(Ralston) is 100 percent fit but he's had one week's training since November. He'll be on the bench. He's not going to start the game -- he's not ready for that, but we may ease him back in. If the opportunity arises and we can get him some time then we will. |
(The national team players) are exactly where we thought they would be. They've had good training time behind them, and have given everyone else a boost. |
Andy's got great soccer ability, which is why he's been in the league so long. It's not that he doesn't work hard, but we have to get guys who will kick and spit and punch to get results. |
As far as passion and guys and courage are concerned, this lot's got it in abundance. And that's what won us the game. They are always looking to win and that commitment and togetherness pulled us through again. |
At this stage of the season we are not physically strong enough to play with three at the back. With three guys it's pretty demanding. |
By the second half the ball wasn't getting held up and we definitely benefited from that. |
Defensively we just had a day where we were no good. We've defended well all season. These things happen at certain stages. |
Everybody's dejected, we're sick, we've lost. When the dust settles, we can look back on some success, but it seems pretty insignificant because we lost today. |
For the players it's fantastic that they're doing well. Hopefully, for them, they go to the World Cup. I played in one (in Mexico in 1986) and it's a great experience. For us, it's the same plan, just with different people. The personnel changes and we'll just tweak it to make it suit and to make it work. |
Frankly, it was tough to tell which team was in their pre-season and which one wasn't. |
He did two outstanding things. We wanted Steve (Ralston) on the left. We wanted to get Rally the ball, and we thought Riley was the best to go on the right. |
He has a track record as a full international and comes from one of the top college programs in the country. |
He just turns up every game and wants to score goals. |
He was in and out at Los Angeles which is going to affect your confidence with the team. He's realizing what he's capable of. |
He wasn't a problem for us at all. Every time you're training, he's there 100 percent. His attitude was spot on. He never got under our skin. |