LA Galaxy 3, San Jose Earthquakes 0
MODERATOR: We're now joined by LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney.
Q. Hey, Greg. Congratulations on the win. I wanted to talk about the first half and how you think the Galaxy how played in that, especially looking at how you played in that what adjustments you made in that second half.
GREG VANNEY: I thought in the first half in terms of possession and being able to advance the ball, we were pretty good but I felt like when we got to 30 yards and in, there was nothing going behind. It was all just stopping at that point and then it was coming inside. It was getting narrow. There was no stretch. There was no finish to the attack, so then when you turn over the ball, it's just going back at you, so, yeah, part of the discussion on that side of things at halftime was obviously we switched Gabe and Joe just instead of funneling inside, it's trying to get those guys maybe to get behind a little bit more, just emphasizing some runouts and some running into the depth and not just stopping and going into possession. Our attacks need to finish. They need to be goal dangerous. They can't just pass the ball around so that was that.
And then we, defensively in the first half I thought we were generally okay. I wanted to get more pressure on the ball a little bit higher. I felt like we were conceding territory a little bit too easily. Coincidentally as we shifted the way we were going to defend, they shifted the way they were going to attack to the opposite side so that created a little bit of a problem for us until we were able to get resituated and that kind of coincided defensively also with Riqui coming on and changing the game on the attacking side. He took the game to another level and another speed and I think there shouldn't be too many comments on whether this team is better with or without Riqui. I think that's nonsense. He just proved today that his capacity and his quality makes our team great, right? We can be really good but he helps to make our team great so I was happy for him because he certainly changed the game and the next two goals that really put the game away came from him, so I was happy for him tonight.
Q. And can you take about John McCarthy's play? Third straight clean sheet. Really seems to be coming into his own also with the help of the defense.
GREG VANNEY: Yeah, I think John is certainly, at times, had to come up with some really big saves and then he's had those moments and then there's times he just has to play the veteran goalkeeper do all the little things well and he's done that well, you know? So I think, again, coinciding with the defending getting a little more solid collectively in front of him, I think some of the chances that he's gained particularly I don't think there was a ton of really difficult saves. I think the ones that might have been they actually hit over the bar and they hit in different areas. They didn't put them on target, but John, again, just his maturity back there and his capacity to come up because he did come up with a couple big saves tonight, but his capacity to come up with a save when we need it has been really strong for us. You can't say too much about that, especially when you're on the road. The opposition is going to get something. There's going to be a moment here or there and when there has been, John has been there. Three shutouts is big for us. That's something we talked about coming back was tightening that up and it certainly has been a little bit tighter here over the last few games.
Q. Thanks, Greg.
Q. As you turn your attention to another El Tráfico, in what ways has this group developed since the first meeting with LAFC?
GREG VANNEY: Well, I think in the first meeting we were still a pretty any group. I mean, we were still into grading some of our guys, Joe and Gabe has just got here. I think both teams have certainly grown and figured some things out about themselves. Both teams are now in really good form and playing well and getting good results, so, you know, for us it's just been maturing as a group and the collective, getting new guys on the same page with our principles and things we want to do, being a little bit more tactically sound in certain situations, especially just transition defending and some of those things that we need to be a little bit cleaner. I just think we're maturing. That's what a season is for. When you add key players and important positions, that's what you hope to do in a season is to grow and learn from your different experiences and tighten things up and continue to get better. I think that's just what the group is. Also, we've got some guys who are back in who weren't healthy in the early part of the season. Jalen has done really well. He's come into the team and he's been part of one if not all of our shutouts so far. And Miki has adapted to the league a little bit more since the first time so natural growth for the players that are new and also for the collective.
Q. The Aude sub, the announcement sub was that precaution or tactical?
GREG VANNEY: It was precaution. He was getting a little better so in the area where he's been -- we have been managing him a little bit and precaution-wise, we needed to get him out and not overexpose him in this situation. Sometimes when he gets inflamed or fired up, we need to be aware of it. At some point over the next couple of weeks we're probably going to have to give him a little bit time to really get this thing to calm down. He's been managing well. We haven't really had this situation in a game yet. We have had it at times after games when he's sore, just managing him through this situation so it was a little bit precaution.
Q. A groin? Knee?
GREG VANNEY: More groin. It's kind of a inflammation in the groin area but it's on and off, on again/off again and he's had good days. Most of the times he's good but like today because we traveled day of, he was maybe a little bit more sensitive today than he has been in the past.
Q. All right, thank you.
MODERATOR: Let's go with Alex.
Q. Hey, Greg, thank you for your time. We saw Mauricio Cuevas score his first LA Galaxy goal today, we saw him play as a winger is that something you want to see from him in the future?
GREG VANNEY: I think he's a good soccer player. He's dynamic, even when he plays fullback, he's a dynamic type of fullback so with Johnny being down and at the time with Joe not being fully healthy yet, we needed to manufacture a little bit there and he's come on and proven that he actually really understands the role and has actually proven that he can help us out there. So it's not going to be his primary role, but to be versatile, especially as a young player can certainly help you to get more minutes and get on the field so that's played a huge benefit for him and I feel perfectly confident with him out there. I think he did a great job today and he has done in each of his appearances over the last couple weeks, he's been strong and solid and really clear in both his attacking and defending roles. I don't think he's a winger in his future but any minutes you can get as a young player are positive minutes and for him, these are good minutes.
Q. Yeah, and if I can talk about the importance of getting Joseph Paintsil on the scoreboard. He's gone a couple of games, maybe his form was a bit low but how important is it now headed into this El Tráfico game that he's on the scoreboard and he's got this confidence?
GREG VANNEY: Yeah, I think Joe, again, getting that fitness up which we were trying to be a little bit cautious the last three-game week, to get him to see again our capacity and the transition with Gabe running and Joe running and when Riqui's out there, he's running and Dejan's running to start capacity and one of the best things about our group is defending and track transition. It was a great pass by Gabe to get it out across the defender and let Joe run onto it and a wonderful finish from Joe and he was having a little bit of congestion breathing issue in the dry air up here so we were a little bit cautious with him in the last 30 minutes but more respiratory. It was nothing major but that's why he came out in the last 30 minutes. He was coughing a lot and we wanted to be careful as we build a really busy week and important next couple of games as well.
MODERATOR: And we have time for one final question because we have to go to the airport, thanks.
Q. Hi, Greg, congrats on the win. That counterattack on the first goal was absolutely sublime and probably one that makes you exceptionally happy and your two DPs as well. Is that one of the most favorite moments of the season so far? Because it looked like just a perfect example of what a counterattack should be. Thank you.
GREG VANNEY: I was happy for it because the timing couldn't have been better and to be fair, we were kind of surviving that corner kick specifically. The ball was hanging around in our box and we weren't getting a clear clearance on it or when it popped out, I think we tried to keep it in and he couldn't make contact and that's what really spring it and you see the speed and quality of Gabe on the pass, the speed of Joe. As they had the numbers and open space, the execution of that action was really good and, again, if you're going to overpress us or send to be numbers high, it could be a cost on the other side which we showed tonight, which is something that's a little bit newer from last year to this group this year, that ability to be -- to change games in that phase of play, so it was wonderful to get those guys going. It was great to get Joe on the board since he's come back. I know he's feeling good about scoring, so we move on. We're on to the next big one in front of us.
MODERATOR: All right thanks for your time. And that concludes our press conference.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports