- Match: Atlanta United vs Vancouver Whitecaps
- Location: BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
- Date: June 3, 2017
- Final Score: ATL 1 - 3 VAN (Recap)
ATLANTA UNITED FC
TATA MARTINO (HEAD COACH)
On conceding goals on set pieces against the ‘Caps
“We couldn’t control Waston. I think he was the difference in a game that we controlled and maintained possession, but he was a physical factor.”
On limiting Miguel Almirón’s chances in the match
“We saw that they had three holding midfielders in the centre of the pitch: Jacobson, Laba, and Tchani. We had to get through that first defensive wall and I think in the initial stages of the game we managed to do that well and managed to score a good goal. But I think most of today’s loss can be attributed to set pieces.”
On what you can do tactically to negate player’s the size of Waston in future games:
“There aren’t many players like Waston in the league. Waston is a player that causes problems for a lot of teams, not just Atlanta.
GREG GARZA (D - #4)
On his first goal:
“It feels great. It’s tough getting a first goal and then having everything turned upside down. But it feels good to get a goal with these colours, with these stripes, and hopefully I can get some more, and statistically more assists and goals in the future. But I think at the end of the day, our heads are down for the loss.”
On how to regroup:
“We have to turn the page as quickly as possible and focus on Chicago as quickly as possible as well. Start looking at their virtues and what they’re good at, and hopefully we can use the same game we did against them at the beginning of the season.”
On what happened to the team’s patience to build from the back:
“I think we did build from the back from what I saw. I think we emphasized on this week not receiving a goal on set pieces, and we received three goals today on set pieces. You know that’s pretty unfortunate for us, but I think 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’s just difficult. You have a team that was very well organized, so you can’t be scored on three times on set pieces defensively. So we’ll have to regroup, as I said turn the page as quickly as possible and focus on next week.”
On if there was a lack of communication on set piece defending:
“No. We probably went through about 15 different videos this week about how well they are on free kicks, but I just don’t know what happened to us. We just couldn’t execute defensively, and it’s very unfortunate for us to really give up those three goals. And it was one player every single time, so we’ll definitely have to turn the page on that as quickly as possible and kind of forget everything that happened today and focus on next week.”
On dropping points on the west coast for the first time:
“I think in this league anything can happen. It doesn’t matter. I mean the team we played today could lose next week 5-0 to the team we beat 4-1 last week. So I mean anything can happen in this league. These are all obviously long trips but we’re used to it, we’ve done it before, and [we] just have to keep staying positive.”
On the problem that Kendall Waston poses:
“I mean you’re able to see the problems he caused us. So it’s pretty obvious with three goals him being involved that it’s very difficult to tally with a guy that tall and that well in the air. But it is what it is. We can’t go back and change our actions. As I said, we went through how many videos, so it’s pretty disappointing that after all the videos we’d gone over we still go through that and suffer three goals defensively.”
MICHAEL PARKHURST (D - #3)
On the three goals:
“We didn’t do a good enough job obviously. The first one we push out but we don’t stay organized and they get a second ball. Waston is a beast in the air on the headers, we try to have a guy in the zone marking him but he’s very good. Obviously we paid the price, we gave up too many set pieces to him, too many corners, too many opportunities to them. We knew that was a strength for them and a weakness for us and we got punished today.”
On west coast games:
“Thankfully we don’t have any more so like you said, we did a good job picking up some of those points on the west coast games, now we’ve got a lot more home games and we have to take advantage of that.”
On dominating possession not translating to scoresheet:
“We knew we would it was our strength and their strength was the counter attack and the set pieces, and their strength won out today. They were very organized defensively, the dry turf made it very difficult for us to play quickly, to play through lines. We weren’t good enough defending their strengths.”
On the marking on Almirón:
“They had a guy always aware of his whereabouts. We didn’t do a good enough job of getting him in the game. That being said, he almost scored a goal in the second half on a good chance. For us in the back it was difficult for us to get him the ball from the back line because of the dry turf. We need to do a better job of getting him and the rest of offensive guys in good spots.”
On Chicago next week:
“I have paid attention. They’re a very different team than last time we played them and we were up a man for 80 minutes, so it will be a difficult game. They’re high on confidence, playing well. I’m impressed with not only their results but the way they’ve been playing. They’re a confident group and Schweinsteiger has brought that with him and it’ll be a tough intra-conference battle but we’ll be ready for it.”
Vancouver Whitecaps
CARL ROBINSON (HEAD COACH)
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.”
KENDALL WASTON (D - #4)
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 per cent.”
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.”
FREDY MONTERO (FW - #12)
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 per cent and I just tried to score that goal.”
On Kendall’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.”
