Sports

Reaction from Red Bulls’ 3-0 win at Union

The Red Bulls closed their regular-season with a 3-0 win at rival Philadelphia that all but sealed third place in the East, which would avoid the wild card playoff round. Kenny Cooper had a brace and Thierry Henry a goal. Here is reaction from both sides:

New York Red Bulls

Head Coach Hans Backe

On the game in general

“I think the last two games, we played great games and now we have two clean sheets in a row going into the playoffs. I mean, scoring three away, everyone else had great difficulty and it’s tough every time in the MLS. It’s massive for us, avoiding the mid-week game and that means a lot.”

“It looks we started putting things together the right way going into the playoffs. You never know, but the last two games, but the last two games, it looks better than before.

It’s been great. We just said today, the whole environment, it’s so much relaxed after the cancelled game. I think it was more of a relief in this week, but it seems our team seems happy now. The whole environment is much better.”

“You need to win on the road, of course, and that’s a great a win. Confidence-wise, winning away means a lot and we have had so many tough games here against Philly, so I think everybody else is happy now that we are avoiding the midweek game and look forward to a home game on Sunday.”

On Kenny Cooper’s goal

“I think Kenny Cooper’s a striker that needs surroundings, needs players that can set him up for finishing. I was surprised when he scored the second one. It looked like a mistake from the goalie. I mean, normally, you can’t score from that angle. But still, he’s there and I mean, I think he’s up to 18 or something like that now, and, of course, he needs two players around him to set him up.

I wasn’t happy with the start in the second half. We said at halftime that we can’t sit back; we need to press them high as we did in the first half because if we drop and sit back, we give them a lot of possession and that’s what they want. That’s the kind of team Philly are. There were definitely some nervous moments and if they scored early in the second half, it would be a game.”

On the playoffs

“Now we don’t have to play Kansas. It will be Chicago or D.C. I mean, Kansas has been strong, but who knows if they can win that game. I mean, if we have to play Houston or Chicago or DC…it’s all so tight. You need to play at your best every weekend. We will have four sessions before the Sunday game.

I’m just happy that we avoid Kansas and that we avoid playing a wildcard game. I think it doesn’t matter who we play, Chicago or DC.

It’s been the whole year. The fans have always been behind us. It’s the whole 90 minutes and I always say the noise, the way they are behind us, it means a lot. You have the ball 10% more when you have the fans behind you.”

Forward Tim Cahill

On winning on the road for the first time in 5 months

“We had no choice we had to win. We said before the game we had to win this game. Now that we have done it we can put our bodies back together for playoff time. Three goals away from home, I think is a pretty good performance. I think we could have performed better in the second half and added to it, but overall this is as good as it needed to be going into the playoffs. Just happy with the result. All the boys are buzzing.”

On Kenny Cooper

“He’s an ultimate pro. He always puts his body on the line, he’s the first one in and last to leave. Even when he’s not playing he’s a perfect professional. He makes some good runs and as you see today if we feed him he’ll score. I am so happy for him. I said it to him before the game that it would be good to see him score a couple today and that’s what he did. Fair play.”

On getting hit hard

“I’m alright. At the end there it was obvious what happened. I got knocked out in the box without the ball. The referee says he should have called a penalty, but looking at it now it’s no good to me. I mean fair play everyone makes mistakes. I was a bit surprised ball at my feet then I am down. Sometimes you literally have to take it off the chin. In the end we won three-nil and that’s all that matters.”

On not playing in the knockout round

“Either way, we said before the game, if we play as hard as we can and loose we are still in the playoffs. There is no pressure on us. We got t ask a lot of ourselves to produce in the big games. Overall I will be honest with you this was a big result.”

On Rafa Marquez

He’s a great defender. With his experience in the back our defense is solid. Its great playing on the same team with him. We got a good array of players around him, but he’s an exceptional player. Last two games two clean sheets the results speak for themselves.

Kenny Cooper

On scoring his 5th goal this season against the United

“You know it’s just great service from my teammates. Cahill drew a penalty and I get to take it. Sometimes as a striker the shots you are taken are from far out, but I have gotten some shots from so close due to my teammates like Henry who has a lot of assists on my goals this year.”

Forward Sebastien Le Toux

On next year

“In December I will decide what I want to do. The final is on the 1st and hopefully we will be there. I will discuss with my agent at the end of the year and we will decide if I will be playing here [MLS] or in Europe.”

On the reaction of the Sons of Ben

“Always good for me to come back here. It’s an area I really love. I did not expect them to cheer but the standing ovation was great. It made it sweeter. I had good memories here and it’s nice to know they still remember me. It is always better than boos. I really appreciated the fans support.”

Forward Thierry Henry

On heading to the playoffs

“First half yes, second half no. We got a free one then I added one. We killed it in the first half, but in the second half we came up short. We got to do better.”

On confidence built on a road victory

“After the first half we came into the dressing room thinking that we were not in danger. We said in the second half lets do that again. They [Union] came back in the second half wanting to get back into the game. They wanted it more than us in the second half. That’s why the two goals wasn’t enough. It can happen, it’s a derby, they wanted to finish well at home. But let’s finish on a positive note. We didn’t concede and we scored three.”

On Red Bulls fans making the trip

“It was great that they came, we needed it. We all knew we had to win to make it better for us. We could have had a midweek game, it could have been a midweek game away from home. It’s definitely better they came, obviously Philly is not far so they could make it here. Other places like Portland and Seattle make it difficult for our fans. They came and they were loud and we got them a win.”

