Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
On the penalty, we had a couple bites at the apple before that play occurred. We had a clearance and then two other situations where 1v1 we could have won the ball. Then the guy nips through and we still have defenders back. It’s just not a great tackle in that part of the field. On the second goal, I have to be honest with you, I was kind of up and I turned around. I didn't see the goal as best I could. I really didn't so I don't have a good idea on that one. But I think for a lot of portions of the game we actually competed and played very well. Tonight is unfortunate because there's a lot of other really good stuff in the game.
On the team’s buildup…
The combination is starting to get there. They have better timing with each other. They're just starting to really link up. The unfortunate thing in the game is we have just got to be better defensively. On the two goals that we gave up, I do know this. They both came from our right side. Getting out and stopping service, clearing the ball, those types of things, we have just got to do better with those plays.
On the early yellow cards…
It does. There's no way the first yellow card is even a foul. If you look at the context of the game, it's not even a foul. It just isn't. The referee, unfortunately, he changed the situation a little bit there. There's some some yellow cards that at times they can change how a player plays. I still think that the group did a decent job. (We were) very good attacking and very good competing for second balls. It was just those two opportunities and John (Pulskamp) made a really good save early in that second half. Outside of that, I thought we were pretty good.
On turning around the momentum…
I think that we're actually playing pretty well for the most part. We have got to clean up still some things defensively, but we have some really positive things to look forward on the attacking side and that part is really good.
On the upcoming home games…
The key is we have got to take our next game and be ready for that one and we'll deal with the ones thereafter. But we have got to really be ready and prepared for the next game. It's going to be a tough opponent, but we have got to take advantage of points at home.
Sporting Kansas City captain Erik Thommy
Thoughts on the match…
Let's start with the first half. I think we were pretty good defending-wise. We tried to create some opportunities up in front. We didn't get too close to the goal but we had some really good chances at the end. At halftime, we came strong out of it and scored immediately. Then we gave up two easy goals with the PK and the second one was there number six getting between our defenders and getting a free header. So at the end, a really, really tough start so far for us unfortunately. But we'll keep working and turn everything around.
On his goal…
I switched the side to Shapi (Suleymanov) who was free over there wide open. I tried to get around the box. It was a good cross from Jake (Davis) and I scored. It was definitely something that we trained throughout the week, but at the end we're still sitting here with zero points. That is what matters at the end. We're really disappointed right now.
On the attacking chemistry…
I think it was a step in the right direction with the way we played. Even in the first half, we were really close. Like one last pass or one step. If we were cleaner up in front, we could create more and score maybe earlier. I think there's a progression but at the end it needs to be a progression of all of us. Even though we lost today, I can see everyone is fighting. Everyone is working hard also in the training sessions and that's what matters. It will pay off long term. We need to do it next week again. We have the chance at home. We will keep working hard because you can turn around things so quick in soccer. We will keep our heads up for sure.
On the game-winning goal…
I haven't seen the goal yet, but what I can say is to communicate something so quick is sometimes impossible throughout the game. So you need to be alert and if a midfielder jumps in between our defenders, we need to cover him and help. We didn't. At the end, that's something we need to improve and do it better next time.
