Quotes: Sporting KC 4-0 Chivas USA

Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes

General comments on the match...
I guess I'll start off by saying I think we dominated the game from start to finish. It was very evident, as you saw when the second half started. I think we just got stronger as the game went on, and I think that they had a tough time dealing with the tempo that we set. The goal we scored right before halftime was very important to what transpired in the second half. The one difference that is evident in this game compared to our last game at home is that every guy on the field worked from the opening minute to the final minute. The other piece is that they all won their individual duels with our without the ball. That's the difference when we play here at home. When we do that, we dominate teams physically, technically, tactically, and psychologically. Today, we broke that team. The score of four was a small amount. We probably could have scored a lot more. But it's great to see us get four goals here at home.

On the relief that comes along with scoring four goals...
The word relief is the wrong word. We willed that to happen tonight. We opposed our game on them. We went out there and took it. We didn't wait to see something happen. That was the difference between this game and last game. That was in the past, and obviously so is this game. We'll talk about it for these next five minutes, but after that we have to get ready for Wednesday. It is about us going out and winning our individual duels on the field. If we compete like that, we're a difficult team to play against. We need to be that every time we step inside those white lines.

On Jacob Peterson's energetic play...
I could go down the list. Jakes has great movement on and off the ball. That forces other teams to make decisions. When you have that movement and running ability that he has, and realistically he's not even 60 minutes fit although he did play it tonight. He gives us a great energy into how we want to play and the tempo we want to play at. When you do that, it puts teams under a lot of pressure. He did that today for us.

On Jacob Peterson forcing a turnover from Chivas USA that led to a goal...
Or you could say that one that Graham Zusi put across to him that he ran from 30 yards away to get to the first post and he just missed it. Jake's movement off the ball is big to the way we want to play. That's one of the issues. When other players aren't doing that, they take away a very important part of our game. The great thing is that now he's back and Teal is probably a month away. The competition within the group is growing and with all the different competitions that are coming up for us, that's going to tell a lot of guys that they have to be on top of their game. If not, the next guy is waiting for them. It's great the form some of these guys are getting into at the moment.

On Matt Besler's fitness and how it will affect the upcoming games...
He had a little bit of an issue the other day. We just felt that it wasn't important to push it for this game being that we have three games in eight days. It was best to keep him out. It's the same thing with Chance Myers. The decision is that we have three games in eight days and it's a great exercise for us with these games because we're going to start coming up on this situation quite often come summer. We have to be prepared to deal with that and the rotation of the roster. This was good. We gave a lot of guys a lot of opportunities to play tonight. They all did extremely well. It's a good look for us in the future of how we have to continue to manage the roster as we come across these types of weeks where we're playing Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

On C.J. Sapong's first goal of the season....
It was good for sure. He gets it because of his movement off the ball. That's what we're talking about on a regular basis. It's good for him; it's good for the team. If he sticks with that type of idea to run off the ball, he's going to get more chances like that and he's going to get more opportunities to score a goal. That's the only way you get them in the way that we play.

On Josh Gardner's Sporting KC debut and assist...
It's a great game for us to get opportunities for guys that are going to have an impact within this team come the next so many months. He came on and not only got an assist but he played the position very well. He can also play left back as well. These are all the positives that he's making for us as we move forward. You have Jimmy who has the shutouts, Claudio who is tied for goals in the league, and Zusi who is tied for assists in the league. It's good that the guys are starting to make the production that we need for us to continue to try and climb up the ladder.

On Jimmy Nielsen's record-breaking 38th shutout for the club...
Tony Meola is not too happy about that. But, good for Jimmy.  Jimmy will tell you that he doesn't care about that at the end of the day. What he wants is another championship with the team and wants the MLS Cup. That's what the rest of us are striving for. If he keeps getting those, he will help put us in the right position where hopefully we can win.

On the sense of urgency leading into this game following last week's loss...
Whenever you lose, you always want to come back and get on track the next game. Let's exclude the LA game because there are other factors in that game. But the game at home was unacceptable with the way we played. That's not who we are and we're not going to play that way. It's just not the way we want to step on the field. I think that was the biggest thing. We're trying to get back to who we are and the way that we play. We want to make sure we play that way in this stadium because we have an obligation to our fans. It's unacceptable when we go out on the field and lose two leads over the course of 90 minutes. I think it shows that everybody takes it to heart. That's the reason why these guys came out the way they did today. Physically, they imposed their will on this team. That was the big difference in the game as opposed to the game we played against Portland.

On not backing down after scoring two goals...
I actually tried to tell some of the guys to let them come to us, but obviously they had a little difference of opinion. I'm not going to fight against it. They wanted to keep going and I'm glad they had the mentality to do that. Sometimes you want to be a little bit intelligent in regards to knowing you have a game on Wednesday, but I'm not going to pull the dogs back if they want to go. It was the right mentality. It was something that we worked on all week long.

Sporting Kansas City Forward Claudio Bieler

On the feeling after tonight's win...
Thereaction to the loss to Portland last week was pretty obvious. I don't like to lose. That's just my personality. It reflected what the team was feeling and that's why my head was down.

On scoring a brace....
Obviously, it feels good. The team had a different attitude as a whole. We had some tactical elements that were brought up and the team performed to its best capacity. Obviously, playing 11v11 in the first half was a pretty good match up and the team was doing well. When they lost a man, it just became a bit easier for us. We managed the game and we kept moving forward because we wanted to score more goals. That reflected the different attitude the team had today.

On his first goal...
To be honest, I remember very little (laughs). Obviously, it was a great play by Graham Zusi. I saw the keeper come out fast, and my first thought was to cut it back and try to slip it in. I actually almost missed the ball. You could see how slow the ball went into the goal. Nonetheless, it was a reflection of the team's actions off the ball. The movement off the ball created a lot of problems in their defense, and that's why we had so many opportunities.

On his first impression of Sporting Kansas City...
I followed the league before coming here and I knew this was a team that was striving for titles. I knew about the US Open Cup last year. I knew I was coming into an environment that was a winning environment. This was the same for me personally. I'm happy to be in this environment, to be with this team, and to look forward to winning championships here.

Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen

Thoughts on the win and the shutout...
We got the win. That was awesome. We needed that. We've actually been talking that for a while. We needed that big win at home. Comfortable win. I know it's different. They got a red card and it was tough for them in that moment. We were up three nothing in the last 15 minutes, and I know it's a professional sport, but I felt kind of bad for them. WE were just playing the ball around and they were just running and running and running, but we never took the game for granted. We played a very smart game with a professional attitude.

Did the play of the team make it easy for you tonight?
Very easy. If they continue like that I can play until I'm 44.

Is that the easiest shutout you've had?
Probably, one of them. You know there wasn't a lot to do. I don't think they had a shot on goal at all. Credit to the guys in front of me. WE have studied a lot of video and we've kind of been pissed of at each other and the way we've performed last week and also in L.A. so they came with the right attitude and rightly challenged the other team today. It was a big win for us and it was a good win for our confidence.

Now that you have the shut out record, is there some sense of appreciation as to what you've done?
Not now. Maybe later when I retire or something but that's not in my mind at all. I came here to win today and we won. I'm a happy man.

Was there relief to get back in the win column and do it with style after the last two games?
I don't know if it was a relief, because pretty early in the game we were up one to nothing and we had control and could know where the game was going. I am very happy with our performance and the way we handled the game today. WE battled very nicely in the first half and created some good chances. We could have been up 2 or 3 nothing at halftime too with a little luck. We took care of business today. It was a professional performance.

Sporting Kansas City forward C.J. Sapong

How did it feel to get your first goal of the season?
Amazing! It's been a while obviously. It's been rough and I've been tested, but hey that's what makes it all the more beautiful when it actually goes in right?

How's your confidence coming out of this game?
I've always felt confident. It's just the fact that as a forward you feel like you have to score goals. I'm a little relieved but as far as whenever I step on the field I feel pretty confident in what I bring to the team and the impact I can have so it's not going to change drastically, but I feel a little better.

Were you putting pressure on yourself to score going into this game?
If there was any pressure, it was me putting it on myself. My history as a soccer player I've always been use to scoring goals. Coming into my third season I felt like I had a really good understanding of how we wanted to play and obviously I've been in the league for two prior years so I felt like I kind of had a scope of what was needed. Being hit with that drought threw me off a little bit, but I stayed positive and the drought is no more.

How much does playing out wide effect your goal scoring?
Out wide you have a lot more responsibilities. You have to get back on defense and you can't press the game as much as you would like, but Zusi has three goals this season and he's playing out wide. He's not even really a player that uses his speed to get in behind players so it just depends on what you do when you're out there. You just got to do what you got to do to get it into the net. It's not that complicated.

First thing that went through you're head when you saw the ball go in...
How did that go in. I honestly just kind of swung my foot at it and I hit it right and it went in. To the soccer gods, thank you.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi

On his fifth career game with a goal and an assist...
It was a great way to bounce back. We definitely wanted to come out and make a statement and get back into that mentality that we bring to games. It's been lacking the past couple but today was a great one from start to finish. Four goals is a great way to make a statement. Hopefully we can build on this and come in Wednesday and play our game and dominate from start to finish.

On training this week...
Just kind of a kick in the rear end this week. WE didn't need to much motivation. We all knew that last weekend was unacceptable. If we could have had a midweek game last week we would have loved, just to get back on the field and redeem ourselves. A great week of training lead to a great game.

On Jacob Peterson's hustle leading to the first goal...
Jake's a guy we put on the field a lot, because of that reason. His work rate is so high and it creates chances. If he doesn't go and pressure that ball, then the ball doesn't fall to me and I'm not able to play Claudio and Claudio doesn't finish. It was just what we needed from him tonight and he did a great job.

