Sporting Kansas City II Head Coach Benny Feilhaber
On closing out the season with a result...
I’m more impressed with the performance. I mean, St. Louis is the hottest team in the league. I thought we were the superior team pretty much from start to finish. We knew what they wanted to do and we focused on the game plan. I felt the guys executed it very well. To come back from down a goal, after a game that feels like you are doing everything right to get a goal yourself, and then to win in penalty kicks and put the pressure on Austin to try and finish in third; it’s a wonderful way to finish the season for us.
On the formation change...
We know what they want to do. St. Louis wants to press with basically four up front, so we thought let’s get another guy back there so it is a little more difficult, and if they have to shift as many numbers forward to do that then we just kind of play indirectly and behind. That’s why we had Cam Duke in that position and we had Vitor (Dias) and Lucas (Rosa) as the wingbacks to provide that width. I thought that it really worked out. I don't remember too many chances that they had in the entire game. That was a goal that is not usually scored from that distance, 20-30 yards out, but you know it just found the inside of the post there. I thought we were wonderful in a defensive group and we were very dangerous going forward and in transitional moments and out of the back directly, so that was kind of the thought process of the back five.
On how this team has been this season as a whole and where they are going…
The developmental part has been excellent, and we can put a bow on it in that sense, because regardless of what we look like in the playoffs I think the team has been night and day compared to last year in terms of talent, in terms of the way we compete and the amount of individual players that I would be happy to recommend to Peter (Vermes) to play on the first team next year, or one day in the future. In every single box, I feel like we checked it in terms of improving the squad, improving the talent, the way we play, and obviously performing on the field. So, in that sense, it’s been excellent. In terms of the performance aspect, I think there’s still at least one more week we have to see where this team goes because I do think that there is a ceiling for these guys and if we play in that sense with that conviction and competitive spirit and unity this team is going to be tough to beat.
On potentially picking your opponent…
I’m okay with it. I think it’s interesting in this league to test it out and see what happens. I think this is the league that you need to try it out on and see what happens. It comes from an interesting point of view where we all know in MLS there are hot teams that come into the playoffs. If our first team gets into the playoffs I don’t know if many teams are going to want to play us so the ability to pick the team that you feel you match up well against. I think it is interesting we will see how it works out, but I’m all for trying things in this league.
On Vitor Dias and his versatility…
He doesn’t play goalie, I don’t think I would throw him in center back but I do think he could pull off a false nine potentially. He’s got a lot of areas of the field he could be good in. He’s a man, I mean, he works, he competes, he fights, he’s a guy you can rely on. I always remember Peter talking about Naga (Paulo Nagamura) back in the day and he was a guy who could play zero minutes for two months and then come in and play 90 minutes and work very hard and put a shift in and I think that’s Vitor. Obviously today we used him in a position and I thought he did really well in there.
Thoughts on your center back tying up the game…
I thought we were super dangerous on set pieces all day. I didn’t think it was deflected but either way, the ball snuck in and look you have to shoot to score, right? So, I thought we were really good in those moments and I think we earned that lucky bounce, so to speak.
Anything you could have done better to have gotten a goal before that one…
I mean, look, from the beginning of the season we were a team that’s created chances and at the beginning of the year we created a lot of chances but we didn’t score as many as we should in my opinion. I thought we got into a run and you saw some of the games that we won 7-1, 6-1, 4-0. We can be that team and I think today if we had hit the back of the net a few more times that game could have opened up and it could have been a four-five-zero game, but you have to create the chances in terms of finishing them. Maybe on a given day, you're not as clinical as you hope but I do think creating the chances we are still doing that and so I’m excited about that part.
On the rivalry game…
Yeah, of course. And it’s a game that means a lot, right? I mean if they beat us they pass us if we win we get a chance to finish in third over Austin, so I mean it was all for the taking there. It’s emotional I think the ref did okay. It’s tough to deal with me when I’m yelling left, right, and center, but I’m going to support my team as much as I can. I don’t think I’m going to do that as much in the playoffs, but I had one yellow card to give up there so I knew I was good for one yellow card today.
Sporting KC defender Robert Voloder
On his goal…
It was my first one this year, so I’m happy. Even though it’s for the second team, I am as happy as I would be if I had scored for the first team, because I made the equalizer. Hopefully, we make third place, which means we will get to choose our opponent.
Do you get a vote if the team does get to choose…
I think the way we play today or the guys that are playing right now are in a good rhythm and are able to execute the plan how we want to and can play some good soccer and move the ball around. I don’t think we have to pick one, I think we can play whoever and beat them because we have to go into the playoffs with confidence and I think we definitely have enough of that. For me, it doesn’t matter.
On not being in the typical 4-3-3…
Yeah, sometimes you have to do things differently when the opponent is different. If we had played with no information, other teams struggled with the back four, so we tried something else today and I think it worked out. They didn’t get many shots in, and luckily I was able to get one in. So, that’s okay because we were able to equalize it. So, I think the back 5 worked well.
