St. Louis 1, LA Galaxy
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, just a very proud coach, they with we went at it today, bouncing back from the craziness of Dallas, and I thought we got stronger as the match went on. I was really impressed with the compactness of our group, the resiliency of our group. Yeah, just a ruthless mentality, to be brave and that was one of the most joyous things we saw today was a back line who was connected and who trusted each other and just committed to the bigger process.
Yeah, you know, I didn't have many things to do and change off the sidelines, and that's always a good sign when the game is going your way. We know they are a dangerous team and unfortunately one moment is all they needed. But yeah, even after that, I thought we tried to really win the game again, and unfortunately sometimes you don't get credit for good performances because I thought we deserved three points today.
So credit to the boys and we move on. I know we want to win home games but yeah we move on.
Q. Looked like there were chances in the first half and you guys couldn't on that last play make them come together to give you the lead.
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, listen, we have been working a lot and talking about a little bit more creation. We said in the last three games, a bunch of the goals we have scored have come from set pieces. We needed to be more creative and I thought we were exactly that today. We much more creative and more fluid in the final third.
And yeah it was great to get Rasmus back in the lineup and to see him in action in the first half. We knew he was not going to last the whole game but we had subs to come in and some more create chaos and havoc. Credit to the group. I enjoyed today's game.
Q. On the goal that you gave up, was there a letdown after the goal or some second half defensive issues?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Listen, we are a team and stick together as teammates and as a collective. You know, I mean, Jake knows he can clear the ball, and we support him. We trust him to make decisions and we trust them to get out of that. He corrected the very next play. He plays a really good pass forward. So I mean, again, we trust our players, right. We trust them to make decisions, and yeah we move on.
Unfortunately, that has a trickle-down effect now with our spacing and recovery and what-have-you, we can't get there quick enough because we are in total possession of the ball.
So there was no danger, right, and so we lose it quite cheaply and then we got caught a little bit behind the 8-ball. But we are not here to blame, and we are still here as a group and connected to each other and trust each other.
So as a group, how can we learn from these moments. How can we, if the score is 3-0, and you might give up late one but I thought we controlled much of the proceedings today.
Q. From your eyes, the goal from Gioacchini was impressive. What do he have to do to execute that play?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, he's thinking a couple of things right there. He's thinking to make a run to the near post. He's trying to see the flight of the ball. It comes slightly behind him, and now he has to come back into the path of the ball and he stretches out a leg. It's a really good goal.
He's been searching for one. So he's committed a lot to what we have done in the back line, and we made sure that he is occupying the center backs and created a bit of a havoc. He's getting better with each game, trying to hold the ball, hold up play, and he's never stopped learning, right. So this is all we asked of the group and you stick to the our principles and we'll get rewarded.
So happy Gioacchini gets on the score sheet tonight. Yeah, again, I'm speechless, because I thought we played an excellent game and deserved three points.
Q. It's been a while since he's been rewarded with his play, getting on that score sheet. How rewarding can that be for his psyche?
BRADLEY CARNELL: A lot of confidence. It sparks momentum, confidence, and the next few touches after a goal are always good and silky, right. So it just shows what a spark of good fortune can go your way and what it can do for you as a player.
Goal scoring is a funny thing. Once you get one, and then you get into the rhythm of scoring goals. We hope Gioa stays in a rhythm and bags full of confidence and moving on to the next game is Nashville is going to be a tough one, and we are going to need moments like this.
I thought, again, we created a really good bunch of chances and yeah, just unfortunate we didn't hit quite enough of them. I think we get 22 shots off, again, usually you get that many shots off, you stands a good chance of winning the game.
Q. On the flipside, we saw a really strong performance from Indiana today but he couldn't quite get that finishing spot.
BRADLEY CARNELL: Sure.
Q. How impressive to see that performance, yet not worry about it not getting on the score sheet?
BRADLEY CARNELL: I don't worry about that. Indy is more the creator than he is the goal scorer, but we've seen, I think it was Vancouver where in the transition, he's a very clean finisher. Yeah, you know, credit to the Galaxy. They came back in the game. They plugged up spaces. They took away decisions for us because there were just bodies in the way so we tried to weasel out, weasel through and there was the next white shirt there which brought other players into play, right.
So I think he was like a bit of a magnet. He drew a lot of attention and then he got the ball off to supporting players and we got shots off. We had dangerous moments. We just don't need Indy to score all the goals or be the only one shooting. I thought we had an impressive attacking performance today.
Q. Right before you scored that goal, Parker had that 1v1 interception and that changed the momentum and led to the goal. As a coach, how happy were you to see your team take defense straight into offense and capitalize on that energy?
BRADLEY CARNELL: It happened in the first half as well, ten minutes before halftime where Lucas Bartlett steps in at midfield, and then we go again Stroud gets the ball in the far post, and it's a side foot and goes just past the upright and the ball goes. Again, in the midfield, Jake Nerwinski steps in, Tim Parker stepping in.
We have been speaking a lot as a group about being brave to defend these moments like this, and the back line showed, you know, tremendous courage and connectedness to the rest of the group. I'm really happy with everything that I saw today.
Q. You mentioned all the craziness that happened with matching Dallas. How impressed were you with your team's resiliency, especially offensively, you had 22 shots, created a lot of good chance, didn't finish all of them but just the response, the effort, the commitment to sort of thing and get that type of performance after what happened at Dallas?
BRADLEY CARNELL: I don't think we delved too much on Dallas. I thought we kind of compartmentalized the Dallas game, right, so putting that into a different moment of the season. It happened four weeks ago or something and then we just had to finish it off with 39 minutes there. Was a bunch of traveling involved and what have you, and now the minute we got back we knew the focus was on Sunday here against the Galaxy.
The players did a good job of putting that into perspective and just putting it down to experience because I don't think anybody had ever experience that had in their careers before. Just you know, finishing off a game four weeks later from a goal kick in the Dallas half at 50 minutes, right. Yeah, we learn from these moments and then we use them and we got back to St. Louis and ready to go for a very important match today against the Galaxy.
I think you can see from the performance that the guys were very focused on this game and for sure, we're disappointed we didn't get the three points. But very pleased with the way we played.
Q. What do you think about the physicality of the game? Also on the amount of set piece opportunities that you were able to generate.
BRADLEY CARNELL: I think the nature of how we play with with regards to we are a physical group. Do we like to collect as many yellow cards because if you give away a foul you break the pressure because we want to be relentlessness if one guy gets beat the next guy to be should be on the scene of the crime to make sure he cleans up the action, right.
So giving away fouls breaks the pressure, and breaks the moment of the game and gets a breather for the other team. Yeah, it's not great that we had guys on yellow cards early on, we had to manage the game a little bit differently.
But again, I thought Judd responded really well throughout the game and lasted the 90 minutes and so did Löwen. Rasmus has been out for a while and it takes a while to get up to the speed of the game, first. A guy goes past him and all of a sudden he gives away a tactical call.
It's just the way we play and we like to play this way. We embrace this type of a game but credit to them. They were physical and they brought their A Game with regard to that department as well. They are a physical team. They showed it today. Boyd, Puig, they all use their bodies really well. They might not be the biggest guys and competitors but they use their -- I said early in the week, they are very good savvy soccer players and you could see that on display tonight as well.
Q. Do you feel like you were able to control the midfield like you wanted to between Blom, Löwen and Vassilev?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Definitely, you see the amount of line-breaking passes from defenders to midfielders, midfielders to the attack midfielders and then getting guys on the move and on the run, yeah, I thought the game plan worked very well. I thought we played vertical. We played in transition. We stayed on the ball when we needed to. The back line connected like they had to and I thought it was a good overall performance.
Q. It seemed like the first half especially Alm and Stroud were getting full on box to box control in the left and the right wings, is there something that L.A. did differently in the second half to show them down or was that pulling things in for a cohesive effect like you talked about?
BRADLEY CARNELL: The nature of the game early on, it's no secret, Jared and Rasmus, they are runners, so looking for spacing behind. I thought we created just as many chances in the second half. Just in other ways, so bringing other people into play and getting overlaps on the sides and being brave to get on the move. Tomás Ostrák looked lively when he came in well, Celio in 1v1s, always brings something different.
But that's just the extent and nature of wearing a team down to a certain moment, and I thought we earned the right to play and we earned the right to bring on those guys who like az Jackson as well as Celio who liked to take on guys in 1v1. There's different tools for different games that we like to use in different personnel, so this was the route we went with for the first half and second half.
Q. You mentioned earlier, I just want to know, having two of your center mids on yellow cards earlier in the first half and decide to go keep them the whole game can be pretty risky and I wanted to know what that says about your trust in your players to leave them in the game when they are in such contentious position where a lot of battles happen and they could easily get their second yellow?
BRADLEY CARNELL: We always feel that we train harder than we play. So if we can get our minds adjusted and our bodies right for these moments during games, and the emotional side of the game, we put a lot of stress situations on our players in trainings, right, and that should equip them to do well with those situations and credit to Edu, credit to Judd in the midfield, they managed their emotions really well.
Q. Can you talk about what Kyle has brought to the game this year and how his progression has been throughout the year for this team?
BRADLEY CARNELL: Yeah, listen, Kyle is a great teammate and does just about whatever is necessary for his teammates and what's best for the team. I think you could see against a world star like Costa in a 1v1 that he's able to shut him down in a 1v1, doesn't need any help, doesn't need any assistance. He's got the confident and the ability to move his feet, take up the run, get his body in between, block the pass and move on from there and then get the ball to the next guy, right.
So yeah, he's done an amazing job as a center back, and then you know, I'm sure he's impressed a lot of people as a left back as well. So we don't need him to be bombing up the flanks and providing the pinpoint crosses for us to score. We would like him to get a little bit more adventures obviously in the final third but that's not his game. We want to take him into -- we want him to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations, right, so we always try and push and encourage.
But yeah, does he what he does best and that's a good, solid defensive job, and yeah, happy for Kyle's performance FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports