Laurent Courtois
Q: You didn’t change your three-man defense until the end of the second half. What did you think of the performance of your three defenders?
LC: It’s just that I was disappointed with the collective management and with certain individuals as well, with the scenario, with the match. So we did some very nice things even in the first half, but after the last 20 or 25 I don’t know. It was pretty frustrating for me to see us caught in transitional situations like that, when there was no need for it. But to answer your question, I was happy with all three.
Q: Just to go into more negative terms by way of contrast, it’s better to have played ten against eleven than eleven against eleven, how do you explain the management of fast transitions, even if it didn’t result in a goal. But I don’t think you’re satisfied with the way the team handled the situation?
LC: No, I’m not. The truth is, it hurts. Tonight I’m really disappointed. The guys manage to put themselves in an advantageous situation. I was happy with the way we managed the first half, even if we didn’t manage to be dangerous enough. Maybe only in spurts. But I was very happy with the alternation as soon as we agreed to implement it. As I’ll say it again, what you just said is that Atlanta pushes more at ten. That’s understandable, it often happens in these scenarios, but for us to give Atlanta the opportunity to hurt us, that’s unacceptable. And in the collective management of moments and also in the ego, in the ego of some of us who forget that here we are at such and such a moment in the match, at such and such a moment in the season. So I was very disappointed in that respect.
Q: It took a little while, though. Before you took on your entire team, there was a moment when the momentum started to build. Did you feel this one was coming? Even if the mission wasn’t quite there in the first half, you don’t think there was much missing to get this one.
LC: Yeah, I thought we gave ourselves the means. I was a little worried when we felt a little too confident in our rotations and got caught in transition because we were a little too comfortable swapping two or switching positions. But I felt very comfortable in position defense. I felt pretty comfortable in crisis management. It was more the transition when we had the ball and, and then the last 20 minutes and then the set pieces you never know what can happen, even if you feel the guys are determined. But here we are, we’ve got the chance to put ourselves in the clear. The second and third we didn’t do it. But I repeat, in our management of the numerical advantage and the scoring advantage, we were very naive in the last half-hour and we could have paid for it. So that hurts.
Q: For a lot of the build up we saw Raheem Edwards inverted and we saw Ariel Lassiter go wide, what was the discussion and planning and having that integrated into the game plan and how do you think it went?
LC: The danger is to over do it in and then being predictable/being caught in transition, but I think this is a tool that the guy can have in there in their arsenal and as long as we keep providing the width because at times we all want to be inside and if you have no outlet or then it’s going to be predictable and a matter of time before it’s a transition so so both an interesting tool but sometimes we over do it but is something that the guys like to do and it can be can be useful.
Q: I’m sure up to the 52nd minute you would have liked your team’s play tonight because you were up 1-0 and controlling the play but what were some of those things that that you may have liked and that you’re disappointed on the whole tonight.
LC: Is this thing now you might think that it’s still a moment for you to force things and instead of setting up those advantages because of space or overload with numbers on one side or on the other now you want the force things just because you want to be the main character to score. You want to be the protagonist or the hero when we need to win, not you to score your goal. So not you to get the shot that you want or the pass that you want, but what does the team need at that moment and it was frustrating for me that we were more busy forcing something that was not there when we could have killed the game when it was obvious and then again giving the opposition opportunity that was not there in the first place. So that was poor management from us and they could they could have tied.
Q: Would you have preferred to see the same play as in the first half sort of continue and do you feel like you got a way from that?
LC Just to recognize it’s just a moment to avoid those and the second you try a one- two with five people around, well you are going to have to chase the ball, the second you cross the ball in the box for no reason, you’re going to have to chase again and the centre-backs have already been doing a lot in the first half to try to create so. So when we do have a collective composure to understand we just need to move the ball around a little bit left and right until setting up an obvious cross and shot opportunity instead of “I want to score my own goal”.
Q: We had two pistons today who were very offensive and played a very good match. I’d like to know your opinion of Raheem and Ruan, who combined to score the match-winning goal?
LC: Yes, they did some interesting things. We’re hoping that we can find a little more efficiency. In that last pass and in that presence in the box a little more often. I’m not surprised. I’m happy for them and they could have done it before. I hope they’ll do it again.
Q: Sunusi Ibrahim’s name was not on the selection sheet. Is there a specific reason why?
LC I expected more from him in training.
Q: On Ruan, you know, he scores the goal. He goes for the red card. What depends on his performance in general? Specifically on Ruan.
LC: I’ve repeated a bit and it’s interesting when you manage to find him forward to arrive with momentum and how he manages his timing and how he’s connected with the team to arrive at the right moments. There’s been some improvement lately and on top of that, if you manage to make your own choices for services when he manages to read those right moments, well that makes for interesting situations. We’ve been talking for a while about this piston-to-piston connection to score goals and be dangerous. And he did it again tonight. It’s good, it’s situations that we think he could have created a lot more often during the season, not only to finish, but also to serve.
Raheem Edwards
Q: Congratulations on the win. What were your thoughts on this game tonight and your personal performance?
RE: I think the first half, and I know coach and the team, we made an emphasis to start off the first half good, because usually at home, we’re a really good second half team. We wanted to stay consistent throughout the 90 minutes. I thought we did. For the most part. Up a man and it didn’t feel like it towards the last 20 minutes. Pretty disappointing. But these are games where you take the three points no matter what, obviously. So we take the three points, but obviously kind of a little disappointed in the in the last 20 minutes.
Q: Laurent talked a bit about it before, but you were inverted for a lot of the game today, especially in the buildup. How did you find it personally? And he was worried that at times you may have been a little stretched and vulnerable to the counter, did you feel like it was a little bit it got a little bit hairy at times?
RE No. I like to play inside the park. I like to play anywhere and just float around. But he was right in the part where sometimes when we lost the ball, I was kind of out of position. So, in the second half, we made it emphasis not to float around too much, obviously, but I think it worked to our benefit. Obviously, they expected us to come in the back five, so to keep them off guard a little bit helped us a bit. So yeah, I was just more constrained in the second half, and I thought second half went a little bit smoother for me.
Q: Your teammate Ruan has been scoring goals the last few weeks. You assisted him on the goal tonight, what can you say about his importance on the team?
RE: When we score goals like that, I just think of preseason when our coach wanted to make it an emphasis where wing back to wing back goals, which is possible. He wanted to do that. And obviously today we did that. But it’s important obviously when we cross the ball, we get numbers in the box. One is a guy that has great timing, whether that’s him crossing the ball or being in the box. I think he’s a lot better than me at being in the box and sniffing goals. And yeah, it’s good to score and to see him celebrate. I love his celebration. So yeah, it’s something that we emphasize. And it was good today.
Q: That’s the follow up maybe on JF. Can you lead me through the goal, what did you see from your perspective to cross that ball to Ruan?
RE: So, I think the ball came from maybe Nathan or someone like that. I reached for the ball, and I knew I had a little bit of time, obviously, because Ariel is to my left. So, I knew I timed to cross the ball and I saw Josef and I had seen Ruan at the back post. I wanted to put a good ball in the back space, both for Ruan or Josef and luckily enough Ruan read it and it was a great goal.
Q: Just elaborate a bit on the celebration. I didn’t get a full view.
RE: So, our team really likes to play Uno. Like 90% of the team plays Uno. So, Ruan brought it out and we just celebrated with Uno. So, it was a cool celebration.
Jonathan Sirois
Q: It’s an important win in terms of the standings. And yet, overall, everyone felt disappointed and frustrated with the way the match ended. Do you share that feeling? Is it still a bit exhilarating?
JS: Yeah, that’s right. I think we didn’t manage the end of the match very well, especially from the fourth. I think when you compare it to the DC United game when he took the red, we’re really under control, we were much more composed. I think we lacked a bit of control today. That calmness of finding the right moments to push for the second goal. Then when I stayed a little more in control but after that I think we got the job done. Every point is vital, so I’m a little more satisfied, especially from a defensive point of view too. I’m more satisfied than disappointed now.
Q: Now for the defensive rating, what do you think of the three-man backline in front of you, which remained the same right up to the end of the game?
JS: Yeah, they did a colossal job. We’re not going to lie, I don’t think I had any saves to make today. I had a few interventions to make, but in terms of saves, I don’t think I had anything. So that really shows the collective work of the three guys in front of me, but also, I include the six and then my wingbacks. I think that tonight, collectively, apart from a few singular moments in the game, we defended very well. I think we can be even better, especially in preventive coverage, but really from the point of view of duels won, aggressiveness and then the desire to keep the zero. Tonight, for me, it was exemplary.
Q: It’s a bit more global. Do you feel that lately the coach has been tightening the screws a little more or being a little stricter? You know, when he leaves players out when they don’t do their work in training, things like that, do you get the impression that he’s perhaps a little less strict than he was at the start of the season?
JS: I wouldn’t say more strict. I think we’re just at a stage in the season where everyone’s coming back from injury. So I think the coach needs to make more decisions. Then I think he’s also someone who wants to win at the end of the day, but who wants to win with his way of playing with his style of play, so I think he wants to make sure that the players he wants to rely on are going to be able to basically follow his game plan. I think he may have a little less patience too. I think that’s understandable. We’ve now played 22 or 23 games, so it’s not like we’re at the start of the season. So I understand that aspect of it. We’re also all aware that we’re on the verge of making the playoffs, we’re not too far off, so I think there’s more pressure too. It’s something he feels too, but I think we’re all in the same boat here.
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