On Claudio Bieler finishing with style...
It was a goal scorer's goal. He put the moves on the goalkeeper and slotted it home.

On the feeling in the locker room...
It was a sense of a job well done. Getting back to our style of play and our mentality. Its not relief it's just a sense of a job well done by all the guys.

Sporting Kansas City forward Jacob Peterson

On his fitness level...
I talked to Peter (Vermes) and we talked before hand and he said 45-60 was kind of what he wanted out of me today. Hopefully I put in the work and I satisfied his expectations there. I think I can go 90, but with three games in a week there's probably no chance I could do that.

On easing back into the game...
I only know one way to play and I'm not going to change that regardless of my fitness level. Playing games and the more training that you're in, it's just a natural process that you're going to get more fit. You're going to get sharper in the ball. All this stuff that we work on in training, that when it comes to game time it changes. It's a different level and a different expectation. You have to take that and take the few opportunities that you're given and make the most of them.

On pushing himself to pressure the ball that lead to the first goal...
I was tired. I'm not going to lie. At the end of the first half, you know the saying-First five and last five are where the most goals are scored. You could see that they were tired. Physically I thought that we over matched them in this game, from minute one to minute 90.

On hustling...
It's a different type of skill. It's a mental thing and a different mentality. I think a lot of the guys on the team have it and I think that's why we've been so successful for the last couple years. I think that Peter (Vermes) instills that. That's one of the things that he built his career on and I think that's that has really leaked down into the team.

Chivas USA Head Coach Jose Luis Sanchez Sola

General thoughts on the match...
Congratulations to the team, to the institution for the goals they scored. They don't score goals because of good luck, they score goals because they are a great institution with great fans, a great stadium and we are very far off from competing with a team like Sporting KC. Maybe we can compete with other teams in the league but not Sporting. With teams like Sporting KC, the league has to feel very proud because it is a great team, a great institution and it is clear that with teams like this one and with stadiums like this one, the league is going to grow very fast.

On moving on from this loss to the next game...
We didn't advance from this game. We have stopped and we still have a lot to do. We need to deal with teams like Sporting KC and we don't know how. In the first place, we don't have the resources to compete with these kind of institutions. I don't really know how many teams like this one we may find in the league, but we simply don't have what it takes to compete.

On Sporting Kansas City catching Chivas USA's defense off-guard...
With 10 players and with the circumstances I already mentioned, it is very hard to play soccer. Sporting KC is very fast, very accurate and they have quality and 11 players. It is not an excuse, that is how it happened, but in soccer you are not forced to do the impossible and in the second half we had to do the impossible with 10 players and Sporting KC looked much better.

On matching up against Sporting Kansas City's attacking style...
My idea is to attack. When two teams attack, the strongest and most powerful wins. I don't understand soccer in any other way that is not attacking. Today I'm not accurate with what I'm saying but we had 10 players, but it is good that Sporting Kansas City took four goals. Beyond how bad we feel, it is good that Sporting KC is happy.

Chivas USA Defender Bobby Burling

General thoughts on the match...
Obviously Sporting Park is a tough place to come and playing and with Sporting coming off of a tough loss from last week they really wanted to come out and prove themselves to their fans and were unfortunate to give up a late goal.  They deserved to win.  They played us off the park.  Obviously it's tough when you go a man down. .

On how Chivas USA's style matched up against Sporting Kansas City's...
I think we matched up ok stylistically but one on one across the park Kansas City was better than us.  Everywhere- forwards, midfielders, defenders- they won their battles and going into the game we said if we could win the 50/50 balls we'd have a good chance to win the game but that definitely didn't happen tonight.

On losing Captain and Goalkeeper Dan Kennedy to a red card...
Anytime someone goes down with a red card it's tough.  (Dan) Kennedy is the rock of our team- our goalkeeper and captain.  It was a huge deal to lose him but it was also a great opportunity for a young guy to step up.  I felt sorry for Pat (McLain) to come into the game the way he did.  There's nothing really to gain from that experience but he's got his first appearance under his belt and if he gets the opportunity next week, we are confident in him.

On moving on to next week's game against the Portland Timbers...
It's a long season. We've said that all along. You have to have a short memory.  It's not easy and no one is happy about this. It doesn't get any easier but we just have to regroup and go to Portland.

Chivas USA Forward Julio Morales

General thoughts on the match...
It was a really difficult.  At the beginning we held up the ball more but we gave up the goal and got a red card.  We just had to drop back and we didn't have a lot of options.

On the morale of the team after Goalkeeper and Captain Dan Kennedy was ejected...
It affected us a lot.  He is our main guy.  He keeps our head up.  We tried our best but we just couldn't get it together.

On what they will take away from this loss going into next Sunday's match against Portland...
The past is the past.  We have to work hard and give every practice 100 percent.

On what Jose Luiz Sanchez Sola said to the team at halftime...
He told us that we were doing well and that we needed to keep our heads up.  It just didn't go our way.