Note: Questions have been paraphrased.

Opening statement

OK, just to touch briefly on the Kansas City game. Obviously, a devastating result in the end. I thought it was a good 91 minutes.

The worst thing for me is that a lot of really good performances from guys go unnoticed. I thought Ayuk was excellent. Maurice did a great job at center back. Brian Carroll came in in a tough spot with Nogueira not being able to play, finding out at the very last second on that one. Michael Lahoud, very good; Fernando, very good; Sebastien — you could go through the whole team and check a lot of the boxes that they won their individual battle on the day. But, at the end, it’s devastating because we lose the war, we don’t get any points. Difficult moving on now to New York City FC.

To clarify some things, Rais Mbolhi will not be playing in goal. John McCarthy will be our starter, Andre Blake will back him up.

Just to be clear on that: It was my decision, a decision that I made, and it was based on performance, and it’s what I think is best now for Rais, and for the Philadelphia Union moving forward to get a result against New York City FC this weekend.

The last thing I guess I’d like to clear up too is, as the head coach, I’m responsible for all of the decisions that are made here. It’s not up to the players, it’s not up to Nick, it’s not up to Jay Sugarman. I have the final say, I make the decisions to move this team forward.

I’m responsible for our three loses, as well. I’m a guy that has been honest and upfront with all of the press and, much like coaches in this league, I think a lot like quarterbacks they get a lot of the praise when things are going well, and they deserve to take the heat when things aren’t going well. So, I’m responsible for the three losses. I make the decisions here and I have to live with them. And I have to get this team back in form.

We still have very good players, and we still have a very good team, and a real belief. Today’s training was upbeat, positive — the guys are really putting the work in and showing that we are getting better. As tough as that is to see right now, we are an improving team. We’re trying to lose the culture of losing and not closing games out. That’s a tough thing to put an end to — there’s a process to it — but I think we are still moving in the right direction, as tough as it may seem.

I’ll call upon our fans, who I think are the best fans in the league. We’re going to need them this Saturday in a major way. And what’s great about our fans — I shouldn’t call them fans, we have supporters, which is different than fans, you know? They’re faithful until the end. That’s what supporters are and I think we have some of the best in the league. Our guys are going to need them this Saturday to push us over the edge, the 12th man, so to speak.

What specifically about the goalkeeping situation didn’t work out?

We win and lose games as a team. But as the Kansas City game went on, and throw in after throw in was going into the box and there seemed indecision with Rais, I just think — and I talked with him yesterday about it — he doesn’t seem like himself. He didn’t seem like the goalkeeper that I saw that was winning us games in the preseason singlehandedly. I think the confidence was gone in him, his personal confidence to come off his line and make a punch after a lot of balls were getting thrown in the box to kind of bail out our defenders. I understand he can’t do that every time, but after the repetition of Besler throw ins — five, six, seven, eight, nine– and seeing that we were struggling a little bit, you know,maybe there’s a moment where he can come out and get one.

So, we talked about that, and my decision is based on, right now, he doesn’t look like himself. I think it’s best for the team that he have a seat and watch, and the team can move forward.

Now you’re left with a pretty significant cap hit. Beyond stuff on the field, is that something you’re going to look at?

Yeah, of course. You talk about salaries, there’s always expectations in pro sports that go along with salaries and performances. The guy who makes a good amount of money on the team is going to be held to a higher regard than the kid that you draft from Slippery Rock, you know? So, again, with that come bigger expectations and, yeah, he’s an experienced player who we needed to ride some moments to get us points and win games, and right now that’s not happening. It could still happen down the road but, at the same time, right now it’s not, and I think it’s a needed change.

Mbolhi’s not here training with the team. Is that a decision taken jointly?

Yeah, I spoke with him yesterday. It’s my decision that it’s best for him and the team right now that he’s not with the group. We’re going to move forward with…McCarthy will be our starter. Andre, coming off the knee injury, is not quite himself yet. Showing very well in training but still, to throw him into the fire right now in his first game of the year coming off a knee injury? I don’t think the timing for that is good. John’s been excellent in the preseason, John’s earned this right to be a starter. I’ve been very impressed with him, he’s a kid that I have faith in, and I know our players have faith in, too. You know, anytime you play a new goalkeeper, everyone has to raise the bar a little bit higher: our defenders need to do a little bit more, our midfielders need to do a little bit more, because, again, he’s a young goalkeeper. He played a full season last year and saw a lot of action, so he has that under his belt. But, I will ask our guys to raise the level even a little bit higher and do the little things to help John through his first start with the Philadelphia Union.

