Players React to 3-2 Loss to the Fire

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER QUOTESHEET
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010 -- LA GALAXY 2, CHICAGO FIRE 3

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the result:
“Well, as I just said to television, there’s not a team in the league you can spot three goals and expect to win the game or get a point. Our start to the game was poor, yet oddly enough we get a terrific chance to start the game in the first minute or two, Edson’s point-blank with the goalkeeper; he came up with the save, and within five minutes of that, I think we’re down two goals and give up another goal. So really, from the technical part of the game in the early minutes we failed…, defensively we made a bunch of errors and then over the last sixty minutes or so, it wasn’t bad but, again, our technical execution was poor because we should have been scoring goals out of run of play. This is a game today where although we, and it’s an unfair term to say we spotted them three goals, because they certainly earned their goals and capitalized on our mistakes, but we could have scored five goals today and so failed on both ends of the field, no question about it.”

On the team’s recent form and the pressure of being the league’s top team:
“I don’t think it’s the pressure, it could be complacency. You know teams are obviously coming in with a real defensive posture yet scoring a lot of goals because of mistakes but the teams have played very defensive against us. Our tactical execution and understanding has been very poor and that falls with the coach so, let’s leave it at that.”

On the club’s current struggles:
“Well, believe me, it’s not planned that way but, obviously, players can get a little comfortable when they look at the league standings and see we’re out in front, and I think that’s been the case with a number of players. If we’re going to make mistakes, we have a little bit of a cushion to do that, but when you forget about the things that got you where you are, it’s going to be harder to get back to that point so there’s nothing good about this in my view, whether we have 40 points or 15 points, I’m not pleased about where we’re at at the moment.”

On his squad rotation policy at the moment:
“In some cases it’s just work and in other cases some of the guys need a rest. We’ve got to find the right mix with the players and try to get that right, all I can say is that the last three games we created some chances but at the end of the day, it’s about the score and winning games. We have to get that right”

On his week with the loss in the Champions League, the loss in the All-Star Game and today’s loss:
“For me personally, I’ve had better weeks in my life but the way I look at it, it can only get better.”

LA GALAXY CAPTAIN LANDON DONOVAN
On the result:
“I’m sick of giving up goals, I’m sick of not winning at home and we have to get better. We have to start the game properly and get back to doing what we’re good at. We’re not as focused on our jobs right now as we should be and this is a good wake up call for us.”

On the team’s recent form:
“I’ll just say that we’re disappointed with the last few results. But at the end of all of it, we still look up and we’re still in first place in the league. We need to learn, we need to get better and we need to improve, but there are a lot of team’s that are in a lot worse shape than we are right now.”

On the run of play in today’s game:
“Sometimes it happens like that. They had four chances and scored three goals and I’d like to say that a lot of it has to do with luck, but I think those things happen for a reason and maybe our attitude isn’t right, maybe we’re not as focused on our jobs and we’re focused on other things, off the field too much, and that’s coming back to bite us right now. So we have to learn and learn quick.”

On the upcoming game against Real Madrid:
“They’re decent. We’ll worry about that after Wednesday.”

LA GALAXY DEFENDER GREGG BERHALTER
On the loss:
“It’s a concern obviously. We have to look at it and just get back to the basics. We know that we’re a quality team and there are times in the season where things aren’t going your way and now is that time. I don’t think it’s time to panic, I think it’s time to look at things and regroup.”

On the team’s trouble at the start of games recently:
“It’s uncharacteristic stuff that we’ve been playing right now. We have to look at that and we have to look hard at that and get into the right positions and address the first 10 minutes of games.”

On the team’s recent struggles:
“It’s not demoralizing, it’s a soccer game. Obviously we don’t like it and we’re not proud of it and we need to correct it, but we’ve been there before and we’ve responded a lot of times to crisis’s like this and we’ll respond again.”

LA GALAXY DEFENDER TODD DUNIVANT
On the changing defensive lineup for the squad:
“We’ve interchanged parts all year and we haven’t had any problems. It’s really only been this stretch where we’ve been bleeding two or three goals a game and we’re not like that. We’ll work it out. I wouldn’t say it’s the personnel, or different personnel because we’ve had the same guys all year.”

On the Chicago goals:
“It was strange. I haven’t seen the replays but it’s not like they were putting us under a lot of pressure and breaking us down, it was just one through ball and a guy was in. It was strange. We have to do of keeping *** and defending first , I think we’ve gotten away from that. We’ve gotten a little bit more of a mentality of attacking teams and trying to really press games and it’s opened us up and teams have been scoring on us.”

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER MICHAEL STEPHENS
On what the team needs to do in order to start winning again:
“We just have to keep going. Obviously it’s tough and we’re on a little bit of a skid here, but we have to keep playing and keep trying to get better results and start the games better.”

On the team’s ability to create chances:
“I think more importantly, we’re giving up too many easy goals. We’re still creating chances but the way we’re starting games is just not okay and it’s not going to lead to good results for us.”

CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH CARLOS DE LOS COBOS
On the game
“It was a game we knew was going to be difficult. We faced the best team in the league and the team came with the mentality to walk away with the three points. In the first half we played well. We were well organized on the pitch. We took advantage of the spaces they gave us because they pressed forward a lot and that gave us clear options. In the second half certain factors had us defending on our back foot. The first factor was the opposing team had to risk more to go forward. A series of problems with a couple of players that are not 100 percent because they are recuperating from injuries and were not able to finish the game the way they should. I’m happy with the result because the team deserved it. They were able to keep possession in the second half, but we didn’t give them much space. I’m happy with certain individual performances because although they are young they are showing their potential. We are building a team for the future.”

On Sean Johnson’s MLS debut
“Johnson had a great performance and that speaks volumes about his abilities and character, because it’s not easy to play here at The Home Depot Center against the best team and be such an important player because he had two or threes great saves, which allowed us to walk away with three points.”

On the penalties awarded to the Galaxy
“I really didn’t see the first penalty, and I don’t want to over step my boundaries but I don’t think the second penalty should’ve been awarded, because I saw that play and the player intended to deceive the referee. It would’ve been shameful to go back home without three points because of a refereeing decision.”

CHICAGO FIRE GOALKEEPER SEAN JOHNSON
On making his MLS debut
“I think it was good, overall it was comfortable. That’s the most important thing coming off two games in the Superliga, I had confidence coming in. It’s another game, it’s an important game. To start off with a win in the second half of the season was huge for us.

On the two penalties
“It’s part of the game, you never know what’s going to happen, you have to be prepared and stay focused for 90 minutes. We came out with a win, no matter what happened with the two penalties, the call outside the box, but coming out with the win is the most important thing.”

CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER MARCO PAPPA
On the game:
“It was a close game. Our primary goal was to collect three points, but I think we need to improve and work hard this week to prepare for the next game.”

On scoring the first goal of the game
“It was a great collective effort; I received a pass that was switched from the other side of the field while on a diagonal run and put the ball past the goalkeeper. A goal is a team effort and shows the quality of a team.”

CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER MIKE BANNER
On the game:
“It was good. We went up 3-0 early but we pretty much defended the whole game. We fought and defended. The referee made a few calls, pk’s [penalties], all we did was fight.

On his goal:
“I saw Marco winding up for a shot and I expected a rebound and it came right to me. It couldn’t have fallen any better for me and I put it in.”