Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
The first thing is I want to congratulate San Jose. I think Luchi (Gonzalez) did an excellent job this year turning the team around and making them incredibly competitive. That was a really tough game for us tonight. I think to start the game we looked a little sluggish. Then to finish the first half they looked a little sluggish. Some of it's probably because of the quick turnaround for both teams. I think the second half was a little bit (better). There was more in the game. I think the positive is that our guys found a way. I also think because of the new rules with the penalty kicks, I actually think that this was really good experience for us to actually go through this because now with the three-game series, you have to do penalties. To have gone through it already is good for our guys, for sure. But it was a very tough game. At the end of the day, we found a way. I keep going back to it. I think our guys have the ability to dig deep because they've been through a lot this season.
On Tim Melia and Daniel Salloi in the shootout…
I think Tim is the best I've ever been around, both player and coach, in regards to penalty kicks. He's absolutely incredible. He just is. He's incredible. I told him, I can't believe he missed the easiest one -- the one that kind of went under him – but (he was) tremendous. He's been rock solid since he's come back and it's been very important. You have got to have a good goalkeeper in the goal. You need it and you need him to come up big at big moments. He's done that in a lot of these situations. That was huge for us. And then I've been in those situations where you're number five and I've been in all those positions where you're one, two, three, four and especially five. It seems a little easier because you have the chance to win it and all those things, but there's a lot of things that are going through your head. I commend our crowd too. Our crowd was really good. They were loud as could be, especially when they were shooting and making them know it. That was really important, as well. It was good. Johnny (Russell) started it off - a great penalty kick, great composure. You need your captain to do that. It was good by the guys.
On the team’s resilience…
There's been an incredible commitment from the group. Even though we didn't get the points early on in the season, and that's probably the best word, they stayed committed. They gave an effort all the time. The one thing about this game today -- and I tried to really impress upon this and I did again at the very end of the game when we were going the penalties - that is that they put us in this position. They should feel confident that they've been through a lot. They should feel confident that they have what it takes to get a win in this fashion. They're mentally strong. They're physically strong because of what they've gone through this season. That can help you immensely when you go into a game like this. Again, the game was up and down. It was back and forth. We probably had a good chance to win it there at the very end of the game, but we stayed focused and concentrated and that's the big thing. Our mentality is really good at the moment.
On Gadi Kinda entering in the second half…
I was trying to get us to be even more dangerous going forward. Gadi is more of a No. 10 than he is a No. 18 and Remi (Walter) is more of a No. 8 than he is a No. 10. I wanted to get more attacking players onto the field. And I think (Nemanja Radoja) also he just kind of died. He was dead. He covered a lot of ground in the 80 minutes that he was in there and Roger (Espinoza) was the right guy just (in terms) of experience and all the other things. We needed to lock the game down. Then also he could have taken a penalty kick as well. I felt comfortable with both those guys, as you saw. Gadi buried his really well, but it was to try to go win the game.
On facing St. Louis…
I think, first of all, they should be congratulated. They've done a fantastic job this season. For them to be first in the conference is a tremendous accomplishment. They're a very good team. They've worked very hard over the course of the season and stayed very consistent. We understand that we're playing the best team in the conference at the moment and it's going to be hard for us, especially with a short turnaround going into the weekend. But if you want to win something, you have got to play the best teams. And they're the best right now. So we have got a big hurdle to get over but I think we're up for the challenge from the perspective that we're going to go and give everything we have.
On the rivalry between the clubs…
Even since I came here in 2000 as a player, this team really never had a rival. I think it’s great. I think it's tremendous for our league. But I also think it's important for both clubs. I think both clubs need that as well. If you look to Seattle and Portland. You have got the two (teams in) New York. Philadelphia and D.C. They're just all over the place. We haven't had that. So I think it's about time and it's going to be good for the future. I think it's only going to get stronger and tougher and all those things over the years.
On the team’s momentum…
Whenever you go into the playoffs, there's one thing that's really important and that is you have got to have health in your team. That's one. I think the other is that sometimes you can get out of the shoot really well and you can be kind of up top for most of the season and then all of a sudden, it can hit you in a different way when you get into the playoffs because you have got to sit out. You miss some games. You get a bye. You're always trying to manage those scenarios. I've been through quite a few of different scenarios over the years. It doesn't hurt having home field advantage, that's for sure. But I also think that, when a team's good they're good. And St. Louis has, like I said, has been good. You don't stay at the top for the whole season and get lucky. They're a good team. They've done really well.
On if Daniel Salloi asked to go fifth in the shootout…
No. I think somebody asked me this the other day about penalty kicks. We know our guys. We practice them. We don't just practice them the day before a game or whatever. We practice them quite a bit and we kind of know who the guys are. The other thing is sometimes we go with a feel on who those guys are. Listen, the assistant coaches do a lot of that in regards to they make the choice and they've done a good job over the years. So I don't need to go in and tell you, ‘hey, change this guy to that guy.’ It doesn't happen.
On how SKC can get past St. Louis with home field advantage…
You try to win on the road. There’s a couple things. I think it's the same thing with San Jose today. It's not like they came in here today and did something completely different that we haven't seen all year long. We didn't either. I think what you did see is you see two teams that were highly competitive and also for the entire game both teams were incredibly concentrated. They really didn't give up a lot. It wasn't like there were all these great chances. I think we put a big push in the second half and especially at the end, but sometimes you have got to accept that the home team is probably going to do that. They did a good job of defending and the goalkeeper did a great job of milking it.
