St. Louis CITY SC - 3, Austin FC - 2
BRADLEY CARNELL: Obviously there was a lot of weight on our shoulders coming into this game and we knew it wasn't going to be easy coming into a Q2 Stadium against such a stacked, loaded team with the quality like they do have.
We found out a lot about our group through preseason. We spent a lot of time together. We played some really good opponents, and we feel like we framed this first game in a really good way. Credit to the ownership group for allowing us a platform months ago, years ago, to try and get this day right.
So yeah, just extremely grateful to be sitting here tonight and to start off the season with three points is extremely humbling.
Q. What's the emotion after winning the first game and winning it in such a dramatic manner?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, I mean, the emotions are high through the game. There's ebbs and flows, and we take a few shots to the stomach, and we have to adjust. Yeah, you shut them down there, they open a gap on other side. You shut them there, and then they open up centrally. It's a quality team. It was game of cat-and-mouse, and yeah, I think for the neutral fan, what an amazing game.
At the end, that we turned it around; I thought the substitutions that came in really set the tone for the end of the game. We know if we get Klauss the ball in the box, he's always dangerous. We just had to stay in there, and that's what I spoke about, the character of this group. I spoke about the resolve of this group, and we've seen it brewing inside the group for many weeks now. So yeah, it's just a good moment.
Q. How big was it to take a lead, get Tim Parker to score first and give you guys the with 1-0 lead?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, just the guys have been working really hard at set pieces. This is one of the things that we felt okay, during the preseason was one of the phases that kind of led us down. Not just the defensive ones but also the attacking ones.
So we scored a couple, but the group holds itself to high standards, and we want to feel that the pressure we set on ourselves, it's the only pressure we set, right. So we are not living up to any expectations. There are no outside pressures for us. The pressures is only the one that we put on ourselves.
Q. You can game plan all you want, but that second goal by Stroud is one that comes out of the hat.
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, sometimes you might need to earn that, right. You might need to just be at the right place at the right time. You might need to just close down somebody, just get a jump on somebody.
You create your own luck. I think Gary Player said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get," and I think that's just what the group did tonight. The harder they worked, the more they came out of their shells; the more they got used to the tempo of the game; the more they got used to what's going on.
I think on the night, we get 18 shots and nine off on target at Q2 Stadium. I don't know how many teams come to Q2 Stadium get nine shots off on frame and, you know, credit to the group.
Q. After you tie the game, Klauss's goal is a thing of beauty?
BRADLEY CARNELL: We know Klauss is a weapon. This is basically just coming off of preseason. The legs are heavy, 90 minutes, there's only a handful of guys who have got to this threshold and we keep pushing and emptying the tank. Klauss went through these moments of fatigue, and he begged me to keep him on, so I'm glad we kept him on.
Q. What did you think in the last minute when the header goes off the crossbar?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Not thinking too much. Hope it goes over or comes back, and it came back. We were able to do it. Just hoping that it doesn't go in. I thought we showed a lot of resolve tonight. It would have been a pity; we would have been proud of a point, but to take three is just so much sweeter.
Q. If there was a game that captured the City's play style, it was obviously this one. You only had 40 percent of the ball, just mentioned 18 shots, but 50 percent on target, that's pretty good considering the level of competition you were facing. You won the most tackles, won the most duels and had the most dangerous opportunities. You guys got a goal off a set piece and you had players making that little effort, such as Stroud, places at the right place at the right time; how validating was this win for you?
BRADLEY CARNELL: I think it was just also the way the game started. Indi takes a blow to the nose and we have to get him off, and then Njabulo Blom, you saw glimpses. We pushed his limits tonight. He wasn't really ready to go that long, but we knew we had a guy who is really hungry, right. We had a guy who embraces the style of play and thought he had an excellent start to the game.
And then just to solidify the midfield as well, we make a couple of changes, we bring in Miggy Perez at 17 years of age, and he looked like a veteran out there. So I'm very proud of this group, and yeah, to come here and leave with three points, I don't think there's many greater things.
Q. Earlier this week, you mentioned you're very even keeled, you don't get too high or too low, but you said earlier this week it would be pretty cool to be party-poopers here in Austin, Texas. I think you guys did that tonight. Does that make you feel a little bit more intrigued by the idea of what this team can be down the line or are you still able to hold on to that even keel?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, I said to the group before the game, there's 34 chapters to this book that we are writing. Today was No. 1 of 34 in the regular season, right.
