LA Galaxy 2, Austin 1
Q. You guys are fighting for the No. 1 seed they are fighting for their lives, and it ended up being a fight or two on the field. Your thoughts on tonight and how it played out.
JOHN McCARTHY: It was for sure a playoff feel. I've played in a few playoff games now in my career, and it was that chippiness, that edge, and Austin, they were fighting for their life. I think we could have maybe put the game away early, missed a few chances but it happens.
But the whole team rallied, guys came in, subbed in, did well. It was chippy. I thought it was good for us to get into that and prepare us for the playoffs, obviously, a close game, fight is breaking out, we're backing each other up. That's what it's about. I'm proud of boys tonight. It's a good fight.
Q. What happened on the middle when the fight is going on and all of a sudden you're dealing with the blood.
JOHN McCARTHY: Yeah, I saw guys kind of corner Riqui. So of course I'm going to back up my teammate, and I started to push them, like nothing bad, just get them out of the way. And then I think it was once he honestly just straight-up head butted me and I started bleeding. I don't know how the refs missed it honestly. It pretty bad from them. They said they looked at it but nothing happened. No yellow, no red. So hopefully they can look at it after it, I don't know. I don't want to say much, I don't know, but you've got to do better.
Q. Looking at your evolution, beginning of this year after you came in, you've been by all accounts a force over there on that left-hand side. How comfortable do you feel with everything that's going around you and have you changed your game a little bit since the first time you were on the field to where you are right now?
JOHN McCARTHY: I would say I've just been a lot more confident, gaining minutes, gaining that confidence, but yeah, of course, I changed a bit just because playing with these guys, you've got to get used to them, the rhythm, playing with guys like Riqui, when he pops out, I move in, playing with Maya.
But it's a joy to play with them. It's fun and it's fun to watch, too. But honestly I would say the biggest thing is confidence for me. I've grown a lot. I think defensively, I'm solid back there, really solid, which I think this team needs, and then you know, when Greg allows me to go for it, I think I can give a good help to the guys, too. I'm really happy with how I'm performing this year.
Q. The team now unbeaten in your regular season at home. How important is it for a team unbeaten at home to ensure and get that No. 1 seed so that you can home-field advantage in the playoffs?
JOHN McCARTHY: It's everything. You know, from the beginning of the year, our goal was to keep this place a fortress, and we did that. Credit to the fans showing up this year, too, making it a tough environment to come in and play against.
But it's everything, and this team is very good at home. You know, we are decent on the road, too. But when we play at home, I think we're a very tough team to beat. We're relentless. It's everything.
Q. You guys have one game left, job is not completely done yet. What's the approach in the locker room right now?
JOHN McCARTHY: Yeah, we just talked for a little. Celebrated but not too much because the job is not done, like you said. This team is focused and I think the best thing we've done this year, we are not complacent. No one is comfortable and I think Vanney has done a really good job to put that on us, no complacency. We are not comfortable. The job's not done. We've got to go to Houston and get a result, so we'll be ready.
Q. Obviously you've been part of some MLS teams, last year with St. Louis, having success at the top. What is different about this L.A. Galaxy team compared to other teams that you've been a part of?
JOHN McCARTHY: It's a good question. I would say that this team is really deep. The depth is everything. You need a deep team to be successful, and as we start a playoff run, I think every position, we're deep, and guys are already subbing in for injuries. I think the depth is the biggest thing of all the teams I've been on in my career so far.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports