Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On scoring three goals in the first half…
I think from the opening whistle, we were knocking on the door. We had some very good counters. We were maybe just off with the final pass or maybe we should have passed it somewhere else. But we had the actions in us. The goals were tremendous goals against that goalkeeper too because I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I think he is a fantastic goalkeeper. He has done well all season. But those were just really, really good goals by us in today's game. He's got great distribution. It helped us and I think it helped us in a lot of ways. They scored pretty quickly right after. We could have easily lost confidence quickly, especially being away from home. They have made this into a really, really tough place to play. Their fans are into it. That got their fans into it. But for us to get two more goals and then get in and just keep working towards it was big for us, obviously.
On Logan Ndenbe’s goal…
I think he deserves it based on the fact that, ever since he came back from his second injury in preseason, he has been a man on a mission. Right place, right time. He does it in training at times as well. A great reward for him, but more importantly the team.
On Gadi Kinda’s goal…
Obviously Gadi has a lot of things on his mind with his home and his family and everything else. There was one game that I threw him in sort of right afterwards and he was a little bit disconnected. I probably shouldn't have put him into that game on that day, but he had said that he's ready to go. He feels he's ready to contribute for the team. I thought he was a force today. He was exactly the person that we needed when we brought him in here to begin with. Today he showed that he's kind of back to himself, which was very important for us.
On getting the win in Game 1…
I think we were on such a mission to get back into the playoffs because of our situation with all of our players out and all those things. When we got in, it was such an emotional victory if you will. And then we had to play three days later and that game against San Jose was a very difficult game from a lot of perspectives. It was a difficult game just us getting into it, coming off that emotional high, and we were trying to weather the storm. We suffered a lot in that game. The fact that then we went through the penalty kick shootout -- even more emotions, right? Guys are under pressure. There's just a lot that gets taken out of you. The fact that we now have got to come here. We have got to play a team that has had good rest and hasn't gone through that emotional roller coaster. They've known they've been in for quite some time. It was a big performance by our guys. But I also think that the changes that we made were necessary today. They were necessary. What I'm probably most proud of all of it is that all those guys contributed in such a meaningful way. I really think that has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of those guys got experience all throughout the season.
On the team’s defensive performance…
I think they always had it in them, but I think we've had a lot of consistency with the back four now and the goalkeeper and I think that helps. Same people always playing together. They're working things out in training. They're working things out in games. They're just getting more familiar with each other. I think there's a big part of that. I think the other is that I think that their focus and concentration has risen as games have gone on. That has been a big help for us.
On Johnny Russell’s absence…
He has a little bit of a sore leg and I wanted to be very careful with him. I was going to maybe bring him in late, but since we were in a good position, it helped out so much not to have to bring him into the game.
On the message to the team heading into Game 2…
You have got to go on with your business. That's a very good team we played tonight. There's a reason why they're in first place in the west. When you do it consistently over the course of the season, it means a lot to a team and they're very good. They have great commitment in the group and they have some real dangerous players within their team. Obviously, we have got a game coming up and we have to look at it it's just the next game. We have got to try to win that game. That's the only way to look at it.
On the team’s mentality…
There's no doubt that we've had to scratch, scrape, bite, fight, all the things that you can throw out there. We've had to do all those things since May 1st because, obviously, everybody knows and it's well documented where we were. And so every game that we went into, we've had to get a result. We've had to get points. So as the season wound down, there was less and less room for mistakes or results. So the guys have had to find a way to battle time and time again. I think the first 30 minutes against San Jose, I think San Jose was - I'm not going to say that they were just better than us, they were just more fresh than us -- and so for us, we had to kind of suffer through that game a little bit. The last 10-15 minutes of the first half, we were in it. The second half, I think we were in it much more and we actually almost won it in regulation late in the game and also at the start of the second half. But again, it's just an emotional roller coaster. As much as I've said this before, I can go up to the guys and ask them, ‘Hey, how are you doing? You're feeling good?’ Ego takes over at that moment and he says, ‘Oh yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I feel like I can play. I'm okay. Everything's good’. But it's where I have to make some decisions on some guys and I had to do that this time around. And like I said, I think the good thing is I think that freshness really ruled the day in that those guys contributed and said, ‘You know what? They're going to come in and make sure that they play the role that they need to.’
