SPORTING DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
On Mike Grella’s journey back from injury
I’m glad that’s the first question you asked because when a guy goes through something [like] he’s been through, and Gaston [Sauro]’s been through, and they don’t waiver, and they stay strong, and they keep working every single day; you can’t be more happy [sic] for guys like that. And when they get their opportunity, to see them take advantage of their opportunity is amazing. This is why I’m proud to be in this business; to see the struggle, and then see the triumph when a guy comes back and is able to make an impact like that. So, for Mike, the whole group is extremely proud of him, and I think it’s a testament to him as a person and as an athlete that he’s been out this long and comes back and can make that type of impact.
On the Importance of Mike Grella’s goal
I think so. In my opinion, I think we lacked the appropriate ball circulation tonight, and it wasn’t our best night. Again, we gave up a goal at the stroke of half time. When you can go- there was good stretches of the game when you give up the ball. At the end of the day you come out with three points, it’s one of those things that feels better because you got the win. We still want to improve, we still have things to work on, but it was important to get the win tonight.
On Mike Grella’s 30 minutes of action
I think he did well. I think he gave energy. If you can imagine what he’s going through, right? The excitement that he’s going through, and all the adrenaline that he has, and then he gets tired he has to go again, and you know, but you saw, he kept pushing. I liked what I saw, definitely.
On the performance by the San Jose Earthquakes in the second half
So, they had one shot on target, six off target, nine total shots. I guess what I’d say is, there’s going to be moments in the game when an opponent gets momentum. And they got some momentum and created a couple of chances, but that’s normal for a soccer game. I think we have the ambition and the intention to want to control every single minute, and when we don’t, we start to question things. To me, it’s a normal ebb and flow of a soccer game when the opponent – for a brief time – gets an upper hand. To me it wasn’t representative of the entire match.
On knowing when Mike Grella was ready to return to the field
So, it was conversations with him. It was ‘hey, where are you at?’ We saw the game against Louisville and then it was a conversation with him a couple of days ago, and I said, ‘Where you at? What do you think you need? We want to get you back. What is it going to take?’ He said he’s ready. He said he’s ready. How old is he 29? 30? (Audience: “31”). 31, wow there you go. When you have a 31-year-old who’s been around the block, you trust what they say, and he said he was ready and I trusted him.
On if he was disappointed on San Jose’s goal
Yeah, I am. I am. Definitely.
On improving after tonight’s win
I agree with you. Patrick, trust me this is one of the games where you’re happy to get three points, but you’re going to look at the performance and be critical and say, ‘We could have done x, y and z better.’ That’s going to be the plan – to work on these things – and improve. In a way, it’s easier to do when we get the three points. There’s been games, and you guys have seen games, where we played really well and we didn’t win. So, you know how we operate. You know we like to stick to a process. You know we don’t get too high and get too low, and our job is to keep improving, and if we do that we’ll be okay.
On Harrison Afful’s goal
It was great. It was a great play, great move, great finish by Harrison [Afful], and I’m on him; I ride him all the time about getting shots on goal and making the final pass. But Harrison [Afful] is a competitor, and I’m really happy for him as well to get that goal.
On getting more out of the fullbacks
There has to be more. That’s our game. Our game revolves around our full backs being dynamic and choosing moments that can hurt the opponent and surprise the opponent. So, when we’re evaluating- when we create profiles for our positions, the full backs have a– part of their attributes is that a lot of them are offensive.
On the depth and flexibility of the bench
We are getting there. I think we still need guys, both the starters and reserves, on the field who are hungry to score goals and getting in good positions. I still think to only have three shots on target is not good enough. From that standpoint, I want guys to be aggressive, I want them to be taking chances in and around the penalty box, combining with each other, looking to get behind the line, and then finishing attacks.
On the team pressing too high
That was a point we made at halftime, guys getting to our block, getting to a good defensive shape, because [San Jose] is not going to break us down, so we do not have to press on every single play. We are a team that wants to move into a high press, but it starts from a controlled shape, and at times today it was an uncontrolled press, and that is not what we want.
On the reasons for subbing Gyasi Zardes
We just wanted a different look. Adam [Jahn] has been scoring in training, and we thought he could come on and be dangerous, get him some service, and see if we can change up the look a little bit.
On Pedro [Santos’] knock to his hand
He is doing fine, but I do not know. We will get the x-ray tomorrow.
On the fullbacks’ positioning
We have to access the fullbacks, so it is great if they let our fullbacks get high, but it stinks if we do not access them in the transition, so it is a balancing act. To me, the game was about being able to access our fullbacks because of how wide open they were, and we did not do that well enough. The goal - the play that came to the goal - that should have happened eight more times. In the second half, Harrison [Afful] got in a couple of times. I mean, that was it right there, getting around the edge of their defense; they played narrow, getting around that edge and getting the ball into the penalty box.
MIDFIELDER MIKE GRELLA
On scoring in his first match back from injury
I felt good. When you’re out for this long, you always have to have some hesitations and some doubts. When we [he and Gregg Berhalter] had that conversation, we both didn’t really know how to progress from there. I do feel good, and I want to play, and he wants to move me, but it’s a weird thing. How exactly do you introduce me into getting some minutes? We had a conversation, and I think the best way is to just throw me into the fire and get me some time. I feel like I could make an impact. That was basically how that conversation went. We both decided to go for it. Tonight, I didn’t have any hesitations and just went for it. I had really big belief, big faith. I just went for it tonight.
On if he pictured scoring tonight
I really did. It’s at the back of my mind. I thought I’d play well and do what I can. I knew as soon as I crossed the line after such a long injury, that many times throughout the spirit felt I wouldn’t play again. When I crossed the line to get into the game, I knew that I had already accomplished something really big, so I felt that, why not try to get something else, a goal or something? It was a dream return. I’m so blessed.
On getting the win
[It was] Huge. I think it was good. The games that we haven’t picked up all 3 points, and we tied and lost the last 4. I thought we’ve played really, really well. I’ve never seen a team hit the post that many times, and dominate games than not get much from it, so I think we were a little bit unlucky. We also needed a night like tonight, and San Jose wasn’t easy for us. We had to work for it.
Defender Harrison Afful
On scoring a goal
It feels great to get a goal. The most important thing is to get three points. It feels great. We’re going to enjoy this one, then keep working hard. As our journey gets more dangerous to take those points, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do, and it’s been working. That’s the game plan. We always stick to the plan and then move forward, so I think we need to keep going and working hard.
What you saw leading up to the goal
I saw the spacing, and the timing of my run was perfect. The pass from [Higuain] was super, and I took a good touch. I just lifted up my head and the position of the goalkeeper was enough.
On preparing for the match against Seattle Sounders FC
We’re going there to get a win. That is our mantra, that is our focus. We need to learn that playing a road game is not going to be easy, so it’s tough. We intend to stick to the game plan.
On what it means to get a win at home
It’s always up and down. That’s the journey. Never give up. Working day in and day out. At the end of the day, you can get results. That is what we keep doing.
On looking for scoring opportunities late in the game
We get in hard. That is our game plan. We keep doing things every day. We keep going hard, getting to the penalty box, and make sure we get on it. The challenge is to get on it, and we keep going at it every day.
