Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
Thoughts on the match…
I think tonight we deserved three points based on the way we battled. I always say when you have these three games in seven days and when you have to go on the road for the third one, it's always the most difficult game just because of the accumulation of everything. I think the guys battled. They really didn't give much away. And the fact that we scored and then we had a great chance after they scored the penalty when Gadi (Kinda) had the diving header, but unfortunately he didn't score. I feel like we deserved three points, but it's a great point for us on the road. (Vancouver is) a team that plays with a lot of energy usually at home. I thought today in the first half we had a lot of energy. At the end, the guys are disappointed because they didn't get three but it's still a good point and we keep adding points as we go.
On the penalty decision…
I did not see it. For all intents and purposes, I'm assuming that it's a penalty. I just don't know. I don't know if he hit the ball or not. But at the end of the day, I'm assuming it was. It's just one of those things. All I would say is that sometimes in the heat of the battle you're a little bit emotional and you go for it whereas sometimes that's where you have got to really know where you are. You have got to smell the situation and you have got to deal with that a little differently. You have to stay on your feet and make the guy beat you because we were defending pretty well to that point.
On the status of Logan Ndenbe…
A couple of guys just felt a little fatigued muscular wise. Some guys were cramping and stuff like that. So it was just best to get those guys off and give the other guys a run. Because like I said, based on the couple weeks before where we had the five games in 14 days and then coming into this stretch, it's been accumulation of a lot of load on the guys. So we needed to use a lot of different bodies.
On rotating the roster…
When you have to play the third game in a three-game stretch like this in seven days and you have to play it on the road, it's a tough one and this was from that perspective. It was very tough. We obviously played on Sunday and Wednesday and then now today, and having travel all the way up here, so that was a difficult proposition, I think, in a lot of respects. But the guys battled hard. They stayed focused and concentrated. They were throwing everything at us in the second half. They were pumping balls all the time over the top. That's all they wanted to do. But we did a really good job of defending the majority of those balls. The guy that came on, they executed on their role and responsibility within the game.
On picking up seven points in seven days…
Over the last like six or seven games, we've been pretty darn good and we've been getting points and we're going to keep working towards it.
On the key to picking up a point in Vancouver…
I won't say exactly what they are, but we stayed away from some things that they capitalize on teams when they come in here where they turn them over in certain parts of the field and they wind up getting on the attack very quickly in transition. And they usually score goals on those situations. I think that we were actually very intelligent executing and not losing balls in those places, which effectively took that advantage away from them. And then the other is that I think that we knew in the second half that they were going to be pumping a lot of balls down the middle. It's one thing to win the first ball, but it's really the second ball that you have got to win. And if we didn't win it, we at least had our back line and we also had our midfield already behind the ball, which really helped us a lot.
On the goal from Alan Pulido…
I think he got over a hump on the five-game stretch. I think this week was heavy as well. I think it's going to be good that we get back to some one-game-a-week type situation here for the next few weeks, which will help him immensely. It'll help a lot of guys just to kind of get back into the rhythm and get some training under their belt. But he's muscled through it and he's getting closer and closer to himself, but he's not there yet. He's still got some time.
Sporting Kansas City forward Alan Pulido
On scoring on his MLS debut in Vancouver in 2020 and scoring tonight in Vancouver…
Yes, I spoke with (Andreu) Fontas and the other players that my first goal was here in Vancouver. We played and won in this stadium and I think it's in the same goal. So I am very happy and I am proud because I work very hard. Of course, the team has had a lot of matches, but it's a good result for us.
On the team’s turnaround…
Yes, everybody has confidence about themselves now. We play better. We play to support other players. This is a couple of the things and we changed in the mind also. We know we are a very good team with the ball. We try to play better every match. We are so happy. Of course, the sentiment in this match is different because we wanted to win, but also it's a very good result for us. This stadium is not easy because it’s turf and we played okay.
On getting three results in seven days…
We know who we are. This is most important. The confidence for everybody has come back. I am so happy and I am proud about the team because it's not easy when you lose a lot of matches and you don't have very good results in the past. Now, I think the matches are better. We play better with the ball. Everybody supports other players and yourself also. I am very good and I am happy because the team has come back.
