LA Galaxy 1, Houston 1
Q. What, in big terms, does 400 appearances mean for you after the game and the craziness today?
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: It's amazing, 400 games and still going strong. And then about the goal, I think it was finally the moment that I've been waiting for. We talked on your show, so call me again; we'll be on the show again.
Just the model worked that we've been putting in, myself, everybody, we deserved something like this. Of course, we get shot again in the foot ourselves and we go down. But the grind and the grit that everybody put, the hard work, the amount of running we did, that's what kind of team we want to be.
And it shows. Now we need to do that with 11 guys, not 10. And if we do that, we can be a really, really about team. Like I said, those mistakes have to stop, and after that -- I know we can get chances.
Today we had a couple chances. To be honest I don't think they really broke us down too much, but at the same time we can't be going down again early.
Q. Is there some simplicity in the idea that you're playing down a man and that you just know it's going to be a grind from here on out? Does it make things a little easier in terms of mentally for you?
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: I don't know about mentally. But I think when you go down a man, the team really need to step up and show what kind of characters you are. And I don't want to say the word, but you need to really, you know, have really guts in you and you-know-what.
I think that's what we showed today. I think we wanted to win that and everybody saw that. There's not one player that said, okay, you know what, we're down a man and we're down a goal. We can't do this.
No, everybody turned around and we came in at halftime and we said, We believe we can do this. All we needed was one chance and we were able to get that chance.
After that, I think we wanted it more than they did. We were unlucky we did not get the second one. But this shows this team can do damage to other teams, and now we need to make sure we can do it with 11 guys and making sure that we do it when we're early and not behind.
Q. Guys did respond very nicely but you had to respond, the first 20 minutes or so weren't very good. The goal they scarred was way too easy. Your thoughts on what was wrong to begin.
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: Well, I think it's details. From the beginning, I think it's one thing that we need to correct, and I've been saying this now for the past two weeks, and it's details, pay attention to detail. Because those are what's killing us.
At the end of the day, it was too easy for him to get in the box and that needs to be said. We need to communicate with each other and whatever -- whoever is down there, just let them go down the line. Don't let them go right through the middle and get in the box. Once the player goes inside the box, it's hart to touch someone because they can call penalty or anything. We just need to be better, and I think the communication starts from the back all the way to the forward.
And I think no matter how you say that to someone, they need to accept it and say, All right, you know what, this is what wind of team we are.
If I tell you, Hey, defend better, you need to take that in mind and say, Okay, I need to defend better because you guys are already doing that. So it's something that we just need to, would harder and pay attention more to.
Q. Two questions about the second half and as you guys are coming back. One is, you seemed to be everywhere on the field in that second half. It seemed like whatever was needed; you were almost like the fireman putting the fires out. Your thoughts on that, and the ability you have to kind of maybe lift everybody else around you within that same structure.
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: I was just trying to do my role. When we go down a man, everybody needs to run a little more. And then I was playing inside with Lucas. When you have a player like that that can work hard and goes into tackles and he's not afraid, and then you have an Edwin and Emiro behind you that can back you up, it helps.
I'm not the best defender, and I've said that many times. But today, I tried to do everything I can. I wanted that win as much as everybody, and I was willing to do whatever it took.
And that's why wherever the ball was, I was trying to hunt it down. And when I looked at the clock and it was the 80th minute, my legs were shot. I was dead but I knew I could give a little more, and I emptied tank. And that's one thing I'm very proud of myself, no matter what I'm doing out there, I'm giving it my all, and until the last little bit of fuel that I had in my system.
Q. If can you talk a little bit more about what Edwin did. He's never played center back before, and goes back down and looks like he's a natural?
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: No, he is. Edwin shows what kind of player he is. He can fight. He can grind. He can defend. Today when he needed to step back on defense and be a center back, he did a good job. Him and Emiro, we were just talking; and he did a really good job, and that's all we can ask for.
We know it was going to be a tough second half, but we made sure that the second half we ended it 1-0, or we were going to tie it. There was no way they could score another one.
When we came at halftime, everybody had their things to say. And we pushed each other. We encouraged each other that we can still comeback.
And we huddled up, and even Marco came up to us and said, Guys, we believe, we can do this. Like we just need to trust each other and give it our all. Go back to basic soccer. Don't make mistakes. Do the things that you need to do.
And I think today showed, like, I think we were unlucky not to get our second and go up a goal and get three points. But we have to be proud of this group.
Like I've been saying, we've been fighting and fighting and fighting and I know the results are not getting there, but at some point things are going to turn around and we are going to -- it's going to change. That's when things, everybody is going to be a hot happier.
Q. How do you think this result can push you guys going forward here as you go into Austin next week?
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: At the end of the game, I said it. We need to play the way we did when we were down a man but with 11 guys. We're good enough to play against anybody. There's not one team, and I keep saying, there's not one team that has outplayed us. There's not. And I went back to every single game, and there's not one team.
After they score, maybe we get out played but it's not until we make our own mistakes. But this team, we need to be better at not making mistakes and making sure that we finish our chances. We're getting clear chances, I think in the first half when Joseph goes one-on-one, I think he gets touched. I tried to complain to the ref and stuff, but things aren't going our way right now, let's be honest.
But we just finish those. Finish those, and the game turns around. And now know we can push and the other team can push and the second and third can come after. When you're down a goal can down a man, it's hard to get that first one.
But like I said, this team has been grinding. We've been fighting and there's not one player out there that you can say has not been giving your all. Because when you walk in there, everybody is mad. Everybody is frustrated. Everybody is empty on their fuel. And that's one thing that we need to be really proud of.
Like I said, now it's time to really step up and everybody encourage everyone to be better and be a good teammate and push each other.
Q. Tonight was your 400th appearance. Curious, who are some of your vets from your early days in New England, and what were some of the characteristics you brought with you that you implement now? Because Greg and Edwin were talking about your positive influence in the locker room as a vet today.
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: Look, we have one of them who works for the academy, Matt Reece, a guy who took me under his wing when I was 15, 16 years old, and until this day, he thinks he's better than me at soccer, tennis. But he's not.
But no, he's positive. The positive stuff that he always encouraged teams. I was on teams that we weren't winning we weren't doing well, but the way they brought it to the locker room, they played. They worked hard. That's what kind of player I wanted to be. I wanted to influence other players to be better. To push themselves.
Shalrie Joseph, another one, my roommate at some point, and bad roommate, but he was someone that he comes on the field and he'd put in the shift. He put in the work. And he wanted better from everyone. If you had a bad touch in training, you would not hear the end of it. That's what kind of player he wanted. He wanted you to be the best player you could be.
And when I started learning those things from people, that's when I wanted to bring to every team that I came. I might not be the most talkative on the team, but I want the best from you. And if I have to grind out there, I want you to grind with me. If I have to run for you, I'll run for you, but the next play, run for me now.
That's what kind of team -- that's the kind of team that we want to be. We want to be that if we make a mistake that there's going to be someone there to help you. At the end of the day, maybe last year we made more mistakes but we were able to score three or four goals.
This year, we're making mistakes, but we're not scoring. We need to end those mistakes so that we can be in a game.
Q. You've had your coach and teammate up here speak positively about you, even though Edwin said that you're old. How does it feel to be a leading figure in this team, somebody that everybody on the team looks to? You're wearing the armband right now. You're just 30. You're in years, not that old, but you've been in the League for a long time. So do you kind of feel like you have that OG status? Do you fight against that a little bit, or do you still feel like a young man? And at the same time, you know, with this team looking to you right now, how does that feel?
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: Look, it's an honor to wear the captain's armband. To be honest, did I expect it? No, of course not.
But we can all be captains. It doesn't matter who is wearing the armband. We can all be leaders. And for me when I got it, I'm still the same person. I want you to be the best you can be. And maybe now I need to be a little bit more talkative in the locker room, and I try to be.
But this is because I want to win. I don't want to lose. I don't want to be in this bad moments right now. I want it as much as you -- as everybody, the fans, the front office, the players, the coaches. We all want to win. That's the truth.
If we didn't want to win, we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't -- we wouldn't be doing this job. We're competitive in training. We're competitive. No one likes to lose. There's people yelling at our coaching because of the reffing, or we're yelling at players because they are not defending. And that's what makes us better. But now we need to bring that into the game.
So at the end of the day, I'm just going to keep being me and keep doing what I've been doing. I said it on your podcast when we talked, there's people that are always going to find negative about us. But at the end of the day, what's important is that in this locker room we're united, we're together and if we're going through some bad moments, we're going together. If we're going through the good moments, we're together. There's not one person that is not doing their job. We are all trying to do our job. We are all trying to win.
And that's what's important, and all I can ask for is everyone to keep grinding, keep pushing, at some point things are going to turn and we're going to be a lot happier.
Q. Could you walk us through the goal? What did you see? Anything you can give us.
DIEGO FAGÚNDEZ: As soon as -- I remember Christian grabbed the ball and he got fouled, and it was a free kick and I was like, All right, this is my turn. Like, this is me. This is what I enjoy. I score goals against Houston quite a bit. Last time I scored against Clark on a free kick. This is my chance. It's me and Pec standing on the ball and looking at the goal. And we always assess where is the goalkeeper standing, what's he going to do.
Isaiah comes from behind me and Edwin comes from behind and he goes, Diego, bend it, bend it, just bend it.
And that gave me more confidence, and I'm like, all right, I got this. When I hit that, once it left my foot, I knew it was in. It just felt too good to be true. But like I said, I've been working those forever.
So for one to finally go in and get that weight off someone, like I said, people look at numbers. Finally that number is finally there and I can show. But that doesn't bother me.
What bothers me is that we need to start winning games, and this might be a good turnaround.
Now we need to go to Austin, and you know how bad I want to beat them, of course. That's one thing I said to the locker room. Let's go positive. Let's play the way we did when we were down a man and do it with 11 guys, and just grind while we're out there because I know it going to be a tough game and things might not go our way, but we need to make sure that we stay together, we stay positive and we're scoring some goals.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports