Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes
It's good to score first. That part was good. They scored 2 goals. In the second half, we came out in really good shape and were able to put ourselves in a great position. We got back into the game. That's a great thing. And obviously they scored in the end. I think it was interesting. I think it was interesting to see it from various angles. Again, I think it was good that we got the first goal, and it was good that we were able to come back and put ourselves in a good position. I think the guys fought. I think they created some very good chances and had to put up some other fights, but unfortunately it probably didn't look the way we thought it would. It was. But we had to keep fighting for that, and we had to fight against even more opponents than St. Louis. We had to overcome other things as well, but the players did a great job of it. I have a lot of faith in them.
On dropping points at home…
I think everyone is paying attention to that. Maybe you missed the match because it's interesting to watch matches like this. Do we want to be on that side? No, but it's the same thing when we go away and play Toronto and score three goals. It happens. We're playing quite a few games at home now and that kind of situation happened. I think we're getting better at that and I think we'll continue to do that throughout the season. You're all worried about that. it's not.
Regarding the physical aspect of the match…
We always know what will happen, but there are also impartial parties who have to make decisions. Unfortunately, those decisions weren't our way, so we had to fight against that as well. I think our players did a really good job.
As for how we handle decisions…
You have to stop talking to the referee and run through the players. So if they're going to get through you, you're going to get through them. It's very simple. If he wants to let it go, it's not a difficult recipe. The only thing is, I just hope he lets it go. If they're doing it and we're doing it, you should let it go. That part needs to be consistent.
Regarding Johnny Russell's participation in the game…
I wanted to put (Eric) Tom in the middle. I thought it needed a little more energy. He wanted to have the ball a little differently because Alan (Pulido) could play high up and Tommy could run away from him. That was all there was to it.
Regarding St. Louis' run off the ball in the first half…
They had some balls, I can't say they were behind, but they were playing very direct. So I needed to be able to cover well when someone tried to hit a head ball.
Both teams want to win, so the match was intense and I think that's a good thing. I think that's good for both clubs. I think that's good for our league and I'm sure that will continue as the rest of the season goes on and for years to come.
Sports KC captain Johnny Russell
Frustrated again. It's the same old story in games these days, especially home games. We dropped too many points from a winning position. The answer has been the same for the past few weeks. That's not enough. You can't keep holding a winning position and keep dropping points when you're in the lead. But overall it was disappointing.
Regarding the team's response in the second half…
Obviously, that's how the game went. We want to play one-sided. They wanted to play differently. They matched us in that department in the first half. So we talked at halftime and said we have to adapt. It was clear how the game was allowed to be played. That was forgivable, so we had to come out in the second half and we had to match them and their intensity, their physicality. I thought I did it. We showed great spirit because we know we have to get back into the game. But then we end up back in the same position. There are some games where you need three points. Considering our standings this year, we should be one of the top teams in this league, but we're just hovering around the playoff line. I know it's a long season, but at some point we have to learn a lesson because this has happened four or five times now.
If he had ever experienced a run like this…
Last year wasn't fun at all. We carried this over from last year because we were playing well. We're scoring goals, but we're also switching off and conceding goals, so that's not a good sign. The performance is there. That's probably the most frustrating part. we are playing well. We're taking the lead and we're just going to keep giving it away. We will continue to award points. We had three home games and obviously we wanted to get maximum points, but we took two games. As for what we want to do this year and what we talked about wanting to do, we won't achieve it by dropping points. Therefore, you need to fix it. There's no point in continuing to say things need to be fixed. we know what we have to do. It's up to us as players to be on that field. When you take the lead in a match, you have to switch on. Because we're going to undo everything we've worked for, every play, every effort we've put in. Some of the goals we conceded were of our own making. And that's the most frustrating part.
Regarding the message to the team after the game against Portland…
Very similar to what I'm talking about here, the frustration of giving up points when you're in a position to win. we want to be successful. I want to be successful. I wish everyone here success. And we believe we have the team to make it happen. There's no point in just saying it, let alone believing it, if we're not going to go out there and show it. 95% of the game we show our true colors and then just moments of insanity. We just keep shooting ourselves in the foot. When you look at the effort the players put in and the way they played, it's very frustrating when you look around the locker room after a game and see the disappointment on their faces. So we have to lift our spirits. We have some tough away games coming up. We have to rally ourselves, we have to go there, we have to be strong in that place. Because if you don't, you could end up losing quite a lot.
Based on the lessons of last year…
We don't want to chase. I was chasing him all last year. We were never in a comfortable position. We were always chasing something. On the other hand, this year we should be very comfortable as one of the top teams in terms of the performances and the leads we have in the games. Sometimes it's not just a one-point lead. you know what i mean? Sometimes it's two or three goals. When that happens, we just look weak. There's no other way to say it. As a team, when something goes against us, we lose something. Currently, we are not able to respond well. It's up to us as players and me as a captain as a leader to figure out how that changes. That too has to change quickly.
Sporting KC midfielder Eric Tommie
It's really frustrating because we conceded so many goals after we were behind by 1, 2, and 3 points. This needs to change immediately, as otherwise you won't get the points you need.
I can't see the goal yet. After the game, time flies by. Sorry for not being able to explain. I'll have to take another look. Of course, I'm disappointed because we gave our all today, especially in the second half. We turned the game around. In my opinion, we did a great job and conceded a goal in the last second.
About the team's comeback from a 2-1 deficit…
In the second half, we changed our game a bit and were able to gain more possession and control the game. That's the game we want to play at home. As a result of all this, you can create more chances and get closer to the goal. All that's left is to finish it off.
If it was always so easy, we would change it. I think everyone here gave 100% today, so I can't explain it right now. But even today it is always important to know the details and something is missing. We have to change it as soon as possible.
It's hard to explain after a game like that. Up until now we have conceded a lot of goals from set pieces. I changed that today. We defended really well in set pieces. That was the goal. I think we lost the game in our own half and the opponent immediately went for the goal. We have to look again, but we have to be more focused. You have to have the will to win the game and finish the game. That's what we need in the future.
It was a heated match for both sides. We had to change that in the second half. In the first half, they did the same thing St. Louis did and turned the game around. that's why. But first, it was clearly not a fun match to watch.
As I said before, we are waiting for the ball in space and it is the ball we need. He ran and scored. It was a great ball from (Andrew) Fontas. We couldn't do that in the first half. We always played in front of their line. That ball was behind the opponent's line and was exactly what we needed at that moment.
It's not about me, it's about the team. I want to help the team every time, but in the end I'm disappointed that we couldn't get the three points we deserved.
