Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
I actually think that we started well, then we gave up the goal. We found our way back into the game (with a) good goal for sure. The second goal was actually a really nice goal. I thought we had the better of the actions to goal and the better of the chances. Stephen (Afrifa) should have scored probably two. Willy (Agada) should have scored two at a minimum. There were good chances. Daniel (Salloi) had a couple really good looks. We were in and around the box quite a bit. I don't think we were good in possession, which I wanted us to be better. I wanted us to value the ball a little bit more. But we got the three points and that was very important, especially the way the groups are in this. That was big.
On Robert Castellanos…
I thought he was good in the game. Again, the goal he scores is something that we were talking about. That's why he came over. Him and Robert (Voloder) actually are really good on offensive free kicks. They're very good. So it was good to see him get that. Hopefully it builds a little confidence for him. I thought in the game he was good for the most part.
On the development of Stephen Afrifa…
Stephen was like a house on fire. He was one of the best players in preseason. We started the season and maybe I put a little too much pressure on him by saying he was probably one of the best players in preseason. Or maybe it was just a lot for him when he got into some games. But I don't think that he started off very well. So we had a long talk a few weeks in and I just said, ‘We're going to have to start from ground zero and we'll just build back up. But you have got to believe that you showed a lot in preseason and you have it. You just have got to build towards it.’ I think part of it for him is the physical aspect and feeling fit in the game to go and do what he's capable of doing. When he almost scored that goal in the second half -- the way he opened up and how slippery he is in the box -- he creates so much space for himself. He's one of those players that has real quality to do that. Eventually, when he gets in a place where he actually will score a goal or two and he's playing regular minutes, he's a guy that could all of a sudden bang in like 10 goals. I believe that. He just needs to keep pushing and keep working towards that form and understanding what his strengths are in the game and then getting a routine around it.
On the team’s third kits…
I'm a history guy. I am. This is what I played for when I was here. I might get crushed for this, but it's okay. I can handle it. I get crushed for a lot of other things. Our Sporting Kansas City logo is, at the end of the day, it's like tattooed on my heart. It's what this club is and who this club is. But there's been history and there's been some success and I'm here originally because of the Wizards. I stuck stuck around and eventually got connected here with the new ownership that bought the team. This is a look back. But it's also a show of respect to what this club was. At the same time, who we are today is a different level than where it was. And there's a lot of things that have been achieved with Sporting. It's good and I respect that piece of it but at the end of the day we're Sporting Kansas City.
On Logan Ndenbe’s return…
You can blame it on me. It's me. I'm more protecting him at the moment. I just don't feel like he has had enough physical confrontations in training. I know he'll tell me at the end of the day he's ready to go, but I want to make sure he's ready. He thinks he's ready and that's great. That's what has to be. If I'm pushing him out there and he doesn't feel that way, that's a problem. So he does. I just want to give him some more physical challenges within training. You have got to understand, we've been so congested in our schedule playing Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday. The trainings haven't been big sessions, meaning big numbers where it's 11v11 or what have you and he needs that and we haven't had a lot of it. So we're getting that this week. We'll get it again next week and next week's going to be a challenging week for the guys so I would expect for him to get some minutes in the Toluca game for sure.
On Tim Melia’s injury…
Something happened with Tim. His leg was bothering him a little bit so he had said that he'd be better off maybe just letting somebody else hit the goal kicks for now. So we did. I asked him at the end of the game if he's out for Monday and he said no. I think he's alright.
Sporting Kansas City defender Robert Castellanos
On his equalizing goal in the first half and his celebration with Manager Peter Vermes…
It was fun. It was kind of something that Peter (Vermes) and I were looking over on set pieces. He saw how I was getting myself in those positions and kind of tweaked it a little bit to kind of get the advantage. At the end of the day, it played out the way we talked about it. I was able to get the goal.
On Remi Walter’s assist to Castellanos for the goal…
Prior to that (play), Willy (Agada) and I were in the same spot. I was just told, ‘They know you're going second post. Just move a little bit, pull the player, and whoever's marking you is not going to get there.’ And it worked out exactly how we talked about it.
On scoring a goal to tie the match after Chicago had taken the lead…
I think there are a couple things we have to tighten up in the back. I think we've been doing very well in eliminating as many opportunities as the other team could get. Sometimes good players make good plays, and I just think that we have to put ourselves in better positions to not let them get those open opportunities. There are moments for us to learn from those. We're a good team and we have a really strong backline when we're all focused and locked in, so we’ll just work on that and not let that happen again.
On Sporting’s recent defensive improvement…
We're just not taking some plays for granted like we did in the beginning. Sometimes I think we're a little bit too nonchalant. Now we’re ready for anything and all the guys are locked in.
We started off kind of rough. We had a good amount of momentum, but it just didn't go our way. We just understood that if we minimized the amount of times they get to our goal, we would have a better chance of winning games. The communication between the back line and the midfield—we’ve been doing very well with that. So I’m really proud of the guys for sticking together on that.
On playing against Mexican clubs in Leagues Cup as a Mexican American…
It's fun. I grew up playing in Mexico and I know the atmosphere. It’s obviously a very competitive atmosphere and environment. (Toluca is) coming to our hometown here, so we have got to defend our turf and just prove to them that we're able to keep up anytime they come here.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
On his injury…
I’m just kind of dealing with something with my leg so it’s precautionary and just being smart. Robert (Voloder) can kick the ball further than me anyway, so I think we might be on to something there.
On the team’s defense...
Minus the goal in the beginning, I think the only other opportunity was late with (Fabian) Herbers I believe. But I thought we were pretty organized defensively. I thought we did a good job keeping the ball tonight, which we haven't done in a while. We’ve been a little bit more quick to kick the ball long, whereas tonight we weren't doing that. It was a lot hotter than it looked. It was definitely humid and I think that slowed down the game a little bit. Different lineups from both teams and everyone is kind of feeling out the Leagues Cup, but ultimately we completed our objective which was to win the game and especially win at home.
On the importance of winning the game...
My message right from the start of the game is all we needed to do is win. We need to accumulate the points early in these type of tournaments where there are only two games in the group stage. So three points go a long way and hopefully that helps us kind of move on to the next phase, which is what we're looking to do.
