Sporting Kansas City (17-7-7, 58 points) secured a first round home playoff match in the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs in emphatic fashion, earning a 2-0 home win over Western Conference rival LA Galaxy (13-12-7, 46 points) on Wednesday night at Children’s Mercy Park. Post-match press conference remarks are below.
Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes
On the magnitude of the win...
We have three games to go, but I’ve always said games in hand don’t mean anything if you don’t win them. This is the first of four games and it was important for us to get these at home. Now we go on the road to a tough game at Minnesota. They're a very good team, and always a difficult game. This was very important for us today. It was huge. LA is a really good team. When we come into this area at the end of the season and go up against LA who wants to make the playoffs, a team that made a big change, their coach is different their staff is different, they’ve made a lot of changes in players and they’re an organized team. It’s a tough game for us. Then you take the conditions of the weather and something can happen in the game. Somebody can slip or something happens to a guy and the next thing you know it goes the wrong way. For our guys to start the way we did, which was a big focus of ours, score in the first half, score in the second half and keep a clean sheet against a team like this it was big for us, really big.
On Johnny Russell’s form...
This is what I saw when I was looking at him to bring him here. With the way that we play, it’s always an emphasis to have wingers that try to get isolated. If they can, with the way that we play you have to have guys that can break people down and he can do it. He was a monster tonight. Johnny has that it factor. He shows up in the big moments. He’s mentally tough. He gives everything he has all the time. When he did that slide tackle with his knees to block the ball that goes out of bounds, he’s just doing everything that he can to win. He just has a great mentality. It’s infectious for the rest of the guys on the team and it’s one of the big reasons why he’s the captain.
On Johnny Russell’s scoring streak...
There's a handful of players on this team that are big-moment guys and they show up in all the big moments. That's what we need them to do. One of the big difficulties last year was when we got to this point in the season, we just weren’t healthy enough. Now we’re starting to find our form a little bit which is helping us. Slowly but surely, we’re going to get a few guys back and that will help us. When a guy steps up like he does, it’s huge for the team.
On John Pulskamp’s performance...
He made two great saves: one in the first half, one in the second half late. He was really good with the ball. I’m not saying this because I don’t think he’s not good with the ball. He was much more composed than I expected for this type of game. He stepped into not an easy situation at all and he was great with his feet. We had a little talk yesterday about a couple of little situations and he made the right decision every single time which was tremendous. I give him a lot of credit. It's not easy to get a clean sheet especially this time of the year. For him to do that at his age in this situation was tremendous. Hat goes off to him for sure.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp
On getting the start...
After the Seattle game, we obviously knew it was a possibility, and regardless I always prepare for every week the same whether if I know I'm starting or not. I knew I was officially going to get the start just a couple of days before but again it doesn’t really make that big of a difference in my preparation.
On his preparation for tonight...
I felt great. With every game I’ve gotten this year with the first team, I’ve felt better and better both playing with my actions but also just mentally calm and feeling better. Just feeling very comfortable out there. I prepare for it like any other game. I knew a lot was riding on this game and it was very important with Seattle losing and it being so tight in the top three. Winning tonight was obviously very important and I’m glad we were able to do that.
On if he spoke to Tim Melia...
I talked to him and it was very simple. Him and I are very good friends and he just wished me luck, told me to do my thing and that was about it.
On his preparation before games when Tim Melia is the starter...
As a young goalkeeper, you have to recognize that the position may not give the same opportunity that is given to field players. Typically, a goalkeeper can’t come on and get 15-20 minutes a game and come off the bench and get minutes. It’s usually something sudden like an injury or suspension that leads to you getting minutes. Knowing that, I prepare the same because I know those opportunities are few and far between. When it comes, I know I have to take them and as for preparation, it’s nothing unordinary or different than you’d expect: resting before a game. watching film on the other team. I'm a player who likes to research the opponents so there’s a lot of film and working with the goalkeeper coach to study the opponent. I build up my energy and excitement before the game.
