Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the team’s approach to the second leg…
I think that it’s an important competition and we should play it to our fullest. I think we were in the game other than that we gave up two very soft goals early. That was the difference in the game for sure. After the first goal went in, you could see that we were deflated.
On the team’s takeaways from CCL moving forward…
First off, you can’t put yourself in the deficit that we did going down there. Number two is you have to be much tougher in that you don’t give away soft goals like we did. We gave away soft goals there and we gave away soft goals here tonight. The first two were just ridiculous. When you do that and you’re playing against a team that’s good, they’re going to score. It’s simple.
On the turnaround to Sunday and now focusing only on MLS play…
If you’re only concentrating on one thing not two, obviously it makes it easier. Common sense would say yes. For me, when you get beat, you’re always going to have something inside you that’s going to want you to be better the next time you go out. That’s going to be up to see how the players react from that perspective. Our staff will be the same. We’ll work and be ready to get ready for the game. At the end of the day, the players have to perform on the field. They’re going to have to show that they have something inside them.
On the play of Gerso…
He’s been working hard. He’s played very well. He’s got a good mentality. He came in fit this year. All those things are the reasons why he has played so well as we started this year. It’s really a credit to the way he did his work in the offseason and the way he’s worked in the preseason.
On the play of Gianluca Busio…
First off, he’s played very well. There’s time when he can start over guys as well. He deserves the experience. He plays well. He has great instincts in the game. He’s very intelligent in the way that he enters. The ball goes out of bounds, he knows to pick it up quickly. He knows to throw it in. He has good tricks of the trade for a kid his age. He’s not getting in there because he’s 16. He’s getting in there because he can play.
On the team’s motivation in the second leg…
We’re always going to go to try and win. It hasn’t changed. When I look at the guys who I put out there today, they had an opportunity. I believe some of them fell short. I think some guys played really well and I thought our mentality was good going into the game. But again, when you give up soft goals the way that we did, whether you’re in a competition like this or just playing a league match or playing whatever, you just can’t give up soft goals like that. We did that twice against this team and that hurt us.
Sporting Kansas City forward Gerso
On the team’s approach to this second leg…
We knew the game would be difficult. We tried everything we could to score as soon as possible. We did. But after that we conceded a goal and it was difficult for us.
On the takeaways from this year’s Champions League campaign…
It was a good experience as a team. We learn from the mistakes we made as a team. Next time we will be better.
CF Monterrey head coach Diego Alonso
Thoughts on the match…
It was a complicated game, but they had to risk more so we could do things better. We had to break the pressure, so we had to keep going with the flow and get more goals. We have great players and played a great series. Kansas City also has great players. They were a great rival and we’re thankful for everything.
On making the finals…
We’re happy about being in another final. It’s the second one in nine months. We are ready for the final. It’s going to be a great series also. It’s with a rival from our city and it’s going to be a great thing for us and for the fans.
On playing Tigres in the final…
It’s going to be a very important game. It has the meaning of any final. That would be the case with any opponent, not just Tigres. We’ve had the idea of being champions all tournament. It’s not going to be any different. It’s going to be the most important game of the season. It being the CONCACAF final is extra. We want to give the championship to the people, to our fans. It has a lot of meaning and we want to give it to them.
On how he will carry this play forward…
We know that we played better in the second half. We’re going to keep doing this in the next games and we want to go with force for the final. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing, and it will be good for us.
On what MLS teams can do to compete…
I don’t have an answer for what MLS can do to be better competition because I don’t have enough knowledge of MLS. The only knowledge I have is the 2017 CONCACAF Champions League and the teams I have gone against. MLS has competitive teams. There’s not a great difference between them and the Mexican league. MLS has difficult teams that play strong.
