Note: Philadelphia Union quotes transcribed by PSP, all other quotes provided by Seattle Sounders. Questions have been paraphrased.

Philadelphia Union postgame quotes

Jim Curtin

Opening statement

Very proud of my group. Tough environment, tough atmosphere; 50,000 people, some young players on the field that I thought performed well. Unfortunate that the red card happens, 40 minutes left in the game, reoccurring theme in MLS right now. We’ve talked with our guys about staying on their feet to try to avoid these things, but, again, gave the ref an opportunity to make a call. I think it’s a soft second yellow. But, at the same time, we still pushed, still fought. I thought we had a lot of the ball, created some chances but in the big moments came up a little bit short. Disappointing to give up a set piece goal, but again we learn from it. We started with a difficult schedule, four out of six on the road. I’m not happy where we are but we got through a difficult stretch pretty well and now we go home for three in a row.

On the play of Josh Yaro

Strong game from Josh. As tough of an assignment as you can get, dealing with Jordan Morris and dealing with Clint Mathis — excuse me, Clint Dempsey; sorry Clint (laughs). But, no, I thought he did well. Physically, there was never a question in my mind about him being ready. He can run, he’s good on the ball, he reads things well. Obviously you’re nervous for a young guy when he gets his first start and there’s 50,000 people here, it’s not easy. But he’s a guy I believe in. Difficult, where we lost Ken Tribbett to injury early in the week, but I thought Josh stepped in and performed well, he had a good performance. Again, you learn from your first game, for sure. I thought he had a solid game.

On Seattle’s lineup

First of all, they’re a good team. They have a lot of winners in their group, right? So you look around at the table and while they may be at the bottom, at the same time, they have a lot of guys that can make a play, that have been through big games, and those guys stepped up today, to be quite honest. We knew, whether it was a 4-3-3, 4-4-2, we knew Clint was going to drift and go all over the place, too, so that was kind of our key to focus on him. The kid, Jordan Morris, can play, obviously he’s got some pace, can run and get in behind; Ivanschitz plays a heck of a ball for the second goal. We got beat by a good team, a team that was in need of a win and they came through and got it. Certain nights you tip your cap, but I think our group pushed hard and could have got something from the game, maybe, if not for the red card.

On the strong start

Yeah, you know, those are the moments. We talked about a big game, big crowd, big atmosphere — it’s exciting to play. These are the games, as a pro, you want to play in these kind of games. So, it was fast, it was high tempo, and we were able to be on the ball a lot. I thought we came up short on the final ball. So, instead of a good firm ball on the ground that penetrates them, it was kind of a chipped ball into the box and Chad’s gonna come away with all of those — Marshall. So, again, a little indecisive on the final ball, but, yeah, you’re right, the first 20 minutes I thought we had a lot of the ball, were able to move it side-to-side, create some problems for them. They were dangerous on the counterattack, set pieces, obviously, they got us. So, disappointing in that regard but, yeah, disappointed not to get something from the game and go home with nothing.

On Alberg and the red card

The thing is, on the play — I just watched it — He had the ball, he’s running with it, maybe takes a touch a little bit too far ahead of him. He kind of half slides, he’s kind of in possession of the ball. He does get, I believe it’s Roldan that he kind of clips. They’re both pushing, they’re both fighting for the ball. They leave their feet, which, again, once your leave your feet in MLS 2016 they’re going to make a decision one way or the another. So, we’ve talked with our guys a lot about that: stay on your feet, leave your feet maybe to block a shot, that’s about it. So, again, once you leave it in the referee’s hands, it can always go against you. I don’t think it’s a red card. I don’t think his first yellow card in the first half was a yellow card either. Even talked to the referee at halftime about that, and I said I thought the first one was soft, it should take something bad for one of our guys to get sent off. And, sure enough, eight minutes later, it happens. So, difficult. Again, I’m not here to complain about referees, I think we had moments in the game we could have been better. But, when you leave it in their hands, when you leave your feet, there’s always a chance they could send you off so, upset.

Joshua Yaro

On your first MLS game

It’s great. As a young player, making my debut has always been a dream. To get a chance play for a club like the Union and to get to start was a great experience, with the help of my coaches and teammates. I know it’s a moment I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life. I tried to enjoy every bit of it. It was a great feeling, although it was away, looking out at all that crowd, and see myself in that environment.

On facing Dempsey and Morris

I’ve always played my game in a way that it doesn’t matter who I’m going against. If you don’t do your job, you’re going to get punished — by anyone — in this league, especially. So I try to keep the same mentality when I’m going against Dempsey or any other person, and our coach really made that clear, that every game is a new challenge and you’ve gotta go and do your part and work hard. And I think that’s something that stuck with me and I try to live by that and I try to execute every game and play my best.

When did you know you would get the start

Well, I guess before training, I kind of had a feeling, but it wasn’t until yesterday that my coach told me that I was going to start. It’s good when the coach is confident in you and believes in you that you can step in such an environment and play. And I think that also gave me the confidence to know that I deserve to be here and that I can play just as good as anyone. So, it’s a great feeling. I guess when you know you’re going to start, you have to soak in every detail when you sit in meetings, you have to be careful — not that you don’t when you don’t start, you have to soak in every detail — but you have be extra careful and pay attention to every detail.

On losing in your debut

It’s tough for me especially, making my debut and losing and the team losing. But with that said, I know that it’s a group of guys out there that will fight. We have a lot of strong characters on this team, that although we lost tonight everyone is looking ahead to the next game. All the guys, you can see in their eyes already looking forward to the next game and the next challenge, and how to get better as a team, and how to respond. It’s tough for me, going away, I would have obviously loved a win and been able to say I made my debut and we won. But it’s a good experience [and] also walking away with a part of me really enjoying my big moment.

On lessons learned

There are a lot of things that I’ll take away from this game. The will to compete to the end; I think as a team we showed that a lot today. With a man down, we still fought and we still went and played our best. For me, as a young player coming in, seeing all the guys around me fighting and pushing to get back in the game, it’s great because that teaches me a lot and gives me a lot to look forward to. And just enjoying every moment, because I’m never going to get this moment again. So, enjoying the moment and taking advantage of all the chances I have in front of me.

Sebastien Le Toux

On the goal — his 50th career Union goal

It was a bit weird because we were losing. CJ gave to me a great header, laid it back to me, and I just hit it pretty good. But I hit it enough to get a cramp in my calf (laughs), I was pretty tired. I can’t celebrate although I wasn’t going to. It was a weird moment for me, just down on the ground. It was a good goal but it didn’t really help us to get anything. So, disappointing.

On being the captain

Of course it’s always an honor to be chosen to be the captain. I was the oldest player on the field, I’ve played here a long time. BC and Tranquillo, usually are our captains for the game, were on the bench, so coach picked me. It was good to try to be a leader a bit more, talk, and more leading by example during the game, that’s what I tried to do. Always when you wear the armband, you try to give a bit more and help the young guys who are with you. So, I feel disappointed because we lost but I think all our guys played pretty well, and we didn’t get a lot of help from the referee. It’s disappointing because I think if we stayed 11v11 we can get something out of the game, maybe three points. It was unfortunate, but all the guys fight, and fight well, just unlucky on the result.

On playing a man down, again

In Chicago, it’s probably I would say a stupid red card, and Warren can maybe don’t do the second foul, it’s maybe a legitimate red card. But I thought the one tonight, I think it’s a soft, I think the two yellow are soft. The referee, I don’t know, wants to get the show, I don’t know what he wants to do. I think it was a good game until then, and we tried after to run and get more effort for us and more space for them to play, it was a bit easier. But I think even with 10, I think we played them pretty well and not make it as easy as it could be. Not lessons, but win, lose, sometimes the referees are like this in this league, and unfortunately twice we play at ten away — it’s not easy. We know we can get a result, we just need to work, put more work in practice, and when we have a game like this we can try to get a minimum one point out of it.

On heading home after a tough opening schedule of road games

It’s always good, but now we need results at home. We got one good result at Columbus, with the win. Three wins, we are better than last year, which is good. It makes us on the good side of the table, and we want to stay on this side. It will come by, I hope, lots of wins in the next three game at home, and try to get the maximum points so we can go on the road and, like tonight, try to play and don’t stay behind and be not afraid to attack like we did tonight, though maybe we did not score as much as we wanted. But, I think we play good soccer, we want to continue to play like this, and when you have more points and when you win it home you have less pressure when you go away. So, now it’s on us to keep winning at home like we did in the two games. We are confident, so we have to play as hard as we did and hope to get to win again.

Is playing a road game different in Seattle?

Of course. It’s great atmosphere here, all the people are always top class with me and always be cheering for me before the game. Even during the game, people call my name and tell me that I am an original Sounder in their hearts. I always have a great time here, I’m always very happy to come here, great connection with lots of people in this town. I have nothing against this team. I think it’s the same for the people here. So, it’s always great for me to come here, I always enjoy my time. Unfortunately, I don’t wear their jersey anymore, but it’s a mutual respect; it’s great and I really enjoy [it]. Like I said, they are top class and they are great fans, so it’s always good to come here, even when you don’t wear the same jersey.

Seattle Sounders postgame quotes

Sigi Schmid

Opening statement

Obviously we are happy with the win. We wanted to get a win at home, we wanted to move out of the basement – that was our objective for today, so we accomplished those goals. I thought the first 15 minutes they were better than us – we were way too loose – but then we pressed the tempo a little bit, and it was better. We had some really good looks on goal. Sometimes you ask yourself why those looks didn’t go in – the [Andreas] Ivanschitz one, the Herculez [Gomez] one, Jordan [Morris] had one earlier, Clint [Dempsey] had an opportunity as well. You look at those opportunities and say, ‘Hey, one more could have gone in, the dam could have broken.’ But it didn’t, and you could say we were a little nervous at the end. In the end, we won the game and that’s going to help us win the next time.

On the substitutions

I thought we had brought Ivanschitz back into the midfield because we took [Cristian] Roldan out, and had Ivanschitz play in Roldan’s role so we were still at three forwards. We brought in Joevin [Jones] at the end on the left-hand side because we wanted to move Herc to the other side of the field, so we made that change. Those are the reasons.

On halftime adjustments

We just talked about trying to get behind the defense more, trying to use the speed that Jordan and Oalex [Anderson] provide for us. To exploit that, we felt they played a high line and that we could use our pace to get behind them.

On Andreas Ivanschitz

Obviously he helps us an awful lot on set pieces. I didn’t think his service was very good last week – he would be the first one to admit that – but his service was much better this week at practice. It’s great to see him get rewarded. The guys did such a good job of running to free [Chad] Marshall up at the back post, and the ball was there.

On Chad Marshall’s two goals in two matches

I am happy for Chad. I told him after he scored his first one, ‘Let’s try to get five, six this year – the same as when we won the Cup in Columbus.’

On Jordan Morris scoring his first goal

I am sure he feels more relief than I do. I am sure he is very, very happy. I know he had a couple of really, really good looks in the first half…It’s great for him, it’s great for our city, it’s great for our team.

On Oalex Anderson

Oalex is just wonderfully unpredictable. His speed presented problems and issues, and he got behind their defense at certain times. Then there are times where it’s a simple thing it doesn’t come off, then there’s times where it’s a complicated thing and it does come off. He certainly is a player who I thought in his 60 minutes posed a threat for the opponent.

On having patience as a young player

When you’ve been around for a longer time, you know it’s going to happen – even if it’s not happening now. You learn to be patient. When you’re young, you’re not very patient. You want it to be yesterday, not tomorrow. For tomorrow, it caused some impatience and anxiety, but it was the time that we needed it.

Brad Evans

On the win

We talked about this yesterday and the day before that it was important to start a little bit of a streak. We needed it know matter how it came. There were some good moments night and there were some poor ones so in saying that overall happy with the three points for sure.

On talking to Jordan Morris

Yeah, right after the goal I said, ‘That’s it, the flood gates are now open,’ and he said, ‘Finally,’ and kind of looked up to the sky so you hope that’s the one that breaks the bank and they keep flowing from here on out.

On the Philadelphia goal

“Obviously watching the play again Chad and I get switched up and [C.J.] Sapong fades late to the far post and I probably should’ve just gone up with him but looking at the ball and then looking where he is; I looked at probably the ball when I should’ve looked at him knowing when he’s going to jump. I just looked at the wrong time and wasn’t able to jump up with him and challenge him. Either way he gets a clean knockdown and Seba finishes a good goal.

Jordan Morris

On scoring first goal

I’m feeling good; great ball by Andreas [Ivanschitz] and happy to put the ball away, but obviously what matters is three points and it’s good to keep the streak going.

On using outside of foot

I’m pigeon-toed so that’s a little bit more natural for me. I just kind of stab at the ball like that sometimes. I get some slack for it but it’s just more natural for me. It happens kind of fast so I just put my foot out there and glad it went in.

To score at home

Yeah I was great to score in front of the fans and my family; that was awesome.

On offense going in right direction

Yeah definitely. We started with a different formation and different personnel of course coming in. I think it’s definitely gelling though. Each game it’s gotten better and better so it’s exciting.

On playing with Oalex Anderson

Oalex does a really good job and guys like Clint [Dempsey] and Andreas are so good at finding me in behind at make it easy for us. He’s done really well and I’m happy for him.

On if he had family here

Decent amount. They come to a lot of home games so it was nice to score for them.

Andreas Ivanschitz

On how the team is playing

I think that an unbeaten streak of three now is good for us. We’re happy about that. The way we started the game was not good at all. I think Philly played better than us but after the first 20 minutes we played good, we created a couple of chances and we scored and then in the second half I think the game opened up for us. We should’ve score more goals today.

On his shot not going in

Yeah, of course. It was a perfect pass from Jordan and I thought the ball goes in but all of a sudden he saved it and I was very surprised honestly but it doesn’t matter. We won. Huge win for us, very important win for us tonight. It doesn’t matter how we started or how we ended; all that counts, all that’s important it three points and we can move on.

On Jordan Morris’ maturity

Right from the start when we signed him there was a lot of pressure on him. It’s very important that he scored his first goal and I’m very happy about that because honestly I was young too and I know how hard it is at times. You get all these questions all the time like “When will you score your first goal” and you just have to stay focused and that’s what he did. He’s a good boy; he’s training every day very hard.

He’s stayed, he’s stayed calm and just focused and a well-deserved goal for him tonight.