Quote Sheet
Real Salt Lake 0 @ Nashville SC 2
Geodis Park, Nashville, Tennessee
May 8, 2022
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
Thoughts on difficulty getting forward
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game, and for much of the first half we took on a lot of pressure. We made some adjustments at halftime, and I felt the guys came out and approached the game the right way. I felt we grew into it a bit. Again we didn’t create enough in front of goal but great effort from the group, and this is a performance we need to build off of.”
Thoughts on possession in the midfield third
“Obviously, it was scrappy. I don’t think we did a good job holding the ball up front and bringing our midfielders into the game. I think our attack a lot this year has been down the flanks, and we really have to think about how we want to secure the ball centrally, suck teams in, and really find those wide areas higher up the field.”
On halftime adjustments
“It is as simple as this DJ [David James], when you are in tight games, in order to get control of the ball, you have to have a second action after you pass the ball. Too often in the first half we passed the ball and there was no second action, there was no depth, there were no angles being created. So therefore, it was a real stagnant attack. In the second half, I think, in particular down our right side, the guys did a good job of getting open early, receiving the ball, playing forward, and second actions to create fluidity and dynamic play in the attack.”
On who will be the chance creator when Damir Kreilach is injured
“I mean that’s what we’ve been looking for. We tried to figure it out this week with Sergio [Cordova] going out, We tried Bobby [Wood] and Rubio [Rubin] up top. But really I think it’s [Justin] Meram coming off the left side into central pockets and being a guy that we can find in the middle to help us create. It’s something that we’ve been focusing on and we’ll continue to focus on. But Damir [Kreilach] is a huge part of our group on both sides of the ball, not to mention leadership. Without Damir [Kreilach], the guys have been doing extremely well, just not enough to create quality chances on goal.”
Defender Aaron Herrera
Thoughts on impact of playing different formations from game to game
“Maybe a little bit. The more you play with someone, obviously the more you get used to playing with them. It’s definitely another factor, but at the end of the day we gotta figure out how to be more creative going forward and more comfortable playing out, so we’re not just kicking long and giving possession to a team like Nashville who’s really good in the air. They’re going to win all those long balls and then be able to collect those second balls and play out. I think it’s less about the other team and more about us figuring out how we want to play and focusing on just being confident, playing out, and being more fluid in the attack and creating more. Your best defense is offense, so the more offense we can create the better defensively we can be. We definitely need to figure out how to be more creative and more composed overal.”
What’s the first thing that will jump out to you after this loss
“We don’t take any loss lightly. This was a tough one, coming in here, Nashville is a great team. Being in it, I don’t know when they scored, 70th minute or something, and then giving up a goal like we did kind of sucks, but at the end of the day they were the better team. We got to figure out our identity. Our whole identity can’t just be heart, will, grinding it results, and having to get a shutout every game in order to win games. We got to figure out how to be more dangerous as a team going forward. We got to be more comfortable playing out, attacking, and all that stuff. We’ve got a lot to figure out this week. We’re back home which is great. Hopefully we can get it together this week and win on the weekend.”
Thoughts on finding spaces to move forward and how Savarino impacts that
“Jefferson [Savarino] coming will definitely help in that case because he’s a dangerous attacker, so teams have to pay a lot of attention to him which gives me more of an option to get around and be a free player. I find those spaces by quick movements off the ball and just being an option every time we have possession. It takes a teammate getting me the ball in the right spots. Making the right movements, being in the right spots, and giving myself a chance to be able to make plays.”
Defender Justen Glad
On Nashville’s play style
“They play well. I thought we had it, but set pieces are huge, and they snuck one in on a set piece. It’s just one game. We’ll bounce back next week and get back to it.”
On what he would like to fix
“Definitely more possession in their half. I think we need more runs forward, especially in this game, I felt we need to go long and get the positioning. It wasn’t sharp today. Today wasn’t our day, and hopefully we can clean it up, have the ball, and get more chances and bounce back.”
