Crew Coach Robert Warzycha
(there were a few times when it just looked like it wasn't the Crew's night...)
We played a very good game. I think we played one of our best games, I think, this season. But the ball for some reason didn't want to go to the net. Sometimes you have games like this. But overall, the performance was there, and I think the players left their heart on the field.
(did it factor in that this was the 6th game in 17 days?)
I think we were attacking for 90 minutes, and I didn't see anybody tired, to be honest with you. I saw Seattle defending. I don't think that anybody was tired. We pushed for the goal until the last minute, and I think that we had the ball probably for most of the time. I think that the players, that everything was going well, but obviously we didn't score the goal.
(on the streak ending, sometimes it seemed like it would take a game like this, with the bounces not going your way)
It's another game, you know? I think that this streak is something that we're going to be proud of, because its a lot of games, 22 games. But like you said, to lose the game at home like this, obviously you hit the post in the first half, you miss a penalty, and its a little bit iffy on their goal and so, they were lucky. They came here to get at least a point, and these three points are definitely going to help them.
(the goal that they scored was a bit flukey)
It was a flukey goal. I think that we had the momentum at that time, it was definitely against the run of play. But the guys kept playing after the goal, and we kept pushing for the goal, but as I said, it wasn't our night today.
(was Hesmer distracted by a player coming in, couldn't retrieve the ball...)
Who?
(the goalkeeper)
Oh, yeah. I didn't see the tape yet, but it seems like it was, like you said, a flukey goal.
(on getting face to face with the referee)
Yeah, it was face to face, we exchanged some words, and that was it.
(what kind of words were they?)
You don't want to know. I told him that he needs to get a grip of the game a little bit, and he told me we should respect each other, and that was it.
Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid
The game of soccer is a strange game. Last week we thought we were a little bit unlucky in New England. I think this week we had good fortune on our side. It's not often that Guillermo misses a PK. We had the post save us, they had the post save them. We had to dig down a little bit, it was a little bit of a scrappy affair for us, but the Crew is a good team. They're the best team in the league, and for us to be able to come in here and win 1-0, no matter how it was, is something we're very proud of.
(what went into your decision to start Roger tonight)
It was just Sanna was coming off the illness and really hadn't trained. We didn't think Sanna looked sharp in training, so we wanted to come with Roger because we knew tactically he'd be able to do what we wanted him to do.
(how surprised were you when Guillermo missed the goal?)
Obviously, our goalkeeper coach always looks at all of the PKs before we play a team, so we had looked at all of Guillermo's PKs, and Kasey had looked at them. We know that Guille likes to go down the middle when he can, so we just said "hold your ground, hold your ground", and forced him into making a decision. But again, he's not going to miss very often, so we'll take it.
(on the reception here)
The fans were great. Robert's done, I've said before, Robert's done a great job with the Crew. They're playing very well. The team, you know, you're looking at players now that have 60, 70, 80 games together. So there's a lot of what I call 'automized' things going on on the field. Guys know 'when I run here, he's going to play there, he's going to run there,' a lot of automatic things happen. That's something we're still trying to build in Seattle. But the reception of the fans was tremendous. Obviously once the game started, and especially at the end as we were hanging on we got heckled a little bit, but that's to be imagined. It was very receptive, it was very good, and I was happy to be welcomed that way.
(the importance of the win in terms of the playoffs)
Its extremely important for us because the three points puts us three points closer. We've got 41 right now, which was important for us to get there. It gets us also on the backs of LA, so there's still a chance we can finish second out West, which is something that we'd like to do. You know, I was joking with Robert when I saw him a couple nights before the game, and I said "we need the points more than you do, and besides if we don't get the points we might play you in the first round, and we don't want to play each other in the first round."
As I said, the Crew is the best team in the league, and they showed that in the second half the way they came at us. But I think that we're showing that we're growing, and we showed a good resiliency.
(the 24-game unbeaten streak, about half of them were games that you'd led, and you ended the streak)
Yeah, well, you know streaks are sometimes made to be broken. Its something we talked about before the game, about trying to accomplish that. When I was in LA, it seemed that every time we played in Chicago against the Fire they had some sort of streak going, so we always tried to 'put out the Fire', as they say and stop those streaks. Its ironic sometimes when you have streaks, and I've had them in college when I was a college coach, and it seems like sometimes the same team is on the bookends of the streak. It starts with one, and ends with the same. Obviously we're a new team, but...
This is a tough place to play. Its a tough place to play, the Nordecke has been great. Their support, the atmosphere, you know you're at a soccer venue, you know you're at a soccer game.
(do you think there's any chance 41 is enough?)
No, we still want more. I joked here last year that once we get the asterisk next to our name that says we're in the playoffs, then we'll be happy. Its the same thing.
(there was an inability to hold the lead last week, what changed?)
Guys dug down, a little bit of good fortune, but guys really worked hard, guys worked hard to cover and battle and do different things. When the Crew went into a 3-5-2, we went into a 3-5-2 to counter it. We knew that if they didn't score in the first 20 minutes that's what they would go into so we were prepared to do that. Guys just did their jobs when they had to, and won tackles and got to a lot of loose balls in the 18-yard box, and that helped salvage a victory for us.
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