On the team’s tactics in the playoffs…
Well, without giving too many things away, I think that the playoffs are, at times, incredibly difficult to navigate. I say that because some of it can depend on where the form is of your team coming out of the season. Some of it is how you finished the last game of your season. In our situation, some of it could be how was your wild card game and each one of those poses a different thing. The other is that you also have to take inventory with the team that you have. How many guys have been in the playoffs? How many guys understand what playoffs are? A lot of times you have got foreign players that come in they've never been through anything like this so it's completely different for them. There's this educational process that you go through with a bunch of those guys. And then the other is that -- I know it's cliche in all sports -- but it's so easy to lose yourself in the playoffs as well in that you start thinking too much about too many things. The only thing that you can work with and focus on is really that next game, that next 45 minutes. That's where you have got to have everything prepared for and then you have got a halftime and you can make some adjustments and then move on from there.
On the team’s tactics in the match…
I know that there are people that have a lot of opinions around the fact that I always play a 4-3-3. But what they don't realize is there's a lot of nuance that goes into playing that way and that, depending on different situations and different teams you play against, you have to make adjustments. I think where the real credit goes to is the players. Their execution of what needed to be done in the game was top notch. They really paid attention to our game plan and they were very focused and concentrated for 90+ minutes. It's not easy to do that because obviously as each game comes along there's pressure. But they did an excellent job on that.
On the message to the team at halftime…
They're a team that, man, as they did the last time we played here and in 12 minutes they scored three or four goals. They have the ability to just hike it up, put the pressure, put the pedal to the floor and go. It's a team that can crush you. You also have to take in consideration that Tim (Melia) was fantastic tonight. He made some stops where he held onto the ball where easily he could have bobbled the ball just because of the slickness of the field and the weather conditions. But the team stay focused and concentrated. I would say that's the biggest thing.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Remi Walter
Thoughts on the match…
It's a very good start. We know that the job is not done yet and we have to keep pushing. For sure, it's a great result here because we beat the best team in our conference. It's not nothing. It means a lot for us. But we have to keep pushing because we will be in our stadium in front of our fans and we have to do the job at home. That's the most important thing. Now we have to just rest and start thinking about the next game and do the job.
On whether it’s an advantage to play mid-week…
No, I don't think so. I think it's hard for us because we have played many games. Physically, it's hard. Mentally, it's hard. But we are ready. We know how the playoffs are. We played in the playoffs two years ago. We know how it is. It's a totally different game and we are ready for that. We showed that tonight.
On the difference in tonight’s match from previous results in St. Louis…
We just played a different way. I think when we come here, we have to play a different way because we like to play and we like to have the ball. But here I think it's hard because they put (you under) a lot of pressure. They press us a lot and it's their quality for sure. So we're just thinking of another way and tonight it worked.
On the team’s mentality…
We are just happy for now. We think that we had a great result here because it's not easy, for sure, when you play away against a good team like that. But we are now thinking about the next game. Next week will be a different game at home and we will be ready for that. We have to be ready as a group and as a player. Tonight there are some players that didn’t play, but it's okay. We are all together and we have to do the job together with the fans, with all the club and with all the players and with the staff. We are ready for that. It's a playoff time and we are ready.
On the message to the fans…
First, thank you so much for your support all season. We know that it was hard this season, but we did it for now and we have to keep pushing together. Thank you for coming tonight and we hope the stadium will be on fire next week because we need that. We need 12 guys. It's very important for us and we have to show that we will put a lot of pressure on them. We have to keep pushing together. I hope the stadium will be full and on fire.
Sporting Kansas City defender Logan Ndenbe
On his goal…
That felt really good for me. It's my first goal for the club and in my career, so it was really a good feeling and even more in the playoffs away in St. Louis against a rival. It's a really good thing. I'm really happy with this goal.
On the importance of the victory…
It was really important because we come away against the first place team in the league, so we knew it was going to be a very difficult game. We take the game in our advantage straight away in the first half so it was a good thing. And then we stayed strong defensively to not allow an easy goal.
On where this moment ranks in his career...
To be honest, it’s in the first position because first of all, it’s as a professional and it’s not the same when you play with younger teams. And yeah, it's a banger so it's different. I'm not used to scoring goals like this so it's really good. I know I have a good shot, but I don't do it often so it's a good thing.
On the team’s approach to the game…
We were really focused even before the game. Everybody knew we come for a mission. We lost two times here when we came during the season. It's a big thing to stay focused all the game because they can score anytime. So we knew we have to stay focused and when we have the chance to score, we have to score and kill the game.
On the team’s mentality…
For me, it was really good. We were focused all the game. The last game when we came here, we had a lack of concentration in 10 minutes and they can score a lot of goals in this time. So we were focused all the game and we scored the chances that we had. So it's a big win against a rival and we are very happy.
On left backs scoring big goals in the playoffs for SKC…
It's really good. It's really good. For me, it's a very important goal. First of all, it's during the playoffs and it's against a big team away - against the (No. 1 seed). So I feel really good about this goal.
