Philadelphia Union Head Coach Jim Curtin
On his overall thoughts on game:
“It looked like a first game back off of a break for both teams, for I think for a variety of reasons. You’re astro-turf, first and foremost, which is always difficult. The balls were bouncing all over the place. I think you had a lot of stops and starts at the beginning of the game. The ref called a very tight game. It’s a referee we obviously -- we scout every referee, if you can believe that. He leads the league in fouls called and he showed that tonight for sure. So there wasn't a lot of flow to the game. Overall, I have to give credit actually to our sports performance department for the fitness that they did over the past two weeks. You can’t really replicate game fitness, but I think that our guys showed in the second half that we were the more fit team. We were able to push things and eventually got our goal. I think a draw is probably a fair result, maybe we could have stolen it at the end, but overall, not the prettiest of games but points on the road matter. I think it will be a big one by the end of the year.”
On the importance of bench players:
“Having quality on your bench is critical in this league. You need guys that can come in and change the game. Both subs made a big impact for us. I think we’ve become almost too much of a second-half team. Maybe a lot of that is because Ilsinho is such a big part of what we do. We can wear teams down a little bit in the first half and let him run wild in the second. It’s kind of in our DNA right now, which is a good thing. I think Fafa [Picault] also changed the game as well. It’s disappointing that we conceded in the first half off of a restart. You know we talked a lot about doing our jobs. Sergio [Santos] made the mistake; he at least put his hand up and knew he made a mistake. I’m proud of the guys for picking him up, but again a little bit inexcusable on the corner kick to concede. But overall, the subs that we have are a big impact to the game. We’re lucky to have them.”
On his message at halftime:
“With the turf, it’s tough to pass and connect balls. Credit to them, they were organized defensively and broke up a lot of the passing lanes. So we decided to be a little more direct, play balls and fight for second balls. Sergio [Santos] did a good job of stretching them. I thought we played more balls in behind and made their back four turn and face their own goal for the first time in the second half. We raised our level. We were happy with the performance there at the end. Again, it’s a good point off the break. We have two more tough road games before we get back into our building. We need to find a way to get points in those as well.”
On if he can already see Bruce Arena’s impact on the Revolution:
“For sure. Look, under Bruce [Arena] now when you watch their last four games that he’s been there, he’s changed the mentality of the team. They’re very brave going forward and they also defend really well as a team. They’re compact and tough to break down. He’s a winner. He wins everywhere he goes. This is just the beginning for them. I know he’s going to get them back on top in the Eastern Conference, we just hope it’s not this year. At the same time, he’s the best at what he does. You can definitely see, he’s just getting started with the changes that they had. I thought they were really organized tonight and tough to break down. Like I said, it wasn’t the most pretty game, but I think a point is fair for both teams.”
Philadelphia Union Forward Fafa Picault
On his vision on the run that led to an assist:
“I just saw a hole and I know I can get there before them if I pushed the ball in the right spot. It’s a bit difficult to calculate with this pitch, but luckily I touched it where I wanted it to go and took another touch, went by, and was able to find Kacper [Przybylko].”
On his pace off the bench:
“I’m used to the 90 minutes, after the last few years. I hate the bench, honestly, but my job is to come on when I have minutes and show what I’m capable of doing, like all the defenders around the league know it; it’s not a secret. Keep giving them problems and I think that’s what happens when I do that.”
On if there’s pressure with new player additions:
“No, I think it’s always the same. We play football to produce. Whether that’s as a striker or winger, my job is to give defenders problems and make them fear me. I’m not in competition with my teammates. I think I’ve proven what I’ve done the last two-and-a-half years and at this point it’s just continuing to do that and whatever happens, it’s not my decision.”
On pulling out tough results on the road:
“We’re definitely a tough group. Like you said, it wasn’t an easy match and wasn’t maybe our best match. Look at the pitch and a lot of the things involved; it’s really difficult. We came back and pulled through, and were able to grab a point in a difficult setting. Now, we head to New York and get ready for that, we rest up, and get ready for another two away games and then one at home.”
On the confidence from a draw going into the next match:
"Yeah definitely, we didn’t get the zero points. We didn’t leave here with zero points and that’s always a positive to take. Now, we just look forward to get back to the drawing board and prepare for New York and look to get three points over there.”
Philadelphia Union Goalkeeper Matt Freese
On receiving the start in net and making big saves:
“Obviously, it meant a lot to be able to be out there again. The confidence that they’ve shown me is the biggest thing that ends up driving me and driving my work because I know that they do believe in me. Kind of the whole philosophy of the club, like growing your own players and everything, is not just going to take fruition without a few mistakes and learning bumps and stuff like that; is part of the game. Each mistake, as small as it is or as big as it is, I’m just trying to learn after each game and move on and be ready for the next time.”
On making second-half saves:
“I was definitely very happy to make some saves. By no means was it some incredible save; I thought it was pretty routine saves. Kacper [Przybylko] came up really big with a goal line save as well. Jack [Elliot] had a few really good clearances. Ray [Gaddis] obviously had a bunch of things on his side, so in general, I think it was just a really good team effort to keep it one-nil, and after that, obviously getting the equalizer is huge.”
On relying on the defense going into Saturday:
“Possibly, but hopefully it’s not something we’ll have to bank off of. Hopefully, we keep that shutout and just let the offense do their job without feeling the pressure of having to come from behind. It’s happened a few times in the past month.”