Do you expect Mbolhi back soon? Are there plans in place to try to make a move?

That’ll be up to me, also. Putting a plan together, there are some things we can talk about publicly, and I think the things we can talk about publicly are his performance based, that’s why he’s not going to start, and it was my decision are the two things we can talk about publicly. But there’s certain things that will be kept in house in terms of transferring players and that kind of thing. That’s going to stay inside.

Going back to the Kansas City game, Ethan White was put on the bench. How do you separate the defensive struggles between the defensive marking and goalkeeping? 

Listen, for me, Ethan White is one of my favorite players — you can talk to any of the staff, the technical staff — so, that was a hard one for me to do. I thought Ethan had a great preseason but, again, in the games, confidence on the ball was lacking a little bit. I know he’s going to come back and bounce back, and he will be a contributor with this team down the road.

It is a team thing but, at the same time I think I’m making this move in what’s best for the team. I think John is a guy who will come out of the goal on crosses and deal with things in the air. And right now, Rais didn’t have the confidence and the presence, and maybe made a mistake or two in the last game, and that leads to that.

Was it all a performance decision or did personality enter into it? 

Performance. He actually is a good guy when I sit down and talk with him, he’s a smart, intelligent guy. He sees the game, he’s a pro. He did mention that he can’t guarantee how he reacts from this because this is the first time he’s been benched. So, again, he’ll take some time away, reflect on some things, things he can do better, things he can improve on — just like I do after we lose, you know? He’s a professional and I expect him to come back better than ever.

How much did Blake’s injury set him back in putting McCarthy ahead of him?

It’s an injury that he’s coming back from: it’s timing, it’s getting the reps back in training every day. Andre’s progressed well, but he’s still, when I talk with Paulo about him, he’s close to being a hundred percent. But, I would hate for the first time for him to see live action in a game…so maybe we get him a game in Harrisburg so he can see some crosses, you know? John’s been going now and played preseason games — been in the fire, so to speak — been in training sessions for a lot longer time. Andre had significant time off where he missed some time. He did his rehab very diligently and came back quicker than expected, he was ahead of pace in terms of his knee actually healing. So, he’s done the work, it’s just a matter of the reps and thinking the timing may not be right to throw Andre in there just yet.

Toward the end of last year, you, Nick Sakiewicz, and Jay Sugarman talked a lot about long-term plans, which included people like Mbolhi. With all the hoopla that came with his arrival, did you ever think you would be in this situation?

It’s a good question. Plans get made in the short-term, there’s long-term but, the famous Mike Tyson line, “Everyone has plan until you get punched in the face.” So, you have to adjust. This is the first step in the adjusting. I think it’s what’s best for the team. I think we have to move on as a group and get that first win. I think the group has belief; it may not seem it the way we’ve closed out games, but there is still a confidence that I have in the players, and I think the players have in me. So, again, I think we’re early into this thing. It is three losses that we’ve had, which is, you know, they’ve been tough losses, for sure, sleepless nights that go along with it — it’s difficult. But at the same time, I still think there’s a ton of season in front of us, and a way to get this thing right, and I think this is a first step in that.

On John McCarthy as a player and person

He’s tough. I  mean, he’s a tough kid that I’ve watched play for a long time, whether it was pickup games at YSC that I was involved in when I was retired, and I guy that I rated pretty highly. A kid that I monitored last year when he went on trial out in Seattle, monitored him last year in the USL PRO with Rochester — had some good games there  — and I guy that I have faith in, a guy that I believe in, and I think can do the job.

Given the history in this country of producing quality goalkeepers, does it make sense to you in the short or long term to use an international spot and a large amount of salary space on a goalkeeper? 

There’s two ways of thinking in that. With Rais, we were getting a guy off of a World Cup, so you’re going to pay a higher price for him. I would agree that an American goalkeeper is solid, it’s one we produce in abundance. But, at the time, we thought Rais would give us a calming presence back there and, for a game or two, he did. But,at the same time, I think the way that we started the season, and the things I’ve seen on the field confidence-wise with him, I decided to make the change.

Philosophically, I do understand the idea. I mean, guys I played with, Brad Guzan, that’s a guy you would embrace and you’d probably pay a little extra premium to get a guy like that. Tim Howard, obviously, comes to mind as well. But there’s good young American goalkeepers. I’d put McCarthy in that category of one that doesn’t cost that much and is a guy that we think can come in and do a job.

Can you give an update on Fernando Aristeguieta’s hand injury and the injury status of the rest of the team?

