LA LA Galaxy 2, New York City 0
Q. Your thoughts on that game?
GREG VANNEY: I thought we stayed collective for the most fart, stayed together. We were in good positions to help each other. Tried to make -- they are going to have their moments and they are going to try to put balls in the box and put some numbers forward. I thought we managed most of them pretty well, not every one. But still a couple moments I would like to have seen us when we were trying to play long to play behind them long instead of playing shorter long.
But I thought the group -- again, I thought group just competed over 90 minutes. Stayed connected to each other. Went through their rotations the right way. Tried to make things as clean, as predictable as possible. I thought we, because of that, I thought we had a pretty clean night and a professional night. Again, two in a row where I thought we were connected all night.
Q. As this group develops into the second half here, I assume closing out games like this is the next step you have to take. When you do it against a team that's top three, top four in the east, what covered does the group take with it to Salt Lake?
I think, again -- at home, being up a couple goals, when we had three center backs on the bench today and I was thinking about shifting guys on the upper half of the field to get fresh legs up top, it was a calculation of who, when and where exactly because we didn't have the straight swaps. But even as we brought guys on, as Mauricio came on, he did a great job, again, in a role that's not traditionally his role.
And I thought the two pivots did a great job of helping make things as predictable as possible. I think Diego, again, had another wonderful night in terms of both sides of the ball collectively helping the team defend, but also taking up good spots, getting a goal.
So again, I just think when we are following through on our responsibilities and we are making the game as predictable as you possibly can, it helps the group deal with things a lot easier and a lot cleaner, and we've done a nice job of that the last two games which helps us to defend better, it just does, right.
And the guys who are recovering balls and having to deal in the box or around the box, they know what's coming because the guys ahead of them are doing such a good job of make the game predictable for them. I think it's great.
But I think it gives the group a lot of confidence. The last two games I think gives the group a lot of confidence and understanding that if we do our responsibilities and we stick to the things we are trying to do, we can be a lot more efficient and cleaner as we talk about the defensive side. Because our upside is really going to be dependent on how well we can defend over the course of games and over the course of the second half of the season.
When I say "upside," I mean championship upside, not just winning games and getting to the playoffs. But capacity to win trophies is going to be on our collective ability to defend well.
Q. Did you see the first goal? You seemed to be in a conversation of sorts with the fourth official. It was right after Joseph was taken down on the left and no call was made and it all kind of --
I didn't actually see, if I kind of put pieces together based on what happened after, it seemed like maybe they gave up the ball to us or something in a transition whether it was hands or something, and we didn't turn that into a quick transition and a goal. I didn't see all of it. I saw the part where we recovered the ball and then Gabe had it. That piece I saw; so I guess the important part.
But I missed it because I thought Joe beat his guy and was in going to the box and was probably fouled from behind. So I was involved in kind of that discussion. But they were nice enough to give us a second chance at it and we took it.
The second goal was spectacular. As a collective team goal, it was an outstanding goal. From goalkeeper all the way to the end, we broke pressure. And this is what I said, if teams want to come press us and they don't win the ball, they are in danger on the other side, and that was a good example of what that looks like. That was a really good goal.
Q. The first goal was nice because you didn't get the call, Pec pushed the ball maybe a little too far ahead and that fell apart and then it falls and it's a goal that any of us in the room could have scored.
A. Again, I go back to a little bit of the comments earlier. Things that are going to help us to be a better team and a more consistent team and to be a championship contender, things break down, we are in good positions to counter-press to keep them underneath pressure. They try to play out and we are able to disrupt that build, bring the ball back and you get chances off of that. Again it goes more to the defensive concentration and the transition action that then creates the goal. The more we can do that and be in good spots and work together and transition together, then we create goals in many different ways. It doesn't always have to be on the beautiful-goalkeeper-to-Diego finish. It can be a good transition off of good defending.
Q. Which did they make tackling legal?
A. Yeah, this is so confusing to me, but I felt like this wasn't the first time in the night. I feel like is a really difficult call sometimes in our league, not for them, but I just I feel like we tend to -- when I say "we," I feel like it's a common theme that officiating sometimes misses the foul from behind or the holding in the box, whether it's on corner kicks or in a play like that where the attacking player has position on the defending player. The defending player does not have a right to the ball or a right to throw somebody out of the way. That's a foul. Everywhere that's a foul.
But that's such a hard call in our league. I just don't understand it.
And it happened earlier when the ball was played out to Gabe and he was in position between the player and the ball and he gets kind of smashed from behind. It's a tough call but it's a foul. Again the attacking player has position. The defending player can't access the ball. You can't go through them or throw them out of the way. That's a foul. It's mind-boggling to me.
If our defender is shielding the ball, that doesn't mean that you can throw him out the of the way. It just is confusing to me. Because to me, it's a simple call, but it's made difficult a lot.
