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Quote Sheet: Real Salt Lake 1-1 Montreal Impact

July 10, 2016 - Major League Soccer (MLS) - Real Salt Lake News Release


Head Coach Jeff Cassar

On the team's slow first half:

"I haven't thought we started slow in the past two games. Tonight was very poor - without a doubt, disappointing. Good response in the second half - better movement, more urgency. I still think that we can create the chances that we want from more simple passing than relying on individual moves, because a lot of times that puts you in bad situations for counterattacks. We need to improve on the way we start; I do like the response that we had in the second half."

On how to get the team back on track:

"We need to look at the combination of players. We had to pull Jamison [Olave] out right before the game and that throws a monkey wrench in there. I thought Omar [Holness] worked extremely hard, but the chemistry just wasn't there, which is to be a little bit expected. I told the guys at halftime - in all honesty - I could sub 12 players. I could sub myself; I could sub every single one of them, but we made one change to get the chemistry back that we had, and I thought that happened in the second half - especially at the beginning. We started to play better, with more confidence moving the ball. But that start was rough. It was rough from everyone. We'll move on - we have to."

On the team letting their games in hand slip away: "Points are crucial whether you're at home or whether you're away. I can live with the last two that we didn't get the points because I thought the performance was there. Tonight the performance wasn't there. I had a feeling that we were going to get one in extra time or get one towards later in the game because that's kind of been going against us. I thought we created some chances - we had a few there at the end. I don't think we can get too caught up in the points; we really need to just concentrate on the performance and just getting better in some areas. We've shown that we can go get three points on the road already a few times this year and it's no doubt against Vancouver as well."

On Yura Movsisyan's work rate: "I think his work rate wills some people on. It's like, you better follow suit here because he's working and he's trying to make things from nothing. You look at the play from Demar [Phillips], that was another - just hard work. Sacrificing, believing, winning the ball, and then playing to Yura - that came from nothing. Sometimes you need those kind of goals. How'd they score their goal? Nothing. It was a free kick that was mishandled. Sometimes you've got to create your own luck by sheer will and by sheer work rate. Yura typically does that all game long - work hard and try to wear out defenders so somebody else maybe can get into it. He was impressive with his work rate tonight without a doubt."

On what he told the team at halftime:

"It was pretty simple. The halftime talk could have been 30 minutes of X's and O's. But in a quick synopsis, what I said was: "I'm not going to talk a lot about that half because it was awful. This is what we're going to do in the second half. We've got to play with more passion and more urgency and more commitment." The guys did that. There were coaching points to be made all over the place - it just needed to - everyone just needed to improve. I said I'd sub them all if I could. I'd sub myself because obviously I didn't have the guys ready for that game. Second half - much better. And that's not through me. That's through everyone on the field just playing with more urgency and more passion."

On Javier Morales' chance at the end:

"Not many [times he's seen Morales slice a volley from 15 yards]. We're putting each other in really good positions. We didn't have ton tonight, but we had enough to probably win the game. But games past we've put ourselves in those positions. It's tough. You've got to give a lot of credit to Montreal. It's a very well organized team. It was clear, we knew what they were going to do - they were going to pack it in and then they were going to counter with speed and be dangerous. They looked dangerous three or four or five times, but other than that they didn't look very dangerous like they were going to do anything against us. It's tough to break down two banks of four especially when it's not moving quickly, it's not moving with urgency, but second half was much better."

On subbing Juan Martinez:

"I just didn't think it was Juan's night, to be honest. I thought it started slow and typically Juan finds another gear, another lift. I tell him often that when he's able to pull off his plays, they're wonderful. But if they don't get pulled off, they put us in a very bad position. It just wasn't his night. It wasn't a lot of ours night. I said I could have made 11 substitutions, but I just thought that we needed change."

On if having an away game will be good to shake things up:

"This gives you something to concentrate [on] as an entire group. We also need to not just think defensively in Vancouver, we also need to think offensively. But maybe, maybe it does. I know we are going to put out a very strong team against them and I'm excited to see this team play."

Defender Aaron Maund

Thoughts on getting a draw:

"We know we didn't start great, but I really do like the response we got in the second half. To be honest with you it's not enough and we expect more from ourselves. At home we expect 3 points, so we're walking away thinking that we left a little bit on the table."

Thoughts on putting pressure on them during the second half:

"We definitely sat back in the second half, but I think that a lot of that came from us making them sit back. We had outside backs higher and it forces them to come back a little bit, and it forces us to pull by the horns and take it to them."

Thoughts on the conversation with Justin as he came on as a last minute partnership:

"I was like, let's do this you know, and I was interested to see how he would respond and I think he did great coming in on such short notice."

Thoughts on moving forward:

"Summer months in the MLS is what it's all about, so obviously the next one we got to get ready for Wednesday."

Midfielder Luke Mulholland

Thoughts on a slow first half:

"I was watching from the bench and saw that it was just so flat and I was splashing water on my face trying my best to wake up, because I there were times where I was like disinterested in them. I don't know, that's been how it is for a few weeks, even the games we win at home. I think for the first five games or whatever, you guys saw them, it was games where we only just won by one goal and game two you start to look into the second half, so I believe it's something that we need to address. Like I said, it's summer time right now whether that's a factor, obviously it's very hot, but at the same time you got two teams out there and the team that we're against isn't used to this, so it should be to our advantage. We would like to take them to our advantage. It might be the fight that the other teams are starting to tie in the second half and that's when we punish teams for it. I think on my first year with this team we used to kill teams in the first half and it would be nice to get back into that routine, because in the second half we can just work on the game doing the basic stuff and working on getting clean sheets. We can't dwell on this too much. I think we will take this as a positive with a better feeling than the last game where we conceded in the last minute. I think you got to look at it as a good reaction in the second half and now we come back to Vancouver again on Wednesday and obviously 3 games in a week is tough, so you might see some changes. Obviously we were hoping for a win in this game, so we might play our ideal 11 on Wednesday, because we've been banking on getting 3 points and we have been dropping points at home, so we need to pick up some points on the road which is tough in this league."

Thoughts on a tough past schedule that is only getting tougher:

"We put ourselves in a great situation with those games at home and we haven't capitalized on those games at home and now you got one eye looking at the standard of the other teams like catching up on points and you wonder where those games went. Obviously we just started the second half of the season, so hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and recognize what we're doing wrong. There are times this team is, you got one split in two at times and I don't know if that's just tired times, because the other team got a lot in defensively, because at times we get caught in a track race where we're going back defending them trying to get it to our wide forwards, and then they're going 100 miles at them and the ball turns over at some point and the ball comes back at us. I think there's times where we got to pick and choose where to go and try not to be as predictable as well. That's a tough thing to do. I would like to see us mix it up a little bit and try to be more unpredictable when other teams are scouting us."

Thoughts on what provides a spark on the field:

"Just a mentality of wanting to get 3 points every game.I think obviously there's more of an expectation at home to get 3 points. Still haven't lost at home this season and you can take that as a positive, but on the flip side of things we've only picked up 3 points of a possible 9, so sometimes it's better to win a couple game and lose a game than to tie 3, so I think we just need to raise our level a little bit. You play for the badge on the shirt and the name on the back of the shirt, so that's what I play for irrelevant to whether the crowd is into it or not. I think the rest of my teammates are into it, which they always are. I always feel that these guys give as much as they can and they're very passionate about their football. They just want to be the hardest working player out there and lead by example."

Defender Justen Glad:

Thoughts on getting another draw:

"Disappointment I think. Obviously first half we didn't play very well, but the second half I think we created a lot more and we definitely could have come out with a win especially the those last couple of minutes there. I feel like we were really putting them under and we got to start getting all the points at home. We want to stay at the top of the table."

Thoughts on Montreal's goal:

"The ball was definitely moving a lot. Coming in that's a tough ball for the keeper. Their players got to it first unfortunately. As a defense we got to stay tuned in the back for that rebound next time, but it was a tough ball to handle for sure."

Thoughts on his unexpected start in the game:

"Just be on high alert. Obviously being thrown in the adrenaline is pumping. I felt better. Actually just cause I had so much energy going through my system, because I had to get ready quick. I tried to just connect my first couple of passes and get into the groove just like I would in a normal game, but especially because maybe the mental preparation is a little different from being a sub and being a starter, so I just tried to connect my first few and then move on from there."

Thoughts on what was done differently in order to limit Montreal's shots in the second half:

"We were just technically cleaner. In the first half we lost possession off of stuff that was simple, a missed touch, the stuff that you normally don't see, so the second half we needed the goal, so we were pushing higher and harder, and we were cleaner technically and at that point we could push forward and put them under a little bit."

Montreal Impact

Head Coach Mauro Biello

On Harry Shipp's year:

"Yeah, I'm happy that Harry was able to get his first goal.I think he had a good start to the season and when he got in, he felt a little bit of a soft period.But now its two games and he is starting to pick it up again.He is someone that works hard and someone who is always focused, listens, and is able to execute.And hopefully this goal has given him some confidence going forward."

Goalkeeper Evan Bush

On tonight's draw:

"I think we are content with the point.Obviously, having a lead you don't want to give that up but if you look at it at all fairness in the second half they were the better team for sure, and they deserved a goal. But, it serves a lesson for us to score that second goal in the first half when we made some changes.And we didn't put the game away at the end of the day, when they got that goal we bunkered down.We were able to get a point out of it and it's a good start to the road trip."

On holding the lead for nearly 80 minutes:

"Yes for sure, you know we talked about guys coming back healthy Ciman back from international duty.I thought Callin was outstanding in his role tonight, really locking down the back of the midfield.Donny came in, so it was good to see him in there.Lolo obviously, everything is starting to come together defensively.I think you will see more performances like that defensively.Hopefully, we can tie it all together, and keep the ball a little bit more next time.But I was happy with the defensive side of the ball."

On Victor Cabrera's play:

"Yes, for sure, I mentioned Lolo but Victor, he has been around so I didn't really mention his name but he was great tonight.The battle with Movsisyan was one that we knew was going to be a tough one for both Lolo and Victor and they both dealt with it really well.There was one unlucky moment, when you know it kind of bounced and it kind of popped out and there was a penalty.Other than that, I thought everyone was great.They dealt with crosses very well. Dealt with combinations on the top of the box really well and did what it took to carry on."

Forward Harry Shipp On his first goal with the Impact:

"It took long enough. I've been trying to stay patient and let things come to me and it was nice to get a goal. I thought we played well enough during the first half to get two or three goals and that would've been nice. In the second half they had the ball a little bit more and they were a bit more dangerous. We worked hard. It was hot it was the altitude, it took a lot of hard work from everyone else today so I think everyone should be proud of how we played."

On giving up a late goal:

"That's the frustrating part. If you take a step back, a point on the road against a good team is nice but winning for most of the game and you give up a late goal it's definitely frustrating. We could've been up two or three zero I thought. We countered well and let them play into some traps we set in the midfield but if we take a step back and look at it, it was a point taken on the road and we've got another game on Wednesday to prove ourselves in this league."

On if he should've passed to Oduro for a goal in the second half or shot:

"I told Dominic [Oduro] that my first instinct is pass. I think I could've taken a shot but if I roll it across it's a tap in for him at the back post. The more we play with each other the more we'll learn that. For me I'm a pass first guy and get guys involved so no I would do the same thing again."

On his comfort level playing as a number 10:

"I'm starting to get a little more comfortable in training and in games. I think for me in the second half we would've liked to keep the ball more. I think if we go back and start to establish a rythym and get in their half a play a bit more, that would've helped us going forward. But we can take the positives from the first half and how we played through the midfield and broke lines of pressure and bring that into the game on Wednesday."

Forward Dominic Oduro

On the team's first half attacking prowess in the first half fading in the second:

"I think we just sort of, I don't want to say lost focus, but the final pass and the final ball wasn't right. We could've been up two or three to zero and killed the game, but we played against a very good team. There was a lot of pressure on us during the second half especially. Away from home a point is good, but we need to make it count when we have the chance to bury teams and tonight we didn't do that. Again we are a very good team."

On Harry Shipp's first goal

"He did great. He played well on the field today. Man of the match I thought so. I think it's good for him to get his confidence going and for everybody else on the team."

On how the team feels after earning a point:

"Let me put it this way, we played against a very good team, we respect them. I think it's a point taken."


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