On the play of Jake Davis…
I like the fact that we got a shutout. You have got to defend well. Defense wins championships. For the first half of my professional career, I was No. 9. I was a center forward. I would never have thought that defense was important unless I changed positions, which I went from center forward all the way back to the central defender. Defending is really important. Jake's a gamer. That's the best way to say it. I've said this before. There are days in training I'm yelling at him and he has no idea what I'm saying. And somehow he comes out at game time and he just makes it happen. I give him all the credit in the world. He's one of those kids that has jumped into a position and, by the way, he hasn't played that position for a long stretch of his career by any means. He was more of a midfielder most of his career, but he's taken to this really quickly and his instincts are what have helped him be incredibly successful.
On how he will approach a Best-of-3 series…
I think you have to keep it simple. We have a game in front of us that has two halves. We have got to play the first one. We have got to make our adjustments in the second half and then go from there. Shoot, you would love to finish it in two, right? I mean, that's what they would love to do as well. Two wins and have a nice day, but it's going to be a tough series.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
On penalties...
I think that directly to penalties is very important when you're playing this amount of games close together because the guys are taxed. That injury time or that overtime, an extra 30 minutes would truly accumulate if you're going to start playing these three-game series, I think it's a necessary evil right now.
How were you feeling after your first block...
Johnny (Russell) bangs in the first goal like he always does. It's always great to get up early. I think it plays in an incredible psyche against the other team and it kind of starts to make every penalty shooter step up there and think about it a little more. So, very lucky to make the first save, but ultimately I didn't do anything the entire game. You guys should not be interviewing me. You should be interviewing our entire backline. (Andure) Fontas had a phenomenal game. Dany (Rosero), Logan (Ndenbe), Jake (Davis), (Nemanja) Radoja, defensively, for me, that was one of our best performances of the season and we're going to need that going into a very difficult place in St. Louis.
On facing St. Louis…
I think we're a little bit different than other teams is we've been under maybe a little bit more pressure than other teams because our games have been so important for the last month. We've had some failures, we've had some success. So I hope that now that we're in a place where every game is a must-win and we've already kind of been through those battle-test type games, that it gives us the confidence to play the way we want to play. We played really well. I understand we didn't score, but we were on them for 80% of the game really positively. We have got to do that again in St. Louis because St. Louis is going to raise the level a little bit, so we have got to raise ours as well.
On his confidence during penalties...
Alec Dufty does a ton of work for me. We do a lot of work behind the scenes. And then again, I think the guys scoring goals has a bigger mental effect than me saving them. So when the guys step up and they score every penalty, it puts pressure on that shooter that he knows he has to put that maybe a little bit more in the corner or a little bit higher or lower. It just builds into a really good atmosphere for both myself and the guys on our team.
On the prep that goes into penalties…
It’s everything. It's video, it's instinctual in the game, it's reading guys' hips, its eyes, and how they approach the ball. Are they walking the ball slowly? Are they fast? Do they sum up their confidence? There are so many things that you have to kind of think about all those things in that moment, and then hopefully you have success.
On the crowd...
I can hear it and that's huge. I think the loudest they were for (Cristian) Espinoza and that plays with the shooter's head, so keep doing that. Our fans do a phenomenal job always having our back and they did an excellent job again in the shootout.
On San Jose playing for a shootout…
We were trying to do everything we could to score. I don't know if they were playing for a shootout. I think they were playing safe. For sure, they were playing safe. They had some good opportunities. But again, when our defense plays as well as they did, individually and collectively, it's so hard to break us down. That should be the story of the game is how well we play defensively.
Sporting Kansas City forward Daniel Salloi
On his penalty...
It was great. I'm very happy I can make it, but honestly, going into penalties with Tim Melia is fun. This guy is unbelievable so all the credit to him.
On what is going through his head before taking the PK...
In a shootout, I've never missed a penalty. In the game, I've never made one, but in shootouts I'm confident.
On his confidence level after Johnny made the penalty...
That's always important. The first one's always important and I always trust Johnny's penalties so I'm very happy he made it. That always gives us a boost. I'm going to be honest, this is crazy that we keep going. I’m excited for Sunday’s game.
On continuing to advance...
This is crazy. Honestly, I don't know what to think of this year because for 10 games we couldn't win a game. Now we're playing St. Louis in the playoffs and this is insane. I think there's not really pressure on us. We shouldn't be there in terms of the way we started. We shouldn't be there, but we're there. So now we deserve to be there, but we have to play the same way this weekend and that's going to be very, very tough to go to St. Louis and win there.
On if there is a chip on the shoulder of the team with St. Louis as the No. 1 seed...
No, St. Louis deserves it. They did amazing this year and we had our mistakes. They were consistent all year long and that's why they are where they are and they won the regular season series. Let's see who wins the playoffs. I think both sides are excited to play this and what a cool first year for the rivalry, playing each other in the playoffs. I think we should all be excited. I hope the fans travel and then next weekend we probably play our last home game too so I hope for all those games, everybody's here and supporting us.
On if there is a revenge mindset...
No, not like that. It's more like a new page. It's a new chapter. In this sport, you have to forget about those last games and then keep it going. As I've said, they won the first three-game series. Let's see who wins the second one.
On the team's nerves with Tim Melia being calm before the PKs...
It's a different level. I can feel it on other teams that they're a little bit shaky and indecisive where they should put their penalties because Tim just reads them so well. When the coaches were picking the penalties, our assistant coach (Zoran Savic) looked at me and he said ‘You have got the winner.’ He was right and I'm very happy that I got the last penalty. It's always nice when the dog pile is on you.
On the crowd during the PK’s...
Very loud, very loud. I'm very happy the way they showed up and they had the towels and this is awesome. This is what we need because you need the crowd behind you. So when we come back here from St. Louis next week, it doesn't matter what the result was there, we need a packed house. I hear (Patrick) Mahomes was in the stadium, too, so I expect him to be back here, too.
