Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes
Whether Sporting were desperate to win ahead of the game…
It was never despair. Since I’ve been here we haven’t talked about anything that involves despair. You play with a winning mentality and try to play the way you play. You fight for everything and try to achieve a result. We do that week after week.
In a 2-1 win over Nashville SC…
I think the first goal was a very opportunistic goal, but that’s something you talk about all the time. You try to get your free kicks on target because goalkeepers often expect other players to rebound. It’s an opportunistic goal because we knew what we wanted to try in game. We wanted to get the ball into the box and it ended up in the net. We scored a great second goal, made a mistake on the goal they scored and then in the end they were ruled offside.
I do not agree with it [Logan Ndenbe’s] late foul is a penalty. I don’t agree at all. If you really look at it, you have a rep that lends itself to VAR. What I don’t understand is that before the player even tries to reach the ball, [Alex Muyl] leans forward before contact is even made. He doesn’t even make an attempt to reach the ball. Normally you don’t fall forward. You put your foot out to get the ball and when someone hits you, that’s a different story. There were quite a few of these types of dives in the box. I have to say I think the referee did a good job. I don’t blame the referee for anything.
On Sporting’s tenacity in securing road victory…
We fought and did what we had to do. The boys fought for everything and we actually managed the game well, putting the ball in their corners and trying to milk the game a bit. We did what we had to do and we got the three points, which was incredibly important. We also did it in a new stadium and I know what it’s like. (Nashville) had incredible confidence so at the end of the day that was a massive three points for us. Everything else is secondary to the three points we needed.
When I gave Nashville SC their first loss at GEODIS Park…
It’s nice to do that, but we don’t get anything [extra] Therefore. It’s only three points and we needed three points. It’s good to get some boys back. I give credit to guys like Khiry Shelton and Remi Walter. Remi certainly wasn’t at 100 percent, but he put everything on the pitch today and did a great job. Being able to hold out Khiry for 90 minutes was a very tough job. He did a lot of hard work that we needed in the game. Daniel Salloi was gone and didn’t play [Hungary] National team, it was important for him to play and give us the minutes. He also did the business. I think Andreu Fontas and Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Graham Zusi and Logan Ndenbe, these guys played very well in that game. You were organized and focused for 90 minutes. I thought Cam Duke had a really good game. I know he gave that ball away and they came down and scored and I know he’s disappointed. Sometimes that happened, but his teammates struggled to help him succeed anyway. It’s a good learning experience for him, but he played well when he was in the game.
On Graham Zusi’s fondness for long-distance goals…
When I called up Zusi in college, he was the number 10 playing forward. He really was a lightning rod in Maryland, and he was when he first came here. Then he switched to winger. So he’s very comfortable around the goal and has good control of both feet. He hits a really good ball. I think that’s what matters.
On the performance of striker Khiry Shelton…
It was all his work off the ball. I thought he was good on the ball and I think it’s a bit of a shame because he doesn’t get the same respect as so many other players. He played really well and was very good defensively. The other thing is that he was very good at set pieces. He won a lot of balls in the air.
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