Photo: Marjorie Elzey
The following contains the transcript of the post-game Real Salt Lake press conference. Head Coach Jim Curtin fielded questions regarding:
- The cohesion of the performance
- Conceding first
- The bench
- Looking ahead to Seattle and DC
- Physicality and referee performance
- Andre Blake’s injuries
- Daniel Gazdag tying the club record for goals
Opening Statement: “Overall disappointing to lose at home, another great crowd here in the stadium and, again, disappointing not to get a win tonight. I think sometimes in this sport though, the performance, and the data, and the stats don’t always give a fair result. So, credit to Salt Lake that’s a really good organized, tough team. I thought that they scored the first goal, [we were] a little bit unlucky. Jack steps out with Chicho and gets an unlucky bounce and leads to a shot on goal that Dre has a chance to block and [it] kind of gets by him. But we have a good response. I thought second half played really well, get our goal, push the game quite a bit, had a couple chances for some tap-ins. When you don’t score against the top teams it comes back to haunt you. They make a play and a guy hits an incredible shot. It hurts but still lots of things on the field tonight I think we’re us and looked good, but the result is obviously the most important thing”
“Were you surprised at how disjointed the team looked at times tonight…?”
Curtin: “… if you watch the second half and say that we weren’t good… I thought that we played pretty well in the second half, Danny has a tap-in, Mikael has a tap-in, Julian has a good half chance at the end there, I thought that we had them under control in the second half of the game. Again you know it’s a good opponent, if we put one of those in the back of the net we’re having different discussions. We didn’t and we got punished. They score a great shot, probably the only shot of the half, so again I think we created enough to win. [We] had a pretty big advantage in expected goals but that doesn’t mean anything right? Actual goals are what matters”
[on the first half]: “Yeah, first half there was some sloppiness. The first 20 minutes were good. After the goal we were a little bit off… we can certainly play better but overall it was two good teams. They had some chances, we had some really good chances too. Unfortunately, today it didn’t go our way”
“Jim, what can be done about conceding first? You guys have shown fight but it takes one shot to make it 2-1. It seemed like the margin for error becomes a lot smaller when you concede and are chasing?”
Curtin: “I’ve said it to you guys before, we’re built to play with a lead. It makes teams come at us now and maybe change the way they’re playing. We’re not a team that’s great at breaking down a lower block; an organized, tough lower block. Playing with the lead is something we’re much better at, just like every team in MLS, but for us maybe it’s even more. So, again it hurts tonight. …Still had some guys have really good games and have good performances so we’ll try and take some positives, obviously look to improve, watch the film and you’re right, scoring that first goal becomes really important for our group especially at home”.
“When you guys are 1-1 what’s the give and take of trying to add fresh legs in that moment versus trying to keep the guys on there. As you look down your bench do you feel like you have a guy that can be a game changer in that sense that can come in and bring something different than what the starting unit has?
Curtin: “Yeah look when it gets to 1-1, I think we’re pushing the game and on top of them. Like I said, had those half chances to get a goal, more than half chances I would say, and didn’t score… strange things can happen. I think there was a run there in the second half where they didn’t have a real look at Andre for a while. We have kind of a free header to clear it, we clear it I’d say ok but not good enough, and the guy hits a one-in-a-thousand shot and hits it clean. I think Dre gets blocked a little bit too and doesn’t see it till late. Again, it hurts but, I still think in the second half we had our chances. When you look down at the guys at that stage it’s tough to take anyone out at midfield. McGlynn was excellent tonight. Ale had a great game. We went with pulling Quinn and moving Mikael up top, hoping that would give us a little life and fitness and freshness and it didn’t work out tonight”
“Jim with Seattle coming to town I was curious what modifications you’re gonna make to rest looking at the schedule and especially DC next Saturday?
Curtin: “It’s 2 tough games. I think Seattle took an early red card, and obviously will have a little fatigue on their legs after chasing the game for that long, in the game up at DC just now. So, we have a group that has to start the game, there’s obviously some changes probably for both teams with health and injuries and we’ll make some adjustments but, we’ll have a really good group on the field. It hurts tonight for sure but I think we’ll have a good response on Tuesday against a strong Seattle team.”
“[Yesterday you mentioned] the physicality that RSL brings. It seemed like there was a lot of stop and go tonight with the referee calling silly fouls… do you think that with the amount he was blowing the whistle it kind of threw you guys off of your rhythm?”
Curtin: “Yeah look they’re a tough organized team that is emblematic of their coach in the way he was as a player. I think he’s a great coach and they were organized and tough to break down. I still think we had our opportunities tonight but there was a lot of physicality from both teams. The ref was consistent at least and did call a ton of fouls and gave a ton of yellow cards. I don’t enjoy that way- for the viewer it’s not as fun to watch. I enjoy more allowing the guys to kind of sort the game out themselves with being physical. But, he was consistent and that’s a good quality of a referee. Consistent with calling everything pretty tight for 90 minutes and was quick with yellow cards as well”
“With Andre this season, how he’s struggled with injuries, he hasn’t been healthy for a lot of the year does he seem like he’s a 100 percent to you?”
Curtin: “… when you talk with Andre on the first one, I think the guy’s just in so tight you almost don’t expect him to shoot it directly at you on that one. I think it almost caught him off guard a little bit. So, he would probably tell you he could do a little better on that one. Andre’s an incredible goalkeeper, he’s a guy that we obviously want here for the duration of his career. He’s had little injuries, and bumps and bruises, that add up and take away from training time. You want to get him a consistent run of games where its not as stop start, and I think we get that now before he goes away for the Copa America”
“Daniel Gazdag ties the club scoring record in all competitions, took 8 years for somebody to do it after the first guy setting it, what does that say to you?”
Curtin: “Yeah it’s good for Danny could’ve broke it tonight too, that’s what he would probably tell you. He’s a great, great player. He has a knack for popping up in the box finding a goal, finishes in the run of play, but also great in PKs. Special player, special talent, good achievement for him, a good accolade but I think he would give anything for the three points tonight that’s the most important. Ultimately he’ll be our leading all time scorer and that’s something that he’s really earned and speaks to the player that he really is”
Closing thoughts:
- Curtin did not come off as too bothered by the loss. While the Union clearly created more chances than RSL, they left some goals out there on the field and paid for it. He didn’t give too much away aside from acknowledging that Gazdag and Uhre should have scored, he generally seemed ok with the performance. Curtin tries to be level headed in press conferences, but reading between the lines, especially in his response to the first question, he is still confident in the system the team employs and the players ability to perform
- Bedoya, on the other hand, was a lot more open with his emotions and was clearly upset with the loss and missed opportunities according to this post game quote from him (Credit: Jonathan Tannenwald, Twitter):
Union captain Alejandro Bedoya had stern words about his team’s loss tonight — including some about his teammates:https://t.co/ulriTiyGj9 pic.twitter.com/SQTkVCwvgM
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) April 28, 2024
- Unfortunately, the Union seem to lack a tried and true difference maker off the bench. Curtin, who is historically conservative when it comes to substitutions, admitted as much with the subs he did use. While the days of Ilsinho are long gone, it is odd that there isn’t a go to offensive sub that can happen before the last few minutes. Uhre didn’t start and when Quinn fills in his spot at striker, it makes it harder for Curtin to adjust when the team needs a goal. Maybe that’s a failure of the current roster construction, but maybe Curtin should trust some of the bench players more. Hopefully, someone will earn that trust off the bench as the season continues.
Thanks for compiling all this! Missing tap-ins are just not acceptable for a professional player. Should have been a 3-2 win
I agree with half of that…they need to convert the tap ins. Whether they would have won 3-2 is a different question. Once the Union went ahead after the first tap in, RSL would likely have come out of the shell they were in for most of the second half and the game would likely have opened up. So the score could have been 3-2, but it could also have been 5-1 Union or 3-3 when both teams scored a couple of goals.