Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On Vancouver being a difficult opponent to break down...
They worked extremely hard. Their front seven guys were going man to man and we were at times unwilling to run with movement off the ball. You can connect passes and that's great, but that doesn't do anything. Possession doesn't mean anything unless you have a purpose to it, and the purpose has to be to break through the other team. You have to create areas where you have numbers. Too many times we just didn't do that over the course of the game.Â
When we ran at them, we were dangerous. When we were just knocking the ball around, it wasn't enough. You've got to give credit to them because they worked hard and they pressed us. We have been pressed before by a lot of teams, but today we just didn't have movement off the ball. We didn't have enough creativity. Again, the game is about getting numbers up in good situations. We didn't do that enough today, and a lot of that has to do with our movement off the ball.
On the two goals conceded to Vancouver in the 2-1 loss...
Those were two really easy situations. The second one was just a lack of stepping out and pressuring the ball. There's no way that we should give a shot away like that from that distance. We had three guys standing there and there's no way we shouldn't have someone blocking it. The other one was a service into the box. It's one thing not to win a header. It's another thing not to get to the knock-down first. We didn't do either.
When we ran past them, we created stuff and we were dangerous. You expect the other team to assert themselves on their home field. They have to be good. But at the same time, we had chances where we did break them down, but we just didn't go with the zest that you need to in a game like this.
Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell
Thoughts on the match...
Not enough movement and not enough quality, especially in the first half. In the second half, we kept the ball well but without really doing anything. As for reasons why? Right now, I don't really know. It's a disappointing night. We continue to, defensively as a team, allow cheap goals and put ourselves in a hole in games. We're always fighting back. It's a frustrating night, especially with the results yesterday and having an opportunity like we did. Once again, we've let it slide.
On his confidence after scoring in a sixth straight match...
I always feel like that, even at the beginning of the season when I wasn't scoring goals. I'm confident in myself. I feel dangerous. I've been on a good goal-scoring form recently. But if I don't score a goal for the rest of the year and we win every game then I really don't care. The team comes first. It's nice to help out with goals. That's my job. But at the end of the day, us as a whole is more important than me scoring goals.
On the team's struggles after long breaks...
We just need to stop being so sloppy. Every game after a break, we've started so poorly. We're just continuously giving ourselves way too much to do. I have no idea why or what it is. But it's something that we're going to have to fix because everyone knows in the playoffs, if you make mistakes like that you're done. We're in no position to be able to afford to do that again.
