NYCFC faced LAFC in the Bronx on St. Patricks Day, here are some soundbites from Dome Torrent and the squad after settling for a competitive 2-2 draw before the international break.
Domènec Torrent
On NYCFC giving up an equalizer after scoring each of their goals today…
“In the first half when we were able to score in the last five minutes [of the first half], we have to take control of the game and keep the ball. And we made a mistake. We lose the ball and Vela is an amazing player and he’s a top player for MLS and they scored… Even the top teams when they win, the first thing is to keep control and play with confidence. But if you are able to score it’s easier for us after that to play and we need to score more goals. In the first half, maybe, we can score three goals, we deserve three goals, [for LAFC], maybe one or two. But I repeat, I know it’s not good because when you draw the game at home, it’s not a good result for us. But if you ask me about the performance, I think we played well.”
On forward Alexandru Mitriță scoring his first goal...
“Mitriță is a top player for us. He’s a good player, that is the reason why the Club decided to sign this player. And we need to sign the right player… I’m sure [he will grow] the next two or three games because it’s not easy for him when right here, right now, he’s not 100% fit. But you know when he has the ball we are better.”
Alexandru Mitriță
On scoring his first goal for NYCFC...
“It feels good for my first goal at home, but the result is not so good for us, but we have time. We have so many games left so we have time to learn from mistakes.”
On the comfort level with teammates...
“Yes, after three games I’m better, but I need a bit more time to be 100%. But I have a lot of games left to get to 100%.”
On what the team is missing in order to win...
“Yes, we need games because we just started, it’s only been three games so have time to get better and with the international break we must come back stronger.”
Alex Ring
On improvements thus far this season…
“It’s the theme of the MLS since I’ve been here, it always takes three to four games to get into the rhythm. We have gotten better game by game but it’s disappointing to lead twice and give up points a home.”
On having more freedom in the midfield to score goals…
“It gives me freedom to play higher, I have done that before in my career. I play where the coach puts on me and I try to do my best, try to find spaces for myself. I try to work off Maxi wherever he is, if he drops down, I try to fill his position and other way around. I think it has gotten better and better, game by game.”
Thoughts on teammate Alexandru Mitriță...
“I told him, he’s a young kid, he’s going to need time to acclimate himself, but you can see his quality and I think it’s important (for a player like him) to score.”
Maxime Chanot
On how NYCFC has done so far this season...
“We have been attacking very hard since the beginning of the season. We got three draws, we are disappointed because we only earned three points, but when we look [at the season so far], we did score goals and we didn't concede too much expect that mistake we made today… I know it's disappointing for our fans because they expect us to win at home, but we didn't lose so it's the good part of the games we played.”
LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley
On if this match was similar to last time NYCFC and LAFC met...
"It is impossible to be similar, because of the factors with fields. So it makes for such a different kind of game. Overall, I think that we handled it pretty well, certainly not our best day of football, but you need a mentality to deal with different factors and I thought that was a plus."
On problems NYCFC caused for LAFC...
"They have some good ideas on how to play on this field. They used Moralez today as a false 9, they found him and had guys running off of him. They did a good job of overloading our right side with Mitriță, obviously playing out on that side. Some of it is still that the ball turns over quickly, in terms of trying to control the game where you connect enough passes, that was pretty hard. I thought we adjusted well at halftime and had a good push in the second half."
On Carlos Vela’s form...
"Carlos is such an important player, and what I really like is in certain situations now, he is on the move more. Last year there were times, especially in the second half of the year, he would come back he wouldn’t play simple enough and he would end up just wrestling with defenders and wasting energy far away from the goal. As a team I think we have improved the way we move the ball, our attacking ideas get better and then were able to get him the ball more on the move. He also makes better decisions when it is not the right time to try dribble, for me those are positives."
LAFC Defender Jordan Harvey
Thoughts on the match...
“It's just a difficult game. All conditions aside, they've got some good players that can get in tight spaces. And that's what they did. But we always knew that with our attackers with the chances that we're creating that we could get back in the game. So we're very confident in there."
Impact of the weather on the match...
"Guys have played in these conditions. It wasn't freezing. It was cold but it wasn't that big of a deal. It's MLS. There's conditions everywhere you go. We'll go somewhere down south in the summertime and that'll be difficult as well so you just deal with it."
On LAFC supporters at Yankee Stadium...
"It's amazing. I was surprised to see how many were up there. I'd like to know the numbers but we could hear them from the moment we stepped on the pitch until the end, so we really appreciate it."
LAFC Forward Carlos Vela
On coming back twice from a deficit today...
"Well I think it was not the best day in terms of the way we play or the way we control the game but always positive to get points on the road. Even more on this field and in cold weather so I think the team coming back twice from a not really good position meant we never give up and in the end one point each is fine."
On scoring twice today for LAFC...
"I am trying to be the leader of this team, and in situations like that on not good days and not good moments, I have to be there for my team. So I am working hard to improve every day and I am trying to show every game that I am at a high level."
On LAFC away support today at Yankee Stadium...
"I think they come on a long flight, always supporting the team so we say thank you. Thank you for being there and being a part of this club. I hope they enjoyed the game."
