Toronto FC 3, New England 2
Q. Congratulations on your first win at the helm.
JAVIER PÉREZ: Thank you.
Q. You didn't have much time with the team before this game. Can you tell us what your main message was to the team? It clearly worked.
JAVIER PÉREZ: Yeah, so I think I mentioned this in the press conference before traveling. We have very limited time, just two days to prepare. The first day we worked on our defensive shape, how we were going to prepare the team against New England, and the second day we work about how we were going to play with the ball. So I think the game reflects both parts of the game that we worked on in training.
Defensive part, at the same time, I like how the team knew how to suffer and get the result and get the job done.
Q. Can you say how much of a win does this weight off the shoulders of the team and the players do you think this win is?
JAVIER PÉREZ: Yes, I thinks have a very important win because not only for what just happened during the past week but it's been extremely tough for the players and staff to be away from home, away from their families, and it was kind of very important to put together a good performance, not only to win, but to put together a good performance to believe, again, in us, and I think the team responded. I think the team put together a good performance.
So to answer your question, I think it was a big weight that the players took off their shoulders.
Q. This was the first game where Soteldo and Pozuelo started with each other. What did you make of their collective performance between the two?
JAVIER PÉREZ: I think taking advantage of their ability. Alejandro is a magnificent player with the ball. He's a player that change the tempo of the game, and Yeferson is a player that can take one, maybe two players by himself. He can hold the ball.
So, basically take advantage of the characteristics of both of them.
Q. Was that your first match as a head coach, if so, how did you enjoy the view from the coach's box on the sideline, and what goes into the notebook we saw you scribbling in?
JAVIER PÉREZ: What goes into that notebook? It goes a lot of things. It goes a lot of things.
The credit is to the players. The coaches, we are there to support them, to help them, try to read what is in the game before the game to think about different possibilities that can happen.
The beauty of the game is that always it's going to happen but it's not in the notebook and you have to react to that. So the notebook helps, but in the end, the players are the ones, they make the performances.
Q. Is there an update on the status of Chris Mavinga? I noticed he was out of the 18 tonight.
JAVIER PÉREZ: Yes, Chris, we kept him out as a precaution because he has some discomfort, so that's the only reason why Chris was out.
Q. The team is coming home now. You don't play until July 17th. What is your plan? Will the team get some time off to go back to their homes and families or will you go straight back to practice?
JAVIER PÉREZ: No. The team is, as I said before, it's been a really challenging time for everybody, players as well as staff. They need to go home. They need to see their families. Some of the players, they have never been in Toronto. They need to settle down. So they are going to have some days off. They are going to come back happy to the training facility we have waiting for us in Toronto. We have an amazing stadium, and hopefully we have, as well, the fans waiting for us in the stadium.
And that's what they need, just some days off to settle down in Toronto, and then we will go back to business, go back to work.
Q. Is there an update on your situation? Obviously we're assuming that you're going to be coaching the next game, but have you been given any type of formal update on your situation as a head coach?
JAVIER PÉREZ: Yes, I think I mentioned this before. I was going to take today, today's game, as my next challenge, and I think right now, the answer is the same. My next challenge is June 17 at home, and get three points over there. So if the management doesn't communicate to me anything different, I will be taking that challenge.
Q. Perhaps you could ask for a raise.
JAVIER PÉREZ: Excuse me?
Q. Perhaps you could ask for a raise.
JAVIER PÉREZ: Let's keep winning.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports