New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps
First and foremost, I thought Columbus really came out on the front foot. We knew they would. They made a couple tactical changes and we were slow to react. Then around the 30th minute we had to make a switch between Kelyn (Rowe) and Teal (Bunbury), just because we felt Kelyn could pinch a little bit more. I felt like they were dropping (Justin) Meram and putting him as more of a midfielder, creating more of a 3-5-2 when he’d drop in and then (Waylon) Francis would go. So we wanted Kelyn on that side and pinched in. So that was the talk right before half on the field and at halftime. I thought once we made that switch - and our energy, I thought we needed our energy up. I thought in the second half we had much better energy.
We just wanted to win. We were at home and I want to make sure this is a place we can come out and play. We really wanted the zero, but at the same time I think our best defense is a good offense and we want to keep team’s off-footed and we are who we are. I think that sometimes you have to embrace what kind of team you are.
I thought we had the right game plan and we were happy to win.
I thought Bobby (Shuttleworth) was excellent tonight. I think Bobby’s been great the last half of the season and makes huge saves for us. I think in the first half there were a couple through and Bobby was in great spots. But for me, the biggest was right after we scored, he made on the header right before half because if it’s tied going into half it’s a different story. I thought that save was the one that for me really stood out, it kept us afloat.
I thought Kevin (Alston) was excellent with his pace, he really locked down the outside out there. I thought (Waylon) Francis - he’s a really good player. I think he’s been a great addition to this league. It was good to have somebody out there who’s a little bit faster than him.
I think we’re tuning in. We’re going to enjoy this because it’s been a hard season and a long season, but the playoffs are here and I feel like we’re off on the right foot and now we have to play a really hot New York team and a team that has a lot of different challenges than Columbus had. So it’s going to be a completely different game, so we’re going to start watching the film. Having watched the last couple of games, against Kansas City and then against D.C., they’re playing obviously a different formation than the last time we played them, so we’ll have to do a little bit different game plan.
A lot more gray (hair) [coaching a team to the Eastern Conference Championship versus playing in the MLS Cup Playoffs]. When you’re playing it’s different, you have to worry about what you kind of can do and then your little piece is going to help the overall team. When you’re coaching you’re worried about a lot more. For me, my staff, we work pretty hard and Tommy Soehn and Remi Roy, my two assistants, we put a lot into our game plans and this series I feel like we did it right and now we’re on to the next one and we have to make sure we’re prepared for that game.
(The fan support) is awesome. From the last home game against Toronto to tonight, I love when we have a crowd there because there’s an energy. You can feel it, the ooh’s, the ahh’s and the game itself just has a little bit more life. It’s been awesome because there were times when you couldn’t even hear the referee blow the whistle and that’s the kind of environment you want and I think that’s the kind of environment people want to be a part of. I think the better the crowd, the better the experience is.
Teal (Bunbury), I think we just felt there was going to be a little bit more space on that side to attack and so Teal, he’s been great all year in terms of the positional change and then we pushed him to the other side, so his soccer sense was really good tonight. And his pace is he’s really fast and he can make the play when he gets there, so that’s what we love about him.
I wouldn’t say we were building just for the playoffs, you were building to win games through the year. I think we want to go out and play. I think we’re a team that, you have to embrace who you are, and sometimes we push numbers and we go for it. I like the fact that we have guys like A.J. (Soares) and Jose (Goncalves) and Bobby (Shuttleworth). Tonight those three were really our rock solid and Scotty (Caldwell). When we have those guys defending, we can release other players into other areas. At the same time, our effort to get back and not concede too much – we were bending but not breaking tonight and in the end we were happy to get the three goals.
New England Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones
I think the first half was not so good – we sat back and we let them play which is what they want. I think second half when we go and press higher, we created a couple of chances. I think the big point is that we win again. Not 1-0, we win by two goals difference. I think with the team, when you look back now, the first time we played against them we concentrated and we have a lot of respect, my feeling was that Columbus have not that respect – they was talking a lot of stuff in the news and we was concentrated. We go to or we play New York, and they go on holiday.
I think the trust, maybe – we have a young team and maybe we was a little bit scared that if we pressed high then they can get space behind us and get an early goal. So we sat a little bit back – but second half, that was the plan in Columbus, that was the plan of the game when we win here at home already. So second half we got more risky and we go up, we had a lot of chances and scored two goals.
It’s nice to see that we have a young team. Like I said before, we work really hard for that, but we need to trust in each other. When we have the trust, we have a good team, we can play really good football, we already showed that in Columbus. Today, first half – not so good – but second half was good, but still we win with a two goals difference.
Teal has a lot of quality and he is really fast. The good thing is that he’s listening to what the coach says. What I always say is that he needs that trust in himself, he’s so fast, in the league I think there’s not so many players that can hold him when he’s concentrated. He scored with his left, it was a little bit funny, he has his left foot to stand on it and not to shoot. I’m happy for him, that he scores, it shows that he works really hard for the team and that he scores was good.
We have a lot of guys that have some crazy celebrations – if they score, they can celebrate however they like.
New England Revolution midfielder Teal Bunbury
I think it was huge. It just showed – the hard work we put in training this whole season. We didn’t just want to go and sit back, we still wanted to go score goals. And we were able to get the job done. It was a little tough at times. But we stuck together as a team, we had a game plan and we executed it.
Very important, we knew if we scored one they’d have to score four and that helped us out. There were times there were we let off a little bit. But, in the end I’m really proud of the guys putting the work in. We were able to get the goals but the most important part was sticking together and getting the job done.
It’s not too much different than the right side, to be honest. It’s the same defending, you’re getting forward, trying to make runs in behind, keep possession, and yeah, it felt fine out there.
I feel that we’re a great team when we get the ball in the counter attack. We have a lot of pace up top. We have guys that can do magical stuff on the ball and I feel that we executed that today.
I was a little bit surprised. I was sitting there and I thought for sure I was going to be under a little bit more pressure but, Lee (Nguyen) had a great finish. Charlie (Davies) made a great run as well to draw a defender and that was an important goal for us.
I feel like as a team we’ve had a tremendous year and now that it’s the playoffs, a quote I always say is, “Big time players show up for big time games.” And I feel like every game so far, everybody has played a huge role.
Very important. You know, I love it here, New England and the guys have been very embracing for me. And the fans have been unbelievable all season long. Credit to them, another great crowd tonight and really happy to get a good result at home in front of them.
I’m feeling very comfortable. My true position is a center forward but playing out wide it’s a different role, different mindset and I feel that I’ve come a long way. There’s always things I’m learning and asking questions about but I’m feeling very comfortable out there.
I saw Daigo (Kobayashi) get on the ball and he’s one of the best in the league when he’s facing forward and can slip balls in behind. I wanted to make a run in and just wanted to hit it hard and near post and it was fortunate.
Yeah all the guys you know we’re really buzzing and getting these results it’s very helpful. But, I think the week off will be good, rest guys. You know, recovery is very important and come the Eastern Conference Championship; we’ll be ready to go and rested.
It’s going to be a lot of fun. They’re (New York Red Bulls) a great team and they got a lot of special players and I think we matchup great against them. We’re just going to have to be prepared.
I think the way football is played now is that you need everybody being able to put pressure on and I feel like it starts with the front runners. If we could put pressure on their back line then it causes them to make mistakes and it gets the guys behind us motivated as well to put pressure. So, I feel like the work rate that we start up front, kind of, correlates and spreads to the whole team. So, that’s our mindset is to try and put pressure on and I think it also gets us in the game as well, as players. I know for myself when I’m putting pressure on, that’s when I feel like I can be at my best.
He (Shuttleworth) was unbelievable. For me he was man of the match. I mean, he had some big time saves and he’s been playing like that all season long.
Columbus Crew Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter
I am happy with the effort, extremely happy. I think that the first half we came out lively. We put them on their heels, created a lot of chances, and it was unfortunate not to get that goal. And then I think to give up a goal at that time period really took a lot out of us.
I think the game plan was just go up 1-0 into the half. It wasn’t going to be easy, this is a good New England team, but we felt like we did enough certainly leading up into that to go up 1-0.
Yeah it (New England’s first goal) did (change the balance of the game). And then we changed our formation in the second half. It (the goal) didn’t help things, just put it that way, to know that we needed to score that many goals. I am happy with the way the guys, for the most part, presented themselves. I’m furious about Justin Meram’s second yellow (card). Normally I’m pretty good about commenting about stuff that happens during the game, but I really wasn’t pleased with what I felt was simulation on behalf of the opponent many times. It takes away from the game. This is a good team, and I don’t think that’s needed.
I thought Hector (Jimenez) did okay. Obviously we are shorthanded missing Aaron (Shoenfeld), Federico (Higuain), and Bernardo (Anor). It’s still an uphill battle, but I believe in the guys that were on the field. I thought we could get it done.
Like I said, the game plan was being executed for the most part in the first half. A lot of crosses, 14 crosses in the first half, a lot of good ball movement, and we were right on track. Again, what hurt us was giving up an early goal, or a goal right before halftime. Take nothing away from this team, this is a good team, New England. We knew we had to play a perfect game to have a chance, and we didn’t do that.
I’m not too concerned with that (what transpired during the year). I like how the team developed and we are going to keep getting better. I think there has got to be commitment in the off season to improve, and we’ll add some pieces. The players will put in the work and come back a better team than we were this year.
It was great (to get Josh Williams on the field). He’s worked so hard, and we would have liked to work him into some games towards the end of the season, but he wasn’t quite there yet. I’m really happy that he got to be on the field.
That’s tough to say. You don’t know the group you’re working with well enough. You get to know them, you get to know their qualities. What I would say is that this team developed nicely. Last week’s performance wasn’t who we were, and that hurt us for this week. When you look at the type of performance we are able to put in, especially in the first half of this game, we’re a good team, and we’d be a difficult team to beat.
Columbus Crew midfielder Wil Trapp
I thought the first half we created a lot of chances and I mean we played pretty well. We knew we had to get a goal before half. We very much did well to generate chances we just didn’t put any away. We kept knocking on the door, kept knocking on the door, then we conceded which was tough. I mean that’s exactly what we didn’t want. When you’re pushing numbers forward, after the goal in the second half, we were pushing numbers forward, it’s just going to be tough, and with the two red cards it makes it even more difficult. I thought the first half is what we wanted; we just didn’t get the goal.
Yeah, I mean he’s proud of what we did, but not satisfied with ending it here. I think we had higher hopes then, crashing out in the first round of the playoffs. Over two legs they were better than us, and that’s why they got the win.
We’ll defiantly use this as a learning experience. It’s huge experience in terms of how momentous and how big these games are and what it takes to win them and how easily you can lose them.
Yeah, it’s always difficult without a guy like that, who is going to be dangerous and their always going to key in on him. Saying that I thought we still did really well creating numerous, good chances in the first half, but hardest thing in the game is scoring goals.
Columbus Crew defender Eric Gehrig
I think so. Obviously, like you said, we put ourselves in a tough spot. We wanted to come out, generate numbers forward, create some chances. I thought in the first half we did that. We had a couple chances there, two to three pretty decent looks; and when you’re in that big of a hole, you got to finish one of those—give yourself a chance. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find that early on there. They were able to get one early on there and that pretty much seals it.
Maybe in the second half. I don’t think in the first half. I don’t think we were panicking in the first half. I think we stayed with it and stuck to our game plan. We tell ourselves to not panic if we don’t get one away there. We wanted to get one before half but it didn’t matter if we couldn’t get it before 20th or 30th as long as we could get one before the half. We kept knocking on the door and unfortunately we couldn’t put one away and that’s the game.
I don’t think a lot of people expected a lot from us this year. I think we gave the league a lot of good memories of this group for the 2014 season, had some great wins, scored some great goals and at the end of the day we played some of the best soccer in the league and for that to happen so quick after the coaching turnover and the new system—that speaks volumes of everyone in this group. I think it’s a good initial season for us. We obviously learn from today and I think the future’s bright.
Josh (Williams) has been out for a long time. He’s had a tough year. He’s been coming to practice every day and he knows that he means a lot to us and he knows the kind of effect he has on the group and it was nice getting to see him get a run in there.
We knew it was going to be a tough spot. We kind of put ourselves in a tough spot last week but we were confident in our capabilities. We knew that we’re a dangerous team that can get you for one or two pretty quick there. I think we had some good chances there. We put some numbers forward, created some good chances and found a goal and unfortunately we couldn’t finish and get that early lead and they got the early goal and that was pretty much it.
We knew there were going to be times where maybe we put our defenders in one-to-one, two vs. two spots. But when you’re playing down and you’re trying to score some goals, that’s the kind of risk you need to take. I think we did a good job of that. We didn’t absolutely desert the people in the back but we knew we had to put numbers forward and I thought we did a good job of that.
We needed to score an early goal. We knew that being down 4-2 on aggregate that we needed at least three, and to put ourselves in a better spot we wanted to get one before half. Like I said, we had chances there in the first half to put one or two in there. You score those, things change, they get nervous, we start getting confident and who knows what happens. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get that done and they got the goal. I think over the two legs, they were the better team.
