Real Salt Lake 1 vs. Atlanta United 2
July 13, 2022; Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Real Salt Lake (8-6-6, 30 points); Atlanta United (6-8-5, 23 points)
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
On what went wrong early in the game:
“There were a couple of defensive lapses. The first goal started from a poor giveaway and possession, it caught us on the counter, and the second one as well. We were loose with the ball to start the game and we never quite recovered, but the guys fought hard. In the second half, the guys played extremely well to get back in the game and really dictated the game from that point, but we just weren’t lucky enough to find that second goal.”
On RSL’s static play:
“It’s difficult. We have a few guys back at home and it’s a good opportunity to really show, and to start so shaky is tough, but I get it. You’re away from home, you’re playing on turf, there’s a lot of reasons why that could be, but the mental fortitude has to be so set that it doesn’t matter where we play, what surface we play on, who our opponent is, we come out right to start the first half and tonight, it just didn’t happen.”
On how the team is going to bounce back:
“The key point is to go out like we did in the second half. We talk about believing, that’s a huge thing. You have that framework in your mind, and you believe you’re going to do the little things right, and it always works out well. For us, it’s really building off moments in the second half, going home in front of our home crowd, and putting forth a performance that’s worthy of three points.”
Forward Justin Meram
On the frustration of the missed opportunity:
“Once it got to my right foot, I don’t know if I was inside the box or right on top of the box, but that’s one of my favorite spots and I hit it. I thought it hit the side netting at a minimum, if the goalkeeper gets there or not, we will never know. It’s just unfortunate. Rubio [Rubin] was trying to get out of the way. It was just unlucky.”
On the frustration of starting similarly to the Minnesota match:
“Absolutely. The lack of passes, getting punished with goals. Whenever you’re on the road in this league, the first 10-15 minutes are crucial to really settle down and weather those first few minutes. It’s unfortunate, but I like the response of the guys and we were able to get back in it and almost tie it a few times. Not the best start, but we responded and picked our heads up and didn’t feel sorry for ourselves. Then we kept going and kept pushing to get the second goal.”
On the team’s consistency:
“We’ve had a little dip in confidence. We need to get sharper on the ball and move for each other. Just throughout this game, seeming just a little anxious on the ball, and when you’re stagnant, it’s easy to get pressed. I feel like early on we were just kicking a ball instead of moving forward out there. We’ll just keep working. It’s a long year. We can’t put our heads down now. We haven’t won in four, but we’ve got a home game against Kansas City, and it should be a great matchup to end this little dip and get back to our winning ways. All we can do is focus on our next game. That’s it. We have to stay positive and we have to stay confident.”
Defender Aaron Herrera
On tonight’s performance from a team perspective:
“We gifted them a couple goals early, bad turnovers, bad defending after the turnover. It’s tough to come from behind like that, sort of a dagger, not only going down 1-0, but going down 2-0 that early. Like I said, the goals were gifted to Atlanta. We have to be a lot better than those little moments. There’s not enough creativity in the attack and just too much crossing and hoping, really. We have to be more creative and be able to create more down the middle. We need to get guys around the other guys and create chances, just switch it up and not be so predictable.”
On the absence of Justen Glad:
“[Justen] Glad does everything well, so it’s tough to pick out one thing, but he’s a top center back in the league, so obviously when he’s out, it’s going to hurt. He’s sort of like our Miles Robinson for Atlanta. He’s got all the athletic ability that he needs so that if he does make a mistake, he can make up for it with pace, and if someone else makes a mistake, he can make up for it with his athleticism as well. Any time you’re missing a player who’s a top player at their position in the league, it’s going to hurt. Games like tonight show how much we’re missing him right now.”
On the pressures of replicating last years stats:
“I don’t think there’s more pressure. There have been a lot of games where I haven’t been performing up to my standards for myself this year as well. I see it, everyone else sees it, I’m my biggest critic. What everyone else says doesn’t matter to me. I’m always going to judge myself before I judge anyone else on the team. I know there’s been a lot of games this year where I haven’t been at my best, but as far as the assists and stuff go, that’s a tough one. Last year we had a lot of forwards who were in form. Especially Damir [Kreilach], his heading ability and finishing ability paired extremely well with my crossing ability. Having him out has definitely hurt those stats this year, but at the end of the day, I really don’t care about stats. I want to do whatever it takes to help the team win and right now the biggest thing for me is being solid defensively. We need to figure out a way to start getting shutouts. We’ve been getting one or two goals every game it seems like, so if we can get a shutout we’re going to have a pretty good chance at winning.
