Columbus Crew Quotes
Head coach Robert Warzycha
Thoughts on the game: “We matched Portland’s intensity and physicality. It’s a fair result, 0-0, because we could have scored three goals and they could have scored three. I think we were decisive with the ball and created some chances. We did against a tough opponent especially in front of the fans.”
Thoughts on the atmosphere: “I said last year and again this year, this is one of the best crowds in the entire league if not the best. It was nice to see people waiting in front of the gates an hour-and-a-half before the match, it was good to see them before the warm-up singing; it’s just amazing.”
Moving forward: “We have a game against Dallas at home, and then go straight to San Jose and Seattle, so some tough games in front of us, but after a game like today’s it’s something to build on, especially having so many injuries.”
Defender Josh Williams
Thoughts on the game: “It was a battle from the first minute to the 90th minute. Tough place to play, but this is what it’s all about, coming in here, playing in front of 20,000 like that. [Portland] has some big guys who battle and it’s a fair result. We’ll take the point, coming in here. We’d like to have three, but we’ll take the point for the environment we were in.”
Thoughts on the atmosphere: “This was my first time. Last year I didn’t make the trip. We practiced here yesterday and everyone was pretty impressed with the facilities. We tried to imagine it all filled up and some of the new guys like Eric [Gehrig] in the back with me, this was our first time so we knew it was going to be crucial to talk, yell, yell to each other. A couple times we got mixed up from the noise, but I thought we played pretty well and stuck together and played good team defense.
On battling Boyd: “That guy’s tough, he’s tough. He’s definitely one of the more physical forwards, but I liked it. I like mixing it up. Him and Futty too, on free kicks were talking trash, but I got a lot of respect for those guys. Those are big boys and they’re tough to handle.”
Defender Eric Gehrig
Thoughts on the game: “They had their chances, we had our chances. It was two defenses battling for a full 90 minutes, and like I said, we had some looks, they had some looks. It was back-and-forth soccer, and I thought it was a fair result.”
On the physical play: “Portland’s pretty direct, and Boyd does a good job up there holding the ball, and they got Darlington running off him. [Portland] had a decent amount of set pieces; we knew they were a taller team and good at set pieces, so we just tried to battle with them and match their sharpness and concentration on those, and I think we did a good job. Andy [Gruenebaum] was called into action a little bit; he made some good saves, kept us in it and did his job.”
Moving forward: “We’re going back home, which is nice. Last two games we haven’t liked the results, so to come into a place like this and get a draw, at least shut [Portland] out is something we can build on. Hopefully we can use that for momentum going home next weekend and get some results going our way.”
Portland Timbers Quotes
Head coach John Spencer
Overall thoughts on match: "I thought for long periods of times we dominated the possession, dominated the tempo of the game. Obviously there were a couple of half-chances in the first half. I thought their goalkeeper, [Andy] Gruenebaum, pulls off two or three great saves, especially the one from Rodney Wallace. We played more like ourselves tonight. The tempo was high, matched the energy in the stadium. I think we looked back to ourselves. It's a positive step. Obviously not the result we hoped for, but it's a positive step."
On result getting the team back on track: "I think it does get you back on track mentally. Obviously we're disappointed because we hate sending the fans home empty-handed and such. We always feel that we can win at home. So we feel, a bit, we've let ourselves down a little bit. Take the positives from it, I think we had some very, very good performances tonight; there's a lot of positives to take. I think that we looked the better team tonight than we have done the whole year."
On the second half of the game: "I just felt that we were knocking on the door. We were in their half, and at times they broke on us, but we were throwing men forward to try and get that opportunity where we create a goal and score a goal. I think we were very unlucky not to have gotten three points tonight to be honest."
Goalkeeper Troy Perkins:
On team's performance: "I think our intensity and our passion tonight was really there, and I think that was a team that John [Spencer] really wanted, the way he wanted to go tonight, and the guys put it all out there."
More thoughts on the match: "I think the tempo of the game was relentless. We really went after them. There were times we made really bad decisions on our passes, so we got to learn from that. But I think getting a clean sheet and a point is a good start."
On a different back line: "No different from normal. You still got to tell the guys the same thing. Still got to talk to them, still there to guide them and make sure the shape is good, and like I said, doesn't matter who's on the pitch, everyone we got on this team puts everything out there."
Defender Futty Danso:
Overall thoughts: "We went for the three points, but getting a point is not a bad thing. A clean sheet is more important on the defensive side, but we wish we could have made it a three-point win."
On the team's performance: "I wouldn't say it's the most complete game, but it's one of the game's that we saw more desire, more hunger to the game, trying to win the game as soon as possible. Everybody was doing both sides of play, both defensive and offensive, so we make it easy for everyone."
