“The problem in our league isn’t who is or isn’t in the playoffs; it’s that not enough people want to watch our league yet, and we have to convince them that our league is worth watching. I don’t think [playing conservatively] is the way to do it.”
— Among the comments by D.C. United president Kevin Payne that got him fined $5,000 by MLS Commissioner Don Garber. (Washington Post)
“If I’m offered the job I’ll say I wanted it, if someone else gets it I’ll say I never wanted it anyway.”
— Les Parry, the interim head coach of English League One club Tranmere Rover. (BBC)
“He was excellent. No one’s more euphoric than Mr. Guzan. His was a fabulous, fantastic performance. He’s got everything and he’s as brave as they come. [Brad] Friedel has been terrific for us but Guzan was immense tonight. I can’t remember the last time a keeper saved four penalties but, by the end, I was almost expecting him to save them.”
— Aston Villa coach Martin O’Neill on 25-year-old American goalkeeper Brad Guzan after an English League Cup win over Sunderland. (The Guardian)
“We have to determine whether we believe, for the immediate long term, if Tommy is the guy to lead the team. … Tommy’s year was like everybody else’s year: Some good things and some things that weren’t as good. He is still a fairly young coach, and he did some things very well and made some mistakes.”
— D.C. United president Kevin Payne, who said that the club will decide within a month whether to retain head coach Tom Soehn, who has failed to guide the club to the MLS playoffs the past two seasons. (Washington Post)
“To come here and lose 5-0 when we know everything was on the line, our whole season, it’s very disappointing. It’s hard to swallow.”
— Toronto FC general manager Mo Johnston after a rout to the New York Red Bulls, MLS’s worst team of 2009, ended the Toronto’s hopes of reaching the playoffs for the first time in its three-year history. (Toronto Star)
“I would have wished the situation would not have happened. We had 2,500 fans with us and we were told we could not go over (to thank them). The police actually told us they would report us to UEFA and I feel that is showing disrespect. A fine feeling and fine touch was missing there.”
— Bruno Labbadia, the coach of Hamburg SV, whose players staged a sit-down protest on Glasgow Celtic’s field after security forces blocked them from celebrating near their fans after a 1-0 Europa League win. Several of HSV’s players sat down near the corner flag before eventually leaving for the tunnel after approached by police. (Reuters)
“You’re going to witness something that will make history.”
— Elias Rodriguez, the general manager of Televisa, which will broadcast Sunday’s Club America-Guadalajara in 3D in Mexican theaters. (Reuters)
“Our mission is to explore all sorts of what we call ‘blue chip events’ in Fenway Park. It started back in 2003 with the Bruce Springsteen concert. We’re having outdoor hockey games with the NHL and Hockey East. The concept of an English Premier League game at Fenway is very, very exciting, and fits in line with our standard of events. I don’t know that they would be interested in doing it. We need to do some more homework and see if it would work.”
— Sam Kennedy, the president of Fenway Sports Group and the Boston Red Sox chief operating officer, after Fenway Sports Group, owned by the Red Sox’s parent company, signed a representation deal with English Premier League club Fulham. He hoped Fulham could play at Fenway in 2012, as part of the Boston stadium’s 100-year anniversary. (Boston Globe)
“We need the French to rush and get tickets so the Irish do not buy them all. That would be a first victory. [They] are very good at it, they react quickly.”
— France national team coach Raymond Domenech, who is fearful that Irish fans will pack the Stade de France Nov. 18 in the second leg of their playoff for the berth in the 2010 World Cup.
“We absolutely wanted to win for our player who remains in the United States and has suffered so much, and we did it. It was his victory tonight.”
— Coach Francis Gillot after Sochaux won, 2-0, at first-place Lyon, in the club’s first game since American star Charlie Davies was seriously injured in a car accident Tuesday in Northern Virginia. The win was Sochaux’s first at Lyon in 18 years. (American actor Clint Eastwood, in Lyons to receive a film award, kicked out the first ball.) (L’Equipe.fr)
“Why haven’t they got cameras? The officials can speak to each other easily enough now. Why aren’t we using laptops that are linked up and can give a decision in five seconds? A chimpanzee could do it – with not much training. We might as well go back to being cavemen, grab our girl by the hair, drag her into the cave whether she wants to come in or not because we may as well live in that age. We’ve come forward, haven’t we?”
