. As you can see with the ball, he wasn’t scared to take on a defender, so I thought that was wonderful. Very energetic, and it just shows you the type of player that Ignacio is.”
On tonight’s match:
“It was nice to get a point. I think after coming off 1-0 down, it shows our character that we are going to fight in a battle. It’s great just to get a point out of this game. And now we go on the road for a long period of time so it’s really going to define our team. Just the games that are coming up, they are huge games and to get three wins would be phenomenal.”
On Robbie Keane’s absence:
“Robbie is a phenomenal player. He is gone, but at the same time we’re professionals and he is gone. We are training on the field with the guys we have in this locker room. Whatever 11 guys are on the field, whether it’s with me, without me, with Robbie, or without Robbie, it doesn’t matter. The 11 that step on that field are prepared to play.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD ALAN GORDON
On scoring another goal from the bench:
"It’s nice to come in and help the team get a point for sure."
On the impact the substitutes made:
“It could’ve been from several different things. [The Rapids] were coming off a midweek game, they were tired and fresh legs coming in are hard to deal with, but we were able to put some pressure on them, which was good."
On hearing the crowd chant his name:
"That’s my family. I paid them to say that. If you want fans, you’ve got to invite the family.”
On getting points:
"At the end of the day, all points are needed. Results are key, whether it’s a tie or a win. But we definitely wanted three points tonight and we didn’t play well enough to get that, but coming back is always a good sign.
On his role coming in:
"They don’t have to tell me much. I know what to do and they know what to expect from me and what they get from me.”
On how he has been able to score late goals:
“I’m just in the right place at the right time. I don’t know what the secret is and I don’t want to say it’s all me. I’ve been lucky to get these goals and that is great. [Ishizaki] played a great ball in. For most of these goals, I don’t have to do much, just get a head on it and hope it goes in."
On Colorado’s team defense:
“Half of it is because of our ball movement and half is because they defended well. But they brought a good team effort defensively and they played well. You’ve got to tip your hats to them, they played with a lot of energy and they were committed.
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER MIKA VAYRYNEN
On his thoughts on the match:
"We didn’t play that well today. In the first half, we created a couple chances that we could’ve scored, but overall we didn’t play that well and we didn’t get the ball forward. But luckily, [Alan] Gordon saved us today and we were able to get a point."
On Colorado’s team defense:
"[Colorado] did well. They were very organized and had three guys in the midfield that came fast and we weren’t able to find the gaps and the passes we would’ve liked to and they defended well. The whole group, they took our weapons away in Gyasi [Zardes] and [Bradford Jamieson IV] up front and we couldn’t find them behind the line."
On his performance:
“That was my first game back in the starting lineup in a few weeks, which was a bit of a struggle. I didn’t get the passing I involved that I would like to bring to the team. So it wasn’t the best, but hopefully I get a couple more games and get back to being in form again.”
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH PABLO MASTROENI
On giving up the lead:
“It is gut wrenching, to be fair. We spent a lot of time in preseason trying to make sure we are really organized and really hard to break down and we have been really good at that this year. To give up a goal on a set piece, I feel for the guys. They left everything out on the field. We traveled from New York in coach, in the back of the plane, to come here against this team and to put forth the type of effort we did and to let it go on a set piece, I hurt for the guys. Fantastic effort, fantastic mentality and fantastic willingness to not make excuses and to really come away with again another fantastic point on the road.”
On the Galaxy’s performance:
“The players that they brought in made a difference but it’s a home game. Obviously momentum starts to swing with the home team especially as the game goes on. Taking everything into consideration with the travel you just knew that they were going to get on top of the game a little bit. I thought we did really well to minimize clear opportunities and really make it difficult to get clear chances.”
On his team’s mentality:
“The idea not to sit back after you conceded a goal and go after the game, this is everything that we talk about. Who do we want to be? What kind of mentality do we want to have as a group? I think we fought hard and really didn’t really give up too many chances after we conceded and that for me is an important part to continue to build a good team here.”
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER NICK LABROCCA
On tonight’s game:
“I think we responded well after our goal, tried to take the sting out of the game. Then a set piece, it was just a set piece. I didn’t get to see it, it is hard to see it. There was a lot of chaos going on. We are going to have to check it out and fix it. We expected a lot out of ourselves especially when you go up. We pride ourselves on great defensive efforts and we felt like we could have closed it out and steal one while they were trying to push. Good to only let in one. We responded well even after their goal and have a lot to build on.
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER SHANE O’NEILL
On tonight’s game:
It was a hard fought battle. I’m really disappointed on the way we gave up the goal. They had a lot of the ball and they had a lot chances, not many dangerous chances, but the way we conceded off a set piece, that is disappointing but we came to a tough place to play and we got a hard earned point.
