LA Galaxy Postgame Quote Sheet
LA Galaxy 1, San Jose Earthquakes 2
Saturday, July 1, 2017
2017 MLS Regular Season
Stanford Stadium – Palo Alto, Calif.
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH CURT ONALFO
Overall thoughts on the game:
“I thought we had a good first half. Scored a goal on a set piece. Had a couple counter opportunities, if we can just do better on those in the first half, it changes the way of the game. We don't, they come out with a lot of energy at home behind a big crowd of 50-plus, and we bunker and we defend, concede off a set piece where we were countered. Deflection goal. And then we just have to close out the game. It's unfortunate we didn't. We could've cleared the ball on that last play and get out of here with a point, which would have been a well-deserved result.”
On preparing for the match:
“I think we had 11 guys out and we ended the game with a lot of stuff on the field and it's not an easy thing to deal with. Having said that, we can still manage it and get out of here with a point and get a result. We just have to lick our wounds and get ourselves ready for Tuesday.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER JELLE VAN DAMME
On the performance of his teammates:
“The guys did well. We played with a very young, inexperienced team today. We missed like 10 players and seven or eight of those players, or maybe all 10 of those players, should be starting. That's why it's frustrating. With this young inexperienced team, we come here to play. We did well. We managed well. We get a pretty easy first game. The counter-break, I think it should never happen. But hey, at the end you defend and you work your ass off to get at least a point, to get out of here with a point and the referee decided to step it up and decide the game.”
On the importance of the rivalry to him:
“Of course, it's a Clasico, but that's not the thing. I just want to win games and okay, it's a rivalry game. I'm very happy to score my first goal in this game and that's why I just got so frustrated because we were doing well. It's just frustrating to see.”
Overall thoughts on the game:
"We could've played better. There was a lot of space behind them. When we had the ball, we didn't play it out well. We had three, four moments in the first half, if we should have played it out better, we should be more dangerous, more efficient because when we had the ball on the counter-break there was a lot of space behind their defense.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER JOSE VILLARREAL
Overall thoughts on the game:
“Obviously upset about the result. I think we put in a good shift throughout the whole game, and you know, some mental breakdowns at the end. We all could have prevented those goals and we got to move forward and get this 'W' on Tuesday.”
On the team's absences tonight:
“The team that we had out there is a team that is ready to go. There's no excuses, it don't matter whether we have injured players that are out. It doesn't matter. We got to performance out there. We could've gotten the 'W,' I think. In the first half, if we're a little bit sharper on the ball we probably put them away, two, three goals in the first half, easily. We stuck 1-0 and we just got to grind out that lead and see it till the end.”
On the team's performance in the first half of the season:
“Still feel good. I'm not trying to make excuses, but we played a lot of games. We had 15 players on the roster and I think that we let this get away from us and just got to get ready for the second half of the season and make a good push.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH CHRIS LEITCH
On the game:
“It’s the definition of the California Clasico if I’ve ever known one, that’s for sure. Really exciting ending, really happy to see our fans go out of this building on an extremely high note and really proud of the group. In a very short amount of time we’ve had three games, so for these guys to dig deep and never quit and pull it out in the end is something special and speaks to their character.”
On what went through his mind when Shea Salinas scored:
“I think I blacked out for a good minute, minute and a half. I couldn’t even tell you actually how it happened. I know someone slipped him a pretty good ball, he took a touch and he kept it on frame, which is something we didn’t do with our first three or four shots today.”
On David Bingham’s two saves and assist in close succession:
“That’s just David being a fantastic goalie. Going down to his right and making that save, that was a hell of a save. I don’t know what it looked like on TV or with the naked eye but from my vantage point that was a game-saving save. And yeah, to just put it on the money like he did, that ball traveled high and far. And then let’s not forget Chris Wondolowski and what this guy does in the biggest moments without fail. It’s really good when your leaders, when your captains, when your best players show up for the biggest games. That’s what I’m proud of.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI
On how his goal affected the game’s rhythm:
“I think that was just a moment where it kind of injected some belief again. From the first minute we really believed in our game plan and thought that if we executed we could come out and win. It’s always a game of 90 minutes. If you give up a goal early, it kind of dictates the rest of the game in a sense. I think for them as well, scoring that early goal, I think they wanted to defend that goal and took a little bit of a defensive posture. We felt that if we could stay the course and execute our game plan, we could get three points.”
On coach’s message at halftime:
“I think Chris [Leitch] came in and said we need to get on the ball. He said we have a formation now where we really want to spread it wide and we need guys to get on the ball and have that right spacing and movement. And if you do that it can work. I think we weren’t quite on the same page in the first half and started clicking a little bit more in the second. Again, I thought it was great performances all across the board, but especially in our middle, with Jackson [Yueill] and Anibal [Godoy]. I thought those guys were excellent.”
On his goal and whether he knew David Bingham was going to pass him the ball:
“What a ball. I saw him catch it, I saw him look up and, I know this might be shocking to you guys, but I’m not necessarily the fastest. So when it left his foot I just put my head down and just started running as fast as I could and I looked up and the ball was right there.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER SHEA SALINAS
On scoring the game-winner as a sub:
“I think it just goes as an understood statement that when you get subbed into the Cali Clasico you just gotta add a last-minute goal or assist. That’s what this game has seemed to breed and fortunately we answered the call and got the game winner tonight. [Head coach] Chris Leitch just told me to go out there, take the guy on, get the ball in the box and be dangerous. He just gave me a lot of confidence and I’m thankful for that.”
On his emotions of scoring and taking off his shirt:
“You just get so pumped up, scoring in front of this many people. We wanted to win this game really badly, not just because we want to beat LA, but it’s a big game for us in the standings. So just a lot of emotions, really pumped up. It was a little ode to Alan Gordon – obviously his highlight reel with him ripping his shirt off, so it was just a little tribute to him.”