So do we get to 40 games this season, 45, I don't know how many times we get to. But today we started the story off in the right way. We started off a story to reward themselves. They have worked so hard. They have emptied the tanks and its new contents we have been throwing at them, and for it all to come together tonight, at a place like this, away from home, against the grain against -- you said it, somebody said it, 40 percent possession, but to get off the amount of shots that we did; the quality shots and to turn over the ball in areas that we really planned for, I thought it was a good game plan, yeah, just enjoyed this moment for sure.
Q. Can you speak to the traveling fans and St. Louis fans?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, it was one of the first things that after 90 minutes, just to acknowledge the fans. We knew 170 plus our front office staff, just an incredible day for the city. We know the history and we've spoken about it through the whole preseason, and we know what it means to the City of St. Louis.
So for us to come out here and for the fans to come support us all this way, it's truly emotional and humbling at the same time. So we just are looking forward to next week against Charlotte, and yeah, we're going to do a bit of homework this week and get ready to go and roll it out again on Saturday.
Q. I wanted to ask you specifically about No. 10, what did you see from him today that was so impactful in your victory?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, well, Löwen covers tons of ground, right. We know how dangerous Driussi is. Löwen plays like a 6, he plays like an 8, he plays like the number on his back, a 10. He has a lot of individual quality and for him to have done the tactical job on Driussi for as long as he did, all credit to him.
And then we started making strategical changes and put him in a different spot, and he just adapts really well. I'm really excited he got 90 minutes under his belt. Like I said, he covers a lot of ground and it was a big ask for him today to do 90, proud of him.
Q. Can you describe the journey with Miggy Perez, he goes from a player that you guys are, hey, this guy might be something to we are going to give him a contract to travel him and to playing him and playing him well in this game?
BRADLEY CARNELL: One of the easiest decisions tonight to put Miggy Perez on the field. We put him in the deep end at Nexpo (ph) and he swam very quickly. He would you tell him in the deep end here in preseason and he swam equally well. It was one of the first names for me when we knew we were going through different moments of battle, struggle, fatigue.
We knew that Miggy can contribute. We have a belief in our roster. We have a belief in everybody here. We just have to check the status on some of the guys, Indiana, as well because he wasn't in a really good way. I'm glad Gioacchini comes on and does one a good job. Blom, incredible. Just the subs, Pompeu with a 1v1 dynamic. It's a threat on the wings. I thought we came around again just when we needed it, and we were able to turn it around.
Q. I wanted to ask you about Gioacchini comes on in the 60th minute along with Miggy and really makes immediate impact especially with the game-winning goal. Was that something that you were expecting to see out of hip tonight, or what was that like?
BRADLEY CARNELL: We had to be a little bit flexible with regard to some of the -- with some of the changes, Rasmus ran out of gas a little early on and then protected. Tomáš Ostrák put in a ton of work as well. We had to be a little bit flexible in our approach. We know Gioacchini can play multiple positions but I think he's most comfortable underneath Klauss, but he did a great job. He also commits everything to the team every single day, and he's been in a really good way the last couple of days. Just happy he could get on the field as well.
Q. Did Vassilev start because Blom wasn't good enough to go as long as you'd like?
BRADLEY CARNELL: I think there's different nuances, different personnel for different moments, and just through the week, knowing where Blom was just through the week, knowing how good Indi was playing and how comfortable he was, and he had a really good preseason, right.
So we have thrown a bunch of demands on him. He's soaked everything up. So we knew he was ready for this game and we're all pretty bummed that he took the knock to the nose. We are not sure of the severity of it but we are hoping that it's not too bad and that he can get going pretty soon. We just feel we like where we are with the depth in that position. I think Blom as well as Indi, as well as Akil Watts and Miggy Perez, we have guys in this position that we trust, and there will be different moments for different personnel.
Q. Defensively, he gave up two goals. How did you feel about just the defensive unit?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, we gave up two shots on target as well, so the shots -- the goals we gave up are the shots on target tonight. In preseason, we have averaged three shots on goal against us. I think we've done one better tonight and only got two on goal.
So I think the group was stout and strategically changed their lineup and formation at the back in the last couple minutes, and you could see that we were tough to break down, and that's all a coach wants to see.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports