Portland 4, LA Galaxy 2
Q. You guys go down 3-0 and obviously dig yourself a hole. I think you guys have only led one this season. What needs to change for you guys? Seems like you're playing from behind all the time.
CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: It's always tough when you're playing from behind. I think it's just a mentality shift to not be conservative from the start, and maybe just throw it. Throw yourself at it. I think we've started to do that.
In the moments in the season when we've dictated the game and had the majority of chances, we've just started to chase people down and -- and I guess you could say, in a higher block and pressing, starting with myself and with Joe and with Gabby and making life difficult for them and then they started turning the ball over.
When teams are building out and they have so much space, then we have that space to use in our advantage. Maybe that's a solution. Be more aggressive in that sense, and trust the guys that are behind you that they are going to make plays or fouls to end plays.
Q. When Marco came in, you guys seemed to spring to life a little bit. He started to feed the ball forward, found Joe on the side, got you the goal through that route as well. Do you need him on the field more?
CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: Yeah, I mean, I think he's finding his feet. He was finding his feet before he had that injury. So that took a step back for him. I think the more we have these weeks of being able to train, the fitter he gets, and his quality continues to show, especially when he gets in between lines and pick out those passes.
But he's a world-class player. Of course we want to have world-class players out there, and I'm sure that he wants to be out there more and produce like he did tonight. So yeah, he'll be good.
Q. We just talked to Marco right now just about the frustration going on. One of the things he mentioned was maybe having a bit more quality or mentality during training sessions. Is that something that you agree with his assessment?
CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: Of course. I'm a firm believer of training being tougher than games. That's how I've viewed my whole career. If Marco is saying that, he's had an historic career, so we all need to step up in that sense.
He's one of the leaders, and if he's speaking in that fashion, we need to. I support what he says.
Q. Obviously a frustrating result for players, coaches. We even heard frustration from the fans towards the end of the game. What's your message to the fan base that is frustrated and confused at the results going on?
CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: Yeah, I mean, stick with us. We're going to get through this. I wish I can do a press conference with a win. I want to win so badly for this club and for this city. I didn't think that we would be in this position.
I'll continue to try and leave it all out there, and the guys continue to do that to be able to turn this around. Because I believe in everybody in that locker room, and some way, somehow we'll do it. And yeah, we'll do it some way, somehow.
Q. Marco said that he thought that this team is playing scared. Your thoughts, and how do you get out of that?
CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ: I think it goes back to my point of just maybe letting loose and just taking the handcuffs off and just going like we did when we were down and just pressing and making it sort of unorthodox at times of how you're pressing and causing those high turnovers.
But then you also expose yourself for spacing behind. There's got to be a balance of it. Especially going on the road now for the next three games. But we just have to -- we have nothing to lose. We have to stick together and try and figure out the formula to get through it. Greg does a great job of giving us the blueprint and we have to hold our end of the bargain. FastScripts by ASAP Sports ...
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports