Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On Sporting’s dominant performance in the 1-0 win…
You guys have heard me say in the past that it's very important that when we step on the field, we play the best version of who we are, not necessarily what the other team is doing. And we can't, as much as we have to be very respectful of our opponent, we always have to try to play our game. And our game has always been that we're a possession-oriented team. We're a team that wants to try to break you down and create chances based on that possession. And I thought that we actually did that. We created a couple of really good chances. I thought the possession was important, but I also think possession was important for the entirety of the 90 minutes. The reason being is because when you're able to keep the ball as much as we did in the first half, I thought that we took a lot of steam out of them. You could see that they were tired. We had a few guys that were tired, but they're still trying to get back fit. Felipe Gutierrez played very well in the first half. Khiry Shelton did as well. They're two guys that need to get 90 minutes fit. But heck of a performance from both of them and the rest of the group. I think the ball movement was very important to the overall win in the game. And then the other thing I think that we did really well is we managed the game over the course of 90 minutes. We managed it really well.
On the several thousand Chivas fans in attendance…
We've been very fortunate to have a lot of finals in this stadium. And so we have learned in the early years and the times that we were in finals, you have to understand that even though you're playing at home, if you win, you move on. If you don't, you're done. And so it was the same thing for them. And instead of us worrying about entertaining tonight, the most important thing was to get the win. But based on our style of play, I think we entertained and we won. And so that's a good thing. But I go back to it. The first thing was that, as I said to the guys, the only thing that's important is us winning. You don't have to worry. The crowd's already here for you. Our fans are here for us. If the other fans are here for the team, it doesn't really matter to us. Just keep doing your thing and the game will end in the correct way.
On Erik Thommy playing the false nine and Sporting winning without Alan Pulido…
I think we've kind of had to do that over the last 20 months just because of the injuries we've had to our team. So I think the group has mentally handled that piece better and better as time has gone on. What I would say is that everywhere else in the field, I wasn't so surprised. And I don't mean this in a bad way, but I mean in a very good way. I thought Tommy was excellent in the way that he played the position because he was a very good reference point as a number nine who came underneath. He had a lot of similarities to Alan because Alan plays very good in between the lines. But the other part of it is that he stretched the game. He was very good at putting the back line under pressure. And then the other thing is between our center forward and especially our two attacking midfielders in Gutierrez and Kinda, they pressed their backs really well and put them under pressure and didn't give them a lot of time on the ball. And I think those two things were very important for us over the course of 90 minutes.
On Sporting’s fluidity in attack…
I think the guys started to feel it. I think what happens is that when you start moving the ball and you're keeping the ball as we were, all of a sudden you get a level of confidence and then you start to play very instinctively as opposed to thinking about, hey, I’ve got to be here. I’ve got to be there. You just start to move into the places based on your spatial awareness in the game. And I thought you could see the confidence just exude as the game went on. And even the way we started the second half, I thought it was much better than we've started a lot of other second halves where we're in the game. And then we picked the moments where we had to maybe play the ball over the top and not be so set on trying to keep the ball in certain actions when sometimes you just got to kick it as far as you can away from your goal and reset and start again. The guys were efficient in that regard.
On Sporting’s defense earning the shutout…
It’s (down to) concentration. We've taken these last few weeks of training and spent a lot of time just on our defending and our shape, our continuity from side to side, east to west, north to south, and our compaction. We've worked a lot on that and we’ve got to keep doing. And I think there's a real focus. And then the last piece is that you have to make good decisions at the right time. There are times when you’ve got to keep the ball. There are other times when you're in the back and it's not on. When you're trying to come out, you can't play. Sometimes, like I said, you’ve just got to put it over the top. You’ve got to go counter-press them and see if you can use field position. It's almost like you're playing like the NFL at that moment. It's all about field position with the ball.
On if this win will help Sporting beat more Mexican teams in Leagues Cup…
Every game is different. Every game is different. Every team is different. We had a great start in Cincinnati. It was unfortunate because with Alan's red card, he didn't mean to do what he did. He slipped, he fell. But unfortunately, things changed. Within the game, we played very well. And so when we come to this game and play Chivas, I have the utmost respect for Liga MX. I think the players, number one, are of high quality, I think they have street smarts within the game. And so I think for us, it's great experience because our league continues to mature. You can see in the games that we're playing, our teams are getting good results, but I don't think it's because we're lucky. I think it's because there's a high quality of players within our league as well. And I also think that the style of play, the way that our teams play, the athleticism within our players, lends itself to good results. And obviously, tonight was another one of those situations. I'll finish on that point and just say again, the management of the game is so important against Mexican teams because they're incredibly smart on how to find moments to steal something from you even when you're not paying attention. And tonight, our focus and concentration was very good for the 90 minutes.
Sporting Kansas City captain Johnny Russell
Thoughts on the match…
I think you've seen it last week as well when we went to Cincinnati and the way we started the game. We came out flying, controlled it and then obviously the red card happens and it makes it a lot more difficult. But I thought even after that, we played some nice stuff. We knew tonight going into the game, it was a must win. It's a win or out situation, so we didn't want it to get to the PKs and then it's luck what happens there. The mentality going into the game was to start the way we did in Cincinnati and I think we did that. That's probably our best performance all year and that's what people expect of us and that's what we expect of ourselves. That’s why this year's been so disappointing, because we've shown the last two games what we're capable of as a team and we haven't done it enough this year. It's been disappointing up until now but when you get nights like that and you play like that, you’ve got to enjoy it.
