Locker Room Reactions

With the team off today, here are a few reactions from both teams after Saturday afternoon's game.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER – QUOTE SHEET
Saturday, June 20, 2009

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA

On the game:
“Give San Jose credit. They made a couple plays and we weren’t as alert as we needed to be. We were a little suspect in defending in the box today and it cost us the game. I thought besides that, our team played well.”

On the team’s offensive play:
“I think they did a good job. We had a lot of possession of the ball but our crossing was poor today. Our play in the box wasn’t good enough to create more chances.”

On the absent players:
“(Dema Kovalenko) should be back hopefully next week. But you can’t say ‘it would have been nice to have Landon Donovan today.’ You can’t use that as an excuse.”

LA GALAXY DEFENDER TODD DUNIVANT:

On loss:
“We let ourselves go down early and dug a hole; they didn’t have many chances but I felt as if we had the majority of the play. They made a couple big plays and we didn’t and that’s what it came down to.”

On missing players:
“Without those guys we did fine. We will be missing guys all year for different reasons and guys stepped up today. The frustrating part is we played so well and did not reward our efforts.

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER JOVAN KIROVSKI:

On goal:
“We were 2 nil down and trying to catch up. (Alan) Gordon came in and he is very good in the air. The ball was played to him and he hit it back across the goal. I took a gamble and fortunately it went in the back of the net.”

On second half:
“We did start well in second half and to concede a goal again was a hit to us, but we came back again and kept going. We put a lot of pressure on them but we have to give them credit, their defense played very well today.”


SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH FRANK YALLOP

On the game:
“Today’s main objective was to get three points, and getting that result was great for us. We had a good game, unfortunately the field was not at its best and some winds here and there, but the three points was all that mattered.”

On Campos’ performance:
“I thought Pablo (Campos) played very well against Los Angeles on April 18, he had a great goal as well. Today Pablo (Campos) came in with a stronger and renewed aggression and played very well. He did terrific on the play for the penalty kick and got a good goal off of the penalty as well.”

On previous games:
“Looking at the last four games we’ve won two, lost one and tied one, but we should have really won in Dallas. I feel we’re on the right path, we work very had in sticking our head in, making it difficult for our opponents when the ball is played into the box. (Ryan) Johnson stuck his right foot in to get that second goal. Our guys were very brave and I’m very proud of them on today’s performance.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD PABLO CAMPOS

On his goal:
“I got past the two defenders and at the last minute, both of them caught up to me and pulled me down which set up the penalty. It feels good to be back in the lineup and to contribute by scoring a goal.”

On the importance of scoring early:
“It is very good to score early and get the confidence for the team. We play much better and because we have very good players on this team, it helps to get an early lead and then we can protect it.”


SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD RYAN JOHNSON

On scoring the game-winner:
“It just comes down to being hungry. I was hungry out there and I want it bad. I have set goals for myself and this team and it is important to achieve them. Every team in this league has good players and anyone can beat you and that is why it was so big to put them away.”

On raising the team’s level:
“This is huge for the guys that haven’t been getting a ton of playing time out there to have this kind of success. Guys like Brandon (McDonald) and Mike (Zaher) have been playing extremely well and that creates a lot more competition in practice. No one is guaranteed to start every week, and that is what will help raise our level of play.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER MIKE ZAHER

On getting the win:
“I thought we came out with a very good mentality in the first half and it continued the rest of the game. We worked very hard in practice this week at getting ourselves strong in the back and being tight and compact. We were hungry out there, fighting for every single ball, people putting themselves in front of the ball, and it was really good for us to get the three points.”

On the game’s significance:
“This was absolutely a crucial game for us. If we are going to turn the season around at any point, this had to be it. If you look at the results in the last four games, we have been better. We now have seven points in our last four games, which is significantly better than we had been doing earlier in the season, so this is really big for us.”