— Ian Holloway, coach of English second division club Blackpool, makes his case for aiding referees with video technology. (BBC)
“I don’t usually go up for corner kicks, usually I stay in the back, but for that one, I was like, I’m getting in there.”
— U.S. defender Jonathan Bornstein on heading home the stoppage-time equalizer in the USA’s 2-2 tie with Costa Rica.
“We are relying on each other in a moment that has for sure hit us all hard.”
— U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley on the reaction of his team to the news that young star Charlie Davies was seriously injured in a car accident early Tuesday morning.
“We must remember that we have different material to work with – Italy has silk, whereas I only have cotton.”
— Ireland’s Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni after Ireland’s 2-2 tie with the defending world champ earned Italy a spot at the 2010 World Cup and moved the Irish into a playoff for a ticket to the finals. (Irish Times)
“[If the game ended at] 93 minutes, I’d be a hero, 93 and a half you’re the worst coach, worst players in the world. That’s what it comes down to, and that’s the fine line between winning and losing, and we’re on the wrong side of that line too many times.”
— Toronto coach Chris Cummins after his team’s playoff hopes took a blow with a 1-1 home tie against already-eliminated San Jose, whose Cornell Glen scored some three minutes into stoppage time. (The Globe & Mail)
“I was a little surprised, but definitely excited to get the start.”
— Striker Conor Casey, who played 14 games for the USA without scoring, on getting the call and scoring twice in the USA’s 3-2 win over Honduras that qualified the Americans for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“We know he has to be playing in Europe leading up to the World Cup. That has been made clear to us, and we are going to support that. He will be somewhere come January and we will see him back in July.”
— Tim Leiweke, the chief executive of Los Angeles Galaxy owner AEG, reveals that once again David Beckham won’t play an entire MLS season. (AFP)
“We have to go in with the mentality that we’re going in there for the win and match their intensity from the kickoff. They come out extremely aggressive and they’re an extremely physical team. If we don’t match their intensity, they have the potential to run us out of the country. It’s going to be extremely mental for us to start the game off right — and start the game off aggressively.”
— U.S. striker Brian Ching on Saturday’s World Cup qualifier in Honduras.
“Thank heavens Argentina don’t watch him — he’d walk into their team. Whenever they ask for a video of him, I’ll just send them ones of him making gaffes from about 10 years ago. They won’t know the difference!”
— Crystal Palace coach Neil Warnock prefers his goalkeeper Julian Speroni doesn’t make trips home to join his national team. (BBC)
“She was considering her future, shall we say. But we saved the girl. Sweet talk, you can say. In the end she tootled off back to wherever she had come from. I think she saw us and realized, ‘OK, at least it’s not that bad.'”
— Phil Brown, coach of the English Premier League’s 18th place team, Hull, after dissuading an apparently suicidal woman from jumping off the Humber Bridge. Brown had taken his team on a walk “looking for clarity” after a 6-1 loss to Liverpool. (Irish Times)
“He was not fit enough for a game of that standard. The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. It is an indictment of our game. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher’s dogs.
— Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson assesses the performance of referee Alan Wiley‘s during Man U’s 2-2 tie at home with Sunderland. (Reuters)
“There are 46 games in the season and we’ve played just eight of them so far. There are still 30 left so we are not worried.”
— Tranmere defender Shaleum Logan, no math whiz, is still confident his team won’t be relegated to the English fourth division. (BBC)
“I think everybody in the soccer world knows the jealousy issues that Eric carries. I don’t think two seconds about what Eric has to say.”
— Landon Donovan, responding to Eric Wynalda‘s comments on the TV show “Fox Football Fone-In” that Donovan tends to play well when the games are easy. (USA Today)
“It is difficult to adapt to a diet of bread and salami when you are accustomed to caviar.”
— Former Juventus and Italy star Antonio Conte describes adjusting to Atalanta, which named him head coach Sept. 21 after the team suffered four straight losses. Atalanta tied its first two games under Conte. (Irish Times)
“I am used to players who are very focused, very concentrated, so when I came to England it was a big surprise to hear music in our locker room. In Italy, coaches are not happy if people talk, let alone have music. We had to stay focused. And it is not even good music. Bad music, s*** music, rap music.”
— Chelsea’s Italian head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who decided to “have an open mind” and allow the pregame music to continue. (Daily Mail)
