Aron Winter – Head Coach & Technical Director, Toronto FC
Why can’t this team score?
I think we are in a period of bad luck and you can see it. It’s amazing if you watch the whole game we gave away almost nothing, on the corner we weren’t sharp and they got a goal but we had so many opportunities as well. We had 2 or 3 chances from Danny (Kouvermans) and that shot from Ryan (Johnson) I don’t know where the guy came from and saved the shot on the line.
How is this affecting you (Aron Winter)?
I’m still positive. I’m seeing a lot of good things. It has never happened in my soccer career, in my coaching career that you play five games and get zero points. You have to be honest, we are playing well, we are creating chances and we are in a situation where things are just not going the way we want them to go, it’s bad luck, it’s the only thing I can explain.
What do you say to your players after the game? Do you say well done?
When you lose you can never say you played well but you still have to be positive. I saw a lot of good things and that’s important. If you don’t create chances and you don’t play well you are far away from things, but I think in this situation what could we better at those moments. I think we are having bad luck.
Ryan Johnson- Forward, Toronto FC
Comment on the lack of goals.
We could have had four five goals in the second half and credit to the keeper, he made a couple of good saves. This is probably the most unlucky I’ve been in my whole career. This is something that is mind boggling and I can’t believe what just happened today, it’s tough.
What can you tell us about your chances?
One shot, I beat the keeper and the guy ran back and he cleared it off his thigh, he didn’t even see the ball, that’s just unlucky. The one they cleared off the line which was a header and the other header was just a little wide. Kouvermans also had some goals that were even more clear cut than mine and the keeper made some unbelievable saves. I don’t the keeper even saw the ball on those saves. Credit to the keeper but its pretty unlucky for us.
Danny Koevermans- Forward, Toronto FC
Comment on the five losses, the most ever in franchise history.
The thing is we don’t play bad, we created our chances and we just didn’t score and had one against us. So we have to stay positive and think that it’s got to turn around. We should have at least six or seven points now. I know it’s the worst start in franchise history.
As you left the pitch the crowd boo’d you, how did you feel about that?
You know I’m use to that. If you lose they boo you, If you win they cheer. It’s part of soccer. Still, they kept supporting us until the 94th minute and of course they are mad also because we didn’t win again. Every time there is 18, 19, 20 thousand people and they deserve a win too and I think we deserve the win to but we couldn’t do it.
Robin Fraser- Head Coach, Chivas USA
Thoughts on today’s win
I thought in the first half we were able to, at moments, put together some good stretches and put ourselves in dangerous positions and we were fortunate to score the goal. Going with the wind, we were kind of hoping to have more of a lead going into the second half knowing what it was probably going to be like. But, in the second half I thought TFC really put us under a lot of pressure and really credit to our guys we bent but we didn’t break.
Did you try to employ a different strategy in the second half knowing that TFC would be going with the wind and come out aggressive looking for the tying goal?
No not really. At the end of the day strategy really isn’t all that different , you’re still trying to control the game, you’re still trying to have most of the ball and control the tempo. As I said, TFC did a good job of winning balls back and putting us under pressure.
What does a win like this on the road mean for your team?
I think it’s huge. It’s a continuation of a season that started in difficult conditions for us, we lost a couple of games we felt maybe we shouldn’t have lost, and credit to the group they’ve really grinded out the wins. To get some wins in places that are typically to win I think it’s good for our confidence.
Nick LaBrocca- Midfielder, Chivas USA
Thoughts on today’s game
We wanted to come out an be aggressive and kind of control the game. We obviously wanted to attack and make sure that we got that first goal. Other than that, we wanted to be better on the ball and I thought we did that.
Is there anything you guys did differently in the second half to defend an attacking TFC side?
Their quality was a little better and I think the wind definitely played a huge deal in it, not only for us in the first half but for them in the second half, it made getting out of the back much more difficult. They definitely played it right and made things very interesting and we had a couple big stops on the line.
Thoughts on coming back to play in Toronto
Yeah, it’s great to be back. This is a great organization and I enjoyed all of my time here. Everyone has been nothing but great to me when I was here and even after I’ve left.
Thoughts on the early struggles of the TFC
I think they are probably just a little unlucky. You can see that there is quality out there, they have some great combinations and you saw how they were in the Champions League. I thought they were by far the better team going into Mexico so that is very impressive.
Dan Kennedy- Goalkeeper, Chivas USA
Thoughts on today’s win
Ya, it was nice to get the win. You saw the windy conditions play an advantage to whichever team has it at their back and it was important for us to get that first half goal and we did. We came in at half time and we knew that we were going to go out and have a fight on our hands and we needed to be good winning the right positions against all those long balls and crosses. We weathered the storm in a way and now we have three points.
You made a lot of saves in the second half and were able to hold them off
One of the best aspects of their team is their attacking options and coming in here we knew that. We didn’t want to give up anything but throughout 90 minutes of a game you are going to give up some stuff. Fortunately the saves went my way tonight.