Fernando towards the end of the [Kansas City] game he fractured his hand, got stepped on. He’s a tough kid, he didn’t even really look over to the bench or ask for anyone to come on field. I saw the play because I saw him get up and I saw him just shake it and, he didn’t really think much of so I didn’t at the time. You get the report the following morning that it’s swollen up. They did an X-ray of it; he had surgery yesterday morning and then was supposed to be eased into training today, but he’s a tough kid and he said he wants to play. He ran around with a cast on it and they put a pin in there. He’s a…didn’t complain about anything. He’s a guy who, again, has bought into this mindset and this mentality that he wants to be here, he wants to win, and he’s a guy that I’m very happy with how he’s played.

And Sheanon Williams, Vincent Maidana, Cristian Maidana?

Sheanon trained full, he should be available for selection this weekend. Vincent, just talked with him a second ago, positive response to running a little harder today and cutting on it felt better. The X-rays were negative for anything too damaged structurally, so he’s OK. I think he’ll be available in some way this weekend. Maidana ran and did just the technical part of training, the passing part. Still not cutting hard on it, still probably a little bit off in terms of if we’re talking specifically for this weekend. Probably a very long shot for Maidana this weekend. Progressing and, again, eager to get him back.

Conor Casey?

Conor trained full the past two days. Towards the end of today’s session he came out; it was just more fatigue and not wanting to damage it again. But he looked sharp yesterday and then followed up with a good day today, and his body seems to be responding well. Again, it’s very good that we’re getting a full stable of guys back and making some hard decisions for me.

Thoughts on NYCFC

I mean, it’s New York, so its a rival, but you can’t really call it too big of a rival yet because we haven’t played. A team I respect a great deal, Jason Kreis is great coach, he’ll have them organized, he does a good job. Obviously, key guys would be Mix and Villa. We’ve already started talking about them and how we want to limit their touches on the ball. Very dynamic, very good players that can both score a goal from their own individual effort. So, again doesn’t have the feel of an expansion team, they’ve collected, because Jason knows the league so well, a great mix of foreign players and then guys that you’d call MLS effective. Guys that are winners, you know, the Ned Grabavoys, the Wingerts, the Jason Hernadezs, the guys that, you know, maybe aren’t the sexy names in our league, but they give you 30, 34 games every year, and they’re winners. For me, that’s the…those are the guys that are most important. I’ve talked to you guys about that a lot.

What can you say about the two guys training with the team this week?

James Murphy’s a young player that we had contact with U-18 national team coach Javier Perez who wanted to see him pushed a little bit more, so we provided that opportunity. Good player, a kid I’ve been around a bunch, he actually played for the Union in Generation adidas Cup several years back. Tough, Ball-winner. Very good player, very bright future, I think he has a future as a pro. He’s actually, when I talk about — it’s early to say for the kid, but, you know, you talk about…he reminds me of like a Brad Evans type, or a Jack Jewsberry type, these guys that are good ten-year pros that do their job. So, he’s very positive, good young player that we’re helping out with progressing with the US national team; hopefully he’ll be part of that camp moving forward with them.

And then Facundo is a player who is actually an old teammate of Chaco Maidana. Didn’t know that until they kind of crossed paths and saw each other in the locker room. But a guy that is a calm presence on the ball, obviously a very sharp player, can make a final pass; a guy that we’re looking at for the week and we’ll see what happens from there.

On making a strong showing at home at PPL Park on Saturday

You can talk about making PPL a fortress, and being dominant here, and winning 1-0, 2-0 games here like I’ve talked about but, until you do it, it’s just talk. And we’re at the stage now where talk is cheap in everything that we’ve done, whether it be talking the entire week on improving on restarts and then giving up three goals — and a goal that they called back, on a restart. We’re past the talking part. I think the guys know what needs to be done, and what needs to be executed, and I’m confident that we’ll get it right. Again, PPL is a place where our fans have always backed us. Whether we win, whether we lose, they stand behind us. Those are the people that we need to do a good job for this weekend and get three points. And I think once we do get our first win, things will fall into place, because it’s been some crazy games this year for us and the guys are kind of shocked in some ways with how things go; you can’t make it up in a lot of ways. But, we’re staying strong, and we’re staying confident, and, again, it’s my job to put the three losses behind us and find a win.

 Do you have plans on keeping Maurice Edu in the backline?

It’s not a hundred percent, I still think that Ethan will continue to push. I thought Mo was very good in the Kansas City game: he was engaged, his reactions were great, he put in a really, really solid performance. On the field he’s been excellent, but I’m as happy with off the field [of him] becoming more of a leader, talking more, communicating more in the locker room, and holding guys accountable, which he’s done a really good job of. And, again, in some ways I feel devastated for the group that they haven’t gotten a result yet because they’ve worked so hard and put so much into it that they deserve one. It’s going to come.

