Thoughts on today’s match…
I actually thought, especially the first two groups were very organized with what we worked on this past week in our lead up to the first game. From that perspective, I was very happy with some of the things I saw.
Thoughts on Erik Palmer-Brown…
He definitely has matured in both his game on the field and also off the field. He is very determined on what he wants. He’s very determined on what he wants to do as a player. You can see it in the way he trains and the way he plays with the group. It’s been very good.
On how the upcoming U-20 tournament impacts his status with the team…
We do this with a lot of players. We have dealt with it before. You take them away from us for that time. Unfortunately that’s the way it is, but at the same time it’s good experience for him. I know he will take that time period very seriously and do what he has to do to make sure he can handle it going forward.
On Latif Blessing…
The kid has an incredible amount of dynamism. He’s a very dynamic player. I’ve been around a lot of players, and he has a lot of great qualities, but one of the things about him is you tell him something once and he gets it. He figures things out right away. He’s adapted very quickly. He’s a quiet kid, but at the same time he’s very dynamic. He’s fast and is doing really well with the group. He’s a great kid.
On Gerso Fernandes…
He’s been good. He’s been off for a little while, but he’s been good. He got stepped on on the foot today a little bit, but besides that be brings something a little different to our team. It will be interesting to see how we work that asset into the group. He’s solid.
On Felipe Hernandez and Will Little…
They are doing well. Felipe has been really similar to the last time he was in preseason. He has a lot of the DNA that we already have in the midfield. He is great anticipating when to pressure a player. He’s good on the ball, makes good choices and is good on the counter. He’s got really good qualities.
An injury update on Matt Besler and Dom Dwyer…
Matt is back into full training now. Dom already had a couple workouts on the field. He’s getting closer and closer every day.