On the crowd for semifinal game

“I don’t know its football there’s no Halloween on football. We have to perform crowd or not. Obviously it is better when they are there. We have to play better, raise the bar in the playoffs. We can have that togetherness and play better. It will be nice having the crowd with us next weekend.”

On Kenny Cooper’s goals

“That’s what he does best. He got two today, but we all have to do a little bit more. As the center forward sometimes you got to keep the ball better. It’s not all about scoring goals, sometimes you got to keep the ball better and pass it to your teammates. But 18 goals we need that. We are going to need more of his goals going forward.”

Philadelphia Union

Team Manager John Hackworth

Opening Statement

“We played really well today and it’s unfortunate that when you play that well, in this game you can lose three nothing. But I am proud of the team, we kept fighting to the very end, if we don’t give up an early penalty and the third one was rough because I don’t think they had been down are end the whole time. From my point of view it’s a clear handball, a clear handball, and there’s no call and it just felt like it was that way all day. Couldn’t catch a break, we couldn’t finish off our opportunities and we couldn’t get back in the game the way we needed to so it’s frustrating because we were a good team today, we proved that we can play soccer against the best teams in the league we just gotta transfer that performance and results.

Microcosm of season

“It’s indicative of the way that this team has to grow. You look at their execution and the few chances that they had and it was clinical and yet we created more chances and had more great opportunities looks at goal and unfortunately we couldn’t finish and if you don’t do that you are never going to be on the right side of the scoreboard.”

Red Bulls Size a factor?

“Only in respect to balls being served into the box, and we tried to keep it on the ground for the most part anyway. We created the chances that we need. I don’t know the exact stats I’ve been outside talking to fans, by the way they’re awesome, but for us we felt like we had to keep it on the ground anyway. We knew that if it was a corner kick or a restart, we were not going to win a lot of those battles their size was a difference in that regard.”

On Kenny Cooper

“Kenny and I have a good relationship and I am mad at him because somehow he victimizes us every single time. I mean he is a great player, he does what he needs to do and unfortunately he has done it against us a lot.”

Young guys. Something to look forward to?

“That is part of the process and the process takes a long time. I’d love to say that a 19 year old and a 20 year old and 21-22 year olds are capable of playing in this league and winning every game but the reality is that they need experience, they need to grow, and only time can do that, time and the opportunity to actually play. So I am very confident that this team is going to be much improved next year without doing anything. Just by the fact that those players got playing experience.”

Off season getting size

“Sure. We have a couple key acquisitions to try to make in the offseason. An attacking player with some size would significantly help our all around game right now no question but we are going to have to make sure that that player or those players are the kind of people that fit in this locker room because we have a great group of guys, we have a fantastic core, I am very proud of them and despite our results I think we have proven in our last several games that we can play with anybody in this league.”

Goalkeeper Zac MacMath

Difficulty of the season

“It was tough. It was very tough to go this whole season not winning most of the time. And going on stretches of six, seven games without a win. At the end of the day, winning’s what matters.”

Experience for young players

“Experience is everything for the young guys, especially me and all the young guys on the team learn from experience. Every game is a learning experience for each of those guys and something that they’ll always look back on and learn something from.”

Forward Danny Cruz

On loss

“We missed a lot of good opportunities and that’s kind of been the story of the year. There’s positives to take away from the game. Obviously plenty of negatives. And I think we’re all looking forward to a clean state next year.”

Ending season on loss

“The fans have every right to have a sour taste. I think they’re just as happy for this season to be over as far as it’s that much closer to the beginning of next year. For us, I think anyone watched the game from the 45th minute on, I think we did some good things. I really do. We missed a lot of open chances. We really did. We missed a chance that I should have scored. Jack missed… it just happens. It’s just been the way that this season’s going. There’s things were going to learn from it, but the most important thing is it’s the end of the year and we got to get prepared… I came from a team in Houston who was awful my second year. We were awful. And our third season, the next year, we came back and got to the MLS Cup. So it’s not far-fetched to say that we need to take care of business this off season and work hard for next year.”

Defender Ray Gaddis

On working with the offense/team chemistry

“I feel like me and Danny Cruz as the season was going on we got to know each other a lot better. Our chemistry continues to grow off and on the field. We talk a lot and I think that helps within our game. We were just trying to go out there and do the best we can, and execute the game plan that Coach Hackworth put in front of us.”

Defender Amobi Okugo

On loss

“We came out strong in the second half. Unfortunately we didn’t get the quick goal that we needed and they just weathered the storm and got the third goal. Once that happened it was all over.”

On motivation for next year against rivals

“This is definitely motivation. Because the two rivalries we have, the I-95 rivalries, we didn’t really do as well as we wanted to. Next year, New York and DC, we need to come for them.”

Defender Carlos Valdes

Short recap about the this season?

“Well obviously it was not a good season in general. I am used to be in winning teams, so this is really new for me, but I guess you can take positive things about this, and try to learn from it. Like I said before, we need more guys with experience that will be able to lead all these young players. It is clear that we need to bring impact players if we want to fight for any title next year. I have to admit that I have been through many frustrations during this season, and it bothers me, but we have to move on, and hopefully we will see new faces and a better attitude from all us for next year.”

Anything you want to say to the fans?

“I just want to thank them for all the support. Today we saw that they will support this team no matter what, but my message to them is do not give up on us because we will not give up on you people. We will do everything to change this situation for next year. Thanks again for your support and I will see you next year.”

Roger Torres

About the season overall

“Well this season was though for all of us, especially when we have been doing well the past 2 seasons, but personally I did not have enough minutes to show what I can really bring to the field. The injuries kept me away from some games so I did lose some rhythm, but hopefully for next year things will change so we can give happiness to our fans, which is the most important thing of all.”