On continuing the momentum…
We have just got to have confidence. We've just shown (it against) two of the best teams in each league and the way we played in both games. It’s obviously disappointing conceding the last minute goal last week and then losing in PKs. But I think we've shown over the two games how good that we can be when we're at the top of our game. So we have to have the confidence that we're more than capable of doing it against anyone. We've just shown it. We have to have a mindset going into next game on Friday and hopefully beyond that and then when the league comes back around, we have to do the exact same.
On playing on the left…
It was something that obviously we did in Cincinnati as well, something that we've worked on, just something a little different to mix it up a little bit and keep teams guessing. We swapped a little bit throughout the night, so we've kind of got license whenever you end up on one side to sort of stay there. It's just good to mix it up. You don't want anything to get too stale or people start reading games or trying to shut your game down. So it's good to mix it up a little bit. And I feel I would rather come in from the other side then when I cut in on my left foot, I've got the whole goal. I managed to connect really well. We've been doing a lot of training drills and finishing drills and we've actually been doing a lot of that stuff when you're hitting across goal. So it paid off tonight.
On the fluidity with the front three…
It wasn't really the game plan, but we knew it was going to happen. We didn't have a natural number nine there, so we knew that we would all find ourselves in those positions. I think you can see when one guy dropped out of one position, the other guy covered and we did it without even thinking. When you've got that kind of movement, that kind of fluidity, it causes teams so many problems because they don't know who to take. We knew that they were going to try and come in man mark a little bit. So when you start drifting all over the field like that, they don't really know who to take. So that worked to our favor, especially in the first half. I thought we were so good in the first half and then second half, obviously, they had a bit of a reaction, but when you move like we do, we moved the ball like we did, it was going to be difficult for anyone tonight.
Sporting Kansas City defender Jake Davis
On if he expected the team to dominate possession like they did…
Well we knew Chivas is a team, like us, that likes to play with the ball, like to maintain possession throughout the game and I don't think that changed how we went into this game. We just wanted to play our game.
On keeping Chivas star Alexis Vega quiet…
Some people on the team tell me his strengths, weaknesses – I knew that he likes to cut inside. I tried to keep him outside, and when he was facing his own goal, facing the ball backwards, I tried to put pressure on him so he wouldn't be face up with me because I know it's dangerous like that. I think I did a good job.
On the team’s defensive performance…
I just think that we were really focused on keeping the ball out of the net and it wasn't just the backline, it was everybody, which obviously helped us get a result.
On dealing with the atmosphere created by the Chivas fans…
I mean, obviously it's different. I would say we have a good atmosphere here, and I kind of liked it. It was a loud stadium, I didn't have an issue with that at all. I liked it, it brought a good atmosphere.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Remi Walter
How was holding them to a clean sheet...
I think we played well with the ball. We just kept our confidence. I think the last game we played in Cincinnati was very good also with the ball and we have to do that again and again because we are at home and we have to show that we have quality. We are a very good team and I think we showed everybody that we can play very well. So, it’s very good because we didn’t take any goals, we defended well, we kept possession, we kept position, and we were good with the ball. So, I think everything was almost perfect tonight.
What was the key to the control this game...
To play with confidence is the key. We just have to understand that we have quality and we can play and we understood that so we just have to keep going. For sure I think that was the most important part for tonight we were very good at that. It was because when we lost the ball we just want to get the ball back very fast. So, we put them under pressure and they can do nothing. When they lost the ball again, we kept the position, so it was good.
How do you take the hold you had on this game going forward...
I think we have to continue on this way because it’s a good way for us. We have been trying for this for quite some time and now we just get it. We have to keep going together, move for each other and the result will come. We are thinking about this tournament for now and about the playoffs and all the nine games we have left, but it’s not the time to be thinking about that. We are in this tournament and this is the priority for the group. So we just have to be at our best that we can be and we keep going.
Chivas Guadalajara Manager Veljko Paunovic
Thoughts on Sporting KC…
They did well with the ball. It was hard for us to get back in (our) shape and recover the ball. We gave away a lot of balls and that was the key. I think I said that yesterday in my press conference. It was going to be a battle for the possession and who's going to have the ball more. In the first half, they absolutely dominated and we sucked. It was terrible to watch the team like that, suffering behind the ball. But it's part of the game. We also, at least, were capable of not conceding more than one. But in the second half, we improved. We improved with the changes. We improved also with the overall mentality and the importance of keeping the ball and not giving it away, which is our main issue that we have in our games. When this team becomes possession oriented and dominating our games, we are going to be a very strong team, a very strong side. So far in our competition, in Liga MX, we did well. So we need to recover that identity. Other than that, again, it's on us.
Thoughts on Leagues Cup…
I think it's obviously a very nice competition. It's young. I think there are things that must improve. I also believe that the excitement for all the clubs and the importance that everyone gives to this competition is generous and it's obvious. I do like it so far, but there are things that I think could be done better always.