On the win against his former club...
I was telling some of the guys on the inside that there’s no other team I’d rather have this type of performance against. To get my first MLS clean sheet against the team that I had played for and come up through their youth system makes it all that much sweeter. I am appreciative of the Galaxy for everything that they gave me but I’m very happy I ended up at Sporting.
On his bouncing back...
One of the biggest things I was told by a Galaxy coach, somebody who I’m still very close with, Brian Kleiban, is never getting too high on the highs or too low on the lows. Every result is in the past the moment you step off the lines. The result with the second team was not good at all and that’s something that beats you up in the moment but as soon as you get over that sting, it’s gone from the memory.
On playing in the rain...
Playing in the rain is not ideal but it doesn’t affect it that much. You just kind of block it out. It plays a lot faster and you got to recognize that and get out on the front foot if it skips off the ground. In terms of handling making sure you’re really focused with each ball and that nothing slips through.
On staying engaged while Sporting is on the ball...
The first and most important thing in staying connected to the team is my communication. Often times, that’s just as much for me as it is for them. Help them see what I can see and maybe they can’t. That keeps me engaged and focused on the play and then just thinking of each individual action really helps me. If we turn over the ball and I see the opponent attacking, I’ll think of that as a training scenario where we’re doing patterns to goal or something. With that individual play, just deal with it and then go on from there.
Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell
On moving back atop the West…
The big one was obviously going away and beating Seattle. We needed that result after the poor one the week before and Seattle had just beaten us as well. We had to get points back. We had to claw back some ground. We knew the season really hinged on that. We had to go there and beat them. We did that. It’s another great performance tonight to get ourselves back to the top. It’s in our hands. We’ve got three games. We win out and we finish top of the West again. (It would be) three times in four years. That was the aim at the start of the year. That hasn’t changed at any point. It’s in our hands. It’s up to us. If we go out and win our games, that’s it. Noone else has a say in it.
On if he’s ever been in this strong of form in his career…
Probably not from a goal scoring point of view in consecutive games. Everything I’m hitting right now seems to be going in. So from that perspective, probably not. But my confidence has never changed in my career. I’m just getting in good positions. My team is finding me with great passes. I’m managing to get my shots away and they’re going in. Obviously for me, it’s massive. Getting a bit of history at this club, as well, it’s something that’s going to be spoken about for a while. That’s really important for me. I’ve told you guys time and time again, if I’m contributing and we’re winning games then that’s my only focus. The records are nice but I’d rather be lifting a trophy at the end of the year.
On the play of John Pulskamp…
We know how good John is. Obviously, he’s behind such a good goalie in Tim (Melia). He played at the beginning of the year and he did well for us. We’ve got confidence in him. It was up to us to try and limit the amount of shots that he had to face tonight but when he did, he made a big (save) in the first half and then right at the end there. If they get a goal there, it makes the last 5-10 minutes a little bit edgy. It was a great save. We know he can do that. We see it day in and day out. He’s a great guy and a great professional. He goes about his job brilliantly everyday. I’m delighted for him. Coming in last minute with not a lot of time to prepare for this, he’s a confident guy and you saw that tonight. A big save for us is just as important as any goal with a goalkeeper making saves like that. He was brilliant tonight.
On the crowd supporting the team late in the game…
You can feel it. I’ve said so many times before how good the fans are for the team and how good they are for me. When I get the ball, I do feel it. I don’t want to disappoint them a lot of the time. I feel like I need to try something. You can feel that. It gives you a little bit of energy. It gives you that rush. You can feel them getting off their seats. My job is to continue to do that. That’s why I was brought here. That’s my job in the team. My job is to create chances and score goals for my team. That’s what I’m going to aim to continue to do. We’re in great form right now. They’re always behind us. They’re massive for us and they’re going to be massive leading into the playoffs as well.
