The Red Bulls were held to a 1-1 draw tonight at lowly Toronto, scoring first and forced to settle for the road point. Here is postgame reactin from both sides to the dour game, with Red Bull quotes bolded.
Hans Backe- Head Coach, New York Red Bulls
Thoughts on today’s game…
Tough first half giving away too many set plays. They put a lot of pressure, they have three or four guys so they are definitely a hand full to defend against. We got the very good start but unfortunately not focused on the kick-off that ended up with a corner and the corner they scored, it was sloppy. I think in this league when you start like that on the road the starting point has to be to defend well we should have won this game then. With all the set plays against they are a handful.
How different a team is Toronto than a few weeks ago?
Their playing style is totally different compared to when they had Aaron Winter as a coach when they were trying to play from the back four and to come out from the back four. Now they are in a typical, very, very direct football first pass out to strikers. (Danny) Koevermans and (Ryan) Johnson are very good as targets then they play from a lot of crosses and a lot of set plays. I think in the second half we looked more composed in possession, we turned the game and they have to slide a lot to get to passes that were very close to scoring winners. But overall, I would say, on the road and with the team that has definitely bounced back I can live with one point.
With Thierry (Henry) playing the full 90 minutes and Wilman (Conde) able to play 80 minutes, talk about their performance?
I think we said at half-time that we would only play Wilman (Conde) 15-20 minutes in the second half but we said that we need to gamble a little bit even if he has problem with his groin he would just give us the signal with 10 minutes left that he wanted to be subbed. Thierry (Henry) he will need games now, he has been away for quite a long time now and he went 90 which surprised me perhaps that he was able to. He was just improving all the time throughout the game.
Jan Gunnar Solli- Midfielder, New York Red Bulls
Thoughts on today’s game…
We had a great start, one-nil up, a perfect cross from Brandon (Barklage) and I ran behind and we scored a good goal and unfortunately we conceded a goal right after. I’ll take my part of the blame for that goal, it should have never happened. (Danny) Koevermans gets it way to easy, it is my responsibility to cover him so I am not happy with that performance. I think it was a difficult game to play against Toronto, they have changed their playing style and they go very direct, they play a lot of long balls, there was a lot of battling and fighting. The first half I don’t think was a good soccer game I think the second half we were more or less controlling the game. We had our chances and still when they keep going long it’s always going to be a battle and it was one of those games that was really tough.
After two and a half years you now have two goals in two games…
I think when you score the first goal you kind of get a little more offense and when Brandon (Barklage) got the ball all I could think of was getting into the box. Especially in away games we need to get people to run behind and it is always going to be a threat to defend against. The cross was very precise and my run was good to so it just felt good.
The way Toronto played today, do they really seem like a two win team or do they seem like a better team than their record indicates?
It’s always going to be tough and I think a lot of teams from now are going to struggle to get points here because when they play that many balls and they fight so well like they did today it’s difficult for any team to defend them. They have two good front players which is always going to create danger for any defense coming here. As long as they fight for the second ball of course they are going to pick up a lot of points I think. When you get into bad streak and then they just had to change something and I think they did today. For us to pick up a point today, we are not happy that we are not winning, but still it is much better than going out with a loss.
Thierry Henry- Forward, New York Red Bulls
Thoughts on today’s game…
Today we got a good point away from home against a team that is doing well at the moment. I think it was a good result for us.
You and your teammates had talked about how Toronto is playing better than their record had suggested…
Well it’s difficult for us to compare to what they were doing before because we didn’t play them before. I can see that they are more compact on a couple of occasions or so. The fullbacks covered well and to clear the ball in front of the goalie… Right now they are doing semi well, they didn’t lose for a little while, but we wanted to keep them going. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task here and it wasn’t.
So you feel as though it was a good result for your team?
Yes, in this league, I’ve been here for a little while now, you give everything to try grab some stuff away from them and especially against a team the way they are playing right now. Especially they want to show Paul Mariner that they deserve to be on this squad and the way they play, it wasn’t an easy game at all. (Ryan) Johnson and (Danny ) Koevermans had a great game, not only them, it was a great unit and difficult to find space at time to break them down. I think the one-one was a fair result.
Paul Mariner- Head Coach & Director of Soccer Operations, Toronto FC
Thoughts on the game.
I think what you can recognize a little bit is that it’s not beautiful flowing football but we are a little harder to beat than we have been in the past. I think that if you become a hard team to beat in this league and you stay in the game, Ryan (Johnson) and Danny (Koevermans) and Torsten (Frings) with his service you might be able to nick something. If you put yourself out of games, I said to the players a few days ago and a few weeks ago we don’t want a reputation of being soft on set pieces. You definitely don’t want that reputation that teams can score on you with set pieces. I think it’s not dusted yet but we’ve come a little way quelling that thought.
Thierry Henry seemed to be at his craftiest moving around; the team seemed to deal with him well.
I was a little concerned when he dropped. Dax (McCarty) is a clever little player and what they do is they build with the three at the back so Dax drops in and then if you split the two strikers to take care of the back four then Dax drops in then that causes a problem. So Terry (Dunfield) went high on him so then you create that little bit of space behind, with Torsten (Frings) behind him and you have to tuck in Reggie (Lambe) and Eric (Avila) inside a little and it does give them the outside to come and attack you. You gotta be on your game, your heart and lungs will be flying, your brain has got to be ticking over all the time and your brain needs to keep your legs moving and that’s the shift that the lads did. Collectively I thought we did pretty decent.
Terry Dunfield- Midfielder, Toronto FC
Is there a feeling that you guys are coming together as a group?
Yes there is a bond forming and every player is fighting for their teammate and their manager. There is no hiding it, we’ve had a grueling schedule since Paul (Mariner) has taken over but you can never complain about taking a point from one of the best teams in the league.
Looking at the back four, they handled the game quite well.
Yes, we were just talking I don’t think Milos had a save to make today. That’s a huge pat on the back to the back four. Also, you can see how hard Ryan (Johnson) and Danny (Koevermans) work up front I think in the 85th minute Danny was tracking back like he was 21 so you know that only spurs the other players on as well.
Torsten Frings- Midfielder, Toronto FC
Does this game show that this club is truly improving?
I think you can see that we are getting better and better every week. That’s what we need. We need points and if you get points you get more confidence. I think you can see it every week.
What worked so well for the midfield and the back line to keep Thierry Henry and the rest of the scoreboard tonight?
We worked together and that’s the most important thing. We worked together as a team and we did very well today. If we play like this it is really hard to beat us.
All quotes via Toronto PR.