Q. Wanted to get your thoughts on what we are seeing with Dejan. He just seems to be evolving.
Yeah.
Q. In what ways are you seeing that happen? He just seems to be becoming a more complete player all the time.
I think, you know, his connection to the game over 90 minutes has gotten better. Whereas early, when he first got here, we saw a lot of success coming on as a substitute when the game opens up and there's spaces. He's always had the capacity to when space is there for him, to find that space and fill that space and be at the right place at the right time and finish.
We've always said his evolution for us was going to be that 90-minute striker; the one that when you're in the build-out, can link a play; the one that when you're on the sideline can get you help to get off the sideline; the one when the opposition sits in a low block and still find his windows of space to finish. You know, these kind of things; can help us on the defending side. He did a really solid job of Diego helping to shape the game today the way he wanted and he was very good on that side of it.
Again, becoming a compete striker is about doing all the little things and not just scoring the goals, even though that's what you're really paid to do. But doing all the little things is what helps the team really win and what helps the team get shutouts. When we think about the defending team, but really it starts with Dejan and Diego and how they can make the game predictable for everybody else and they can do their jobs efficiently, and I thought he did a nice job of that tonight with Diego, again.
Q. Gabriel Pec was unlucky not to get a goal. He had one come off the crossbar. How have you seen him step up in Riqui and Gastón's absence? He seems to be involved in basically the heart of the action all the time.
Yeah, again, he's another player that, in my opinion, the more he's with us, the more he settles in, the more he's going to continue to evolve as a player.
Because coming to us, he's a one-on-one winger, and what we are trying to get him to do is be more than just a one-on-one winger. You see at times when he showed up inside, he's able to get the ball and he gets us out of pressure. He starts an attack and he's on the end of the attack with an opportunity on the other side.
To me he's staying more connected to the game than just staying on the outside waiting for someone to get him the ball, and because of that, he's getting many more touches and getting involved a lot more
And the other thing is I think he's playing more direct than he was at certain times when he first kind of came where he was looking to the ball at his feet a lot and then trying to do things off of it. I feel like he's on the run a little bit more. He's on move. He's not just waiting for his feet and trying to pick up speed. He's already developing speed before he receives it, and when he does that, he's really difficult to deal with.
So then he's adding more layers to his game in my opinion, and I think on the defending side, he's also a player who when he first got here, he's thinking it's me against the fullback. That's my defensive reference; I'm just going to defend the fullback, and we are getting him now defending with the team. So it's not always the fullback. Sometimes it's another responsibility, and that evolves inside of the game a little bit. And he's starting to pick up more and more on some of those things which keeps him connected to the group which is going to allow him to be more impactful in games and I see that evolution
And because he's more involved, he's enjoying it. He's not just waiting for the game to come to him. He's in it. There's a couple chances he was a little frustrated because I think we had maybe chances to come back to him or play him in and we didn't get hi into it. But I thought we had him involved and he got involved in the game, and because of it, he's influencing the outcomes and you start to see all the qualities that he can bring to the table.
Q. Ninth win tonight, surpassed your win total from all of last year. Just how much momentum do you feel like this team is having right now, especially going into Saturday at Salt Lake and with the big match at the Rose Bowl coming up in a couple weeks?
Yeah, it's really good. I'll say why. Because I think over the last couple games, what we realized in the first 17 games, and now 18 and 19, is when we stick inside of our structure and inside of our system and we make things sort of clear for each other but unpredictable for the opposition, we are at our best.
When we start functioning in a little bit of an improvisational world where we are too all over the place, that's when I feel like we are at our most vulnerable. The last couple games -- because that's what we've worked on the last two weeks is: This is when we are good; this is when we are vulnerable. This is when we are good; so let's stay more inside of this space and less inside of that space
But the more you can be predictable for each other and be in the right spaces at the right time so that the solutions are there, both on the attacking side and defending side, the more collective we are as a team and able to accomplish things.
I think the last two games are an example of that. We are missing very important players in our team, but the collective is doing the work, finding the right spots and the ball is moving with speed, and because of that, wonderful things are coming out of it as well.
I think the momentum is important but also the realization of these very specific things is also really important out of these last couple games, and we need to keep repeating.
Q. What is Riqui's status?
Riqui is back, kind of back on the field. He'll be questionable. We'll see where he is for this weekend, very questionable. Be some game-time decision a little bit.
But Johnny will be out. He had kind of a mild grade one and will probably be two weeks to three weeks before we'll be able to get Johnny back out there.
We are trying to progress Riqui along but it's a Catch 22 to make sure that he goes through enough protocol so he's not vulnerable when we throw him out there. We'll see how the next couple days look, really, but we'll see.
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