Are the performance issues you talked about with Mbolhi related to handling crosses, a leadership issue in organizing the backline?

I think it’s both. I think there’s been moments where it’s been personal performance whether it’s kicking, or catching, or coming out, or winning a head ball in the box as a team, and then there’s been moments where it’s the group, whether our line is stepping together — is one guy too far deep, is one guy’s hips, you know, facing square and not ready to retreat. So, it’s a combination of both of those things. Listen, I still think that, you know, I made the change with Ethan White, as well, and Ethan’s a guy that I rate very highly, I think he just had a little bit of a lack of confidence on the ball. So, we made a change. I’d say Rais is the same boat: he doesn’t look like the same player that I saw in the preseason. There’s confidence that’s lacking in himself, and, you know, that leads usually to your teammates, as well. So, again, I wanted to do what’s best for him, because there’s no worse feeling when you’re out on the field and you’re not confident, you know? So, yeah, part of it was the coming for crosses, but the other part is the goals that we’ve given up; we’ve given up too many, and we’re trying to make adjustments and changes to improve that and get back to getting clean sheets.

If these changes work well and you start shutting down the opposition, is this something you’re prepared to stick with long term, or is it Mbolhi back in the lineup when he says his confidence has returned?

I am a big believer — I know it may not seem it because of the different injuries and things that have happened in the back this year — but I am a big believer in you need a consistent backline, a group that gets used to playing with one another. But when results aren’t going your way, and the mistakes are all…there’s a trend that its the restarts, and for me, some of those things can be fixed. We’ve made a couple of changes that in the attempt to try to find the right mix of guys that will enable us to get some continuity to the backline. If we do win with the group, I’m not a guy who changes a winning team — maybe if there’s a major injury to a star player — but do like to stick with the winning team. So, yeah, if this team gets on a run I’m not going to change anything.

The passing numbers in Kansas City were low, but the defensive organization was so much improved. What are looking at to better transition out of the back?

Yeah, I agree. We look at all the data and all the stats, and I am a guy who does filter and take the analytics in, and take the things that I think are important. The most important thing would’ve been to get up 3-1, and then we’re not talking about passing percentages or anything like that, it’s just a good win. We had on the one play, we had three opportunities to get up 3-1 between the midfield breakaway, Seba’s followup, guy makes a good save, it bounces to Mikey, again, who played a great game but, you know, would tell you he should score that one — and then we’re not talking analytics. But, our passing percentage was low, completion percentage was low. Kansas City on the road is difficult. When you score a goal in the second minute, it skews a lot of the possession stats for sure. In the run of play, I don’t think they really broke us down, I think the only shots they had were Dom Dwyer outside the box a couple of times and maybe a header that was headed to Rais. So, yes, the completion percentage is an issue. We talked about it in training today in a transition exercise we played. We do focus on connecting that first pass when you finally do work so hard and win the ball: connecting that first pass, holding it, and letting our team move up the field. So, that is something that we’ve talked about and addressed, something we can always improve on. You can always be better with the ball, we talk about that a lot. But, at the same time, some of those statistics — the time of possession — it all gets skewed when there’s the lag time of 24 Besler throw ins as he walks up to throw it in. A lot of that stuff gets skewed with the lead, the situations in the game. Again, if it’s 3-1, but it wasn’t, and that’s the point, that’s why I have to answer the question. I know there’s things we have to fix.

On getting Andrew Wenger more involved in the offense

A lot of Andrew’s chances come from come from the defensive work that he puts in, and I thought he put in a great shift defensively against Kansas City. If you remember back to the one where he gets the opportunity on his right foot — sometimes you only get one good look a game — he kind of went to curl it but he mishits it right at the goalkeeper. Those are the fine lines I talk about all the time: when you get your chance in the box, it may only be one a game, but if he wants to take the next step to becoming that elite player in MLS, those are the ones he needs to bury. He knows that. He did a good job, I thought, against Kansas City in not pressing, not trying to force things. We have to do a better job of putting him into the position to get isolated and take guys on, whether that means him joining in a little closer to Fernando sometimes coming inside, going outside not just being a guy who is always very easy to defend with one outside back. There’s no one answer, but finding a balance between mixing it up, running at guys, playing an early first-time ball sometimes, sometimes off the dribble. I’m happy with Andrew still, I know he’s going to be a guy who’s going to be producing a lot of our offense. Other teams know that too, so we need other guys to step up around him.