Orlando City SC Head Coach Oscar Pareja
Opening Statement
“It was a game that gave us parts of it where we played the way we wanted. I seriously see in the first half and 20 minutes, the intension that we brought here to play against Montréal where we sequenced well and created chances. In the second half, it was the same until the red card came. I have to see the reactions. It was very frustrating for us. I saw the team fighting a lot and obviously we are concerned about not scoring goals, but the other side is a good balance defensively. We want to keep that but in order to add three points, we have to score goals. We have to get back to that. I like the attitude of the team. I thought we fought hard. I liked the youngsters that came and helped us and also the guys that were occupied in the midfield position helped us a lot. Saw a bunch of positive things. I know it seems like one point is not enough at this stage, but we know where we are going, and we will keep pushing.”
On getting another red card late in the match
“It is very frustrating, because that is not what you plan during the week to play with 10 [players] at some point especially when you are going away. It gives an advantage that is not necessary. After reviewing some of those yellow cards, I have to say that they are very unnecessary. That is what it is, and we have to deal with that and play better. The players are aware of that, and we have to be more disciplined surely. Those first yellow cards, I have to say that I don’t think they were [deserved]. The referee frustrated us today, but there is nothing we can do, and we keep moving.”
On the younger players coming on and making an impact
“The participation of our youngsters and our guys that are coming from the academy have been more frequent and today, in those moments that were so tense, they needed a lot of responsibility and Thomas [Williams] and [Zakaria] Taifi came up in the game and responded very well. I am so happy that they can have these experiences, so it is another positive thing from the night.”
Orlando City SC Midfielder/Defender Dagur Dan Thórhallsson
Opening Statement
“I am a little frustrated if I am completely honest. It is always good to have a clean sheet, but we were scoring a lot and conceding a lot at the same time, but now we are keeping the goal clean and also not scoring a lot. We need to find a balance. Great point on the road since we got a red card in the 76th minute.”
On playing a second consecutive match with 10 players
“I think it really comes down to concentration. We need to be aware. Of course, you are going to have bad luck, but we have to find what the issue is and fix it because we cannot be doing these draws all the time. Of course, 0-0 is fine on the road but we need to start winning games.”
On the play of Montréal
“They were high pressing, so they did man versus man basically. For me, they left a lot of space up top so as soon as I chipped the ball up to the strikers or to the tens, I felt like if we could keep the ball more up there since they are pressing us high then we could move the team up and we could start to pin them down in their own half. We just need to find the balance when teams are pressing us high. They are going to come because we have very good players, and they want to press us. I think we know what the problem is, we just need to fine tune some things and if we can keep the goal clean and start to score the same goals we scored then we are a team that should win this league."
