NE POST GAME QUOTES:
New England Revolution HC Jay Heaps
You play man down for 39 minutes on the road…does this feel like a victory for you instead of a draw?...
“No I was proud of our guys. We came here with the mindset to create chances. I am a little disappointed in our final ball and I thought the first half was a different game than the second. I wanted to convert more chances. I liked the way we fought at the end. When you lose a man you have guys like Pirlo and Villa with a lot more of the ball and I was proud of the way we defended in that last 20-30 minutes.”
You had chances to win the game late a couple of times and have settled for draws…
“Nobody has settled for anything…”
After the red card how were you guys able to not be overly controlled throughout the rest of the half?...
“We look at NY and when they do control and we look at how Orlando got the goal last week and we decided we were still going to continue the pressure and make them higher up the field because if you drop the space and give guys like Pirlo and Villa more time they are going to find it and we needed to get them going backwards.”
Charlie coming off the bench?...
“He was a little rusty he was in the hospital room…he had twins as you all know. We wanted to get him first back and 9 out of 10 times he buries but it took him a long touch but he is coming along and healthy.”
How was the fan support?...
“Great fan support. We acknowledged them at the end. We were trying to win that game and you could see the fans every time we got close they were really excited.”
Challenges from three NYC players in the back? Were you prepared and how did you approach that?...
“I thought we were prepared for it and I thought they switched it after 30 minutes. Again, I think it’s a testament to their coach and he does a great job. At the end when they switched it up and went back to three in the back we were down a man but again it provides some different tactical adjustments. I thought we did well with it.”
Did you see signs of encouragement?...
“Yes, absolutely do. I think down the road three or four. Obviously if we go back and dissect each game, get our points at home against dc, its not about how the team is approaching the game its all about execution. It’s the final ball… the final piece of the puzzle. Someone has to connect the ball. We were close enough but didn’t deliver. We had two or three clear chances in the beginning.”
New England Revolution F Juan Agudelo
On today’s match…
“We did a good job pressuring the other team and scoring the goal to tie the game. We even had chances to win the game. Things got a little complicated after the red card; we had to change a few things but we did a great job keeping things tight and not allowing another goal. I think we worked harder than the other team and as a result we were able to tie the game. I felt good about my performance especially on balls in the air. I feel 100% and feel that we are improving with each game.”
On the team’s effort…
“I thought our team worked hard. We fought more than usual. The field that we played on is one that you need to fight on. Orlando fought hard last week and that is why they were able to win.”
On winning on the road…
“It’s ok that we have not won on the road. We get a few games at home coming up so hopefully we can get six points then.”
On playing the final ball
“When we train, we need to make it as game like as possible. It is on our player mentality to win balls in the final third of the field.”
New England Revolution M Chris Tierney
On today’s match…
“It was a crazy game, just like it always is here. It’s a small pitch and there’s not a lot of space. There’s tackles going in and unfortunately we put ourselves in a hole by going down a man. But I felt that after that we responded really well and although we would have liked to take three points, there are a lot of positives to take away from this performance.”
On the impact of going down a man…
“Well, first thing is first, we were not going to concede a goal. At a minimum we wanted to get out of this with a draw. We felt that today we deserved a point at least and for that we have to give credit to all of the guys playing in the back and Bobby [Shuttleworth] as well. We also managed to create some pretty clear opportunities but we just weren’t able to capitalize on them.”
On remaining winless through four matches…
“Well, of course you always want the full three points. We want to get that first win, just to get that pressure off. We have played three out of four on the road to open and that has been difficult for us but I feel that we have now had two decent road results in week one against Houston and then here, which is obviously a difficult place to play. We are not down on ourselves because we think that we have a quality of team that over the course of a season we will pick up enough points to be in a good position. We are keeping our heads high and we are going to keep working harden to sharpen up how we’ve been playing.”
New England Revolution F Charlie Davies
On what the team can take away from tonight’s match…
“I’m very proud of the guys because when I came into the game we were down a man but we certainly did not play as if we were. We still played attacking football, I even had a few good chances myself. I think that if we took the positives out of this game then we would be strong heading into Friday against the Red Bulls.”
On returning from injury…
“For me personally, today was great. I was a little bit exhausted, more so mentally then physically. It was great to be back on the pitch again, and I think that I should have finished a couple of chances today. With that being said I think I put myself in a great position to finish chances and as we continue to move forward a striker has to have a short term memory which I do so I’m looking forward to Friday”
