Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the adjustments in the second half…
We went to a 4-3-3 as opposed to a 4-2-3-1. We changed that and made some adjustments when they had the ball and they were building out of the back. It was a totally different game in the second half for sure.
Thoughts on the match…
We're in the game when it’s 1-1. In this game, we were a little slow with the ball and two times we gave up the ball deep in their end on plays where it was really easy for us. If we would have just laid the ball off or pushed the ball into space for another guy who was running that area, we have a chance to go to goal and actually be very dangerous. It winds up being two actions against us that was very dangerous, which could have been two goals. They had a couple chances -- and I'm not talking about the ones that were offside because offside is offside -- I'm talking about in the second half there were a couple of chances where they probably should have gotten more out of them. We got a little lucky but, I say again, we were slow with the ball in situations that I think (allowed) them a couple opportunities to nick it and then go to goal quickly on a fast transition. We needed to be better there tonight.
On the formation change and the halftime substitutes…
The way we went out in the second half and the responsibilities changed for certain guys, which I think was very important. There's no doubt that some other guys came on and just did a better job for sure. I think it was hard for us with the two in the middle in the beginning. It was hard for us to get at them and also it put a lot of work for the two central midfielders. I think when we went to three, it was totally different.
On the midfield play…
They were playing more like a diamond in the middle and they still had (Ryan) Gauld underneath and of our two central defenders, one of them wasn't stepping out to Gauld. So if he'd get between the lines, he would turn and go. And then the other two guys went so wide; our two midfielders shouldn't go wide because that's not their responsibility. That's why with three, it was a lot easier because now we have Nemanja (Radoja) in the second half play more like a six. He was able to take care of Gauld and then the two midfielders could take care of their two players that opened up and our two wingers stayed in. We did a much better job in the second half.
On Daniel Salloi’s chances in the second half…
I think (Erik) Thommy coming in the game and I think (Stephen) Afrifa coming and playing on the right side was a big help to us. There was just a better level of organization which gave us more possession of the ball, which then allowed some of those guys to get in better spots and get faced up with their opponent. It was definitely two different halves. The second half was much, much better. But just maybe a little disappointing because I think we could have gotten out of here with a point.
On Saturday’s match-up with St. Louis…
I think the biggest thing is we have got to rest and we have got to get recovered and we have got to get a couple guys back in the group. Hopefully, some of the guys will be back to help because we need those guys on the field. We need as much energy and as many players as we possibly can for this weekend.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia
On the tale of two halves…
I just don't think we were tracking (Ryan) Gauld or (Brian) White very well in the first half. We had a style of play we wanted to play defensively. We just weren't kind of executing it. They were able to kind of combine fairly easily and get behind us. They got the goal. But I thought when we came out in the second half, we readjusted and we made some adjustments with players and shape. Then we were back in the game and we were fighting and we looked like ourselves. It’s just kind of unfortunate to give away another point-losing goal but I thought our response in the second half was good and something we have got to build on.
On the second goal conceded…
I think what happens is when we have the ball and we’re open and then we turn the ball over, in that moment we're not allocated correctly within our defensive positioning. (Fafa) Picault makes a very long run that we just didn't track correctly and (Sebastian) Berhalter plays a good ball and he kind of just thumps the header by me. I think it's one of those where, in that moment, we have to recognize that the 1-1 result on the road is a positive thing and be a little bit more compact. But I think we were just eager to try to accumulate as many points as we can because of the scenario that we're currently in that we allowed ourselves to just be a little bit too open in that situation and making that play a little bit too easy.
On Saturday’s match-up with St. Louis…
Big game. We have this rivalry that's really kind of in its early stages of development of becoming these very exciting games against St. Louis. It’s two teams that need all the points they can get so I think it's going to be more interesting. I think right now we've had a pretty solid road trip. We would have liked to collect points here, but we didn't. We get to be at home in front of our fans against our new rival. It's going to be an exciting game and I think it's one that every single person is going to want to be up for and everyone's going to want to be out there on the field fighting for our fans and fighting for our lives in these moments.
