SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES ASSISTANT COACH STEVE RALSTON
On the match:
“Disappointed. I thought we didn’t play particularly well in the first half. Thought we gave the ball away very cheaply throughout the whole first half. Defensively I thought we were okay. We gave up a free kick in a bad place and a guy jumps up pretty well and scores a good goal. We talked about being tight on our marks. Guy out jumps us, down 1-0 and that’s the game. Second half, obviously that changes with the red card and thought we could have done a better job in the second half moving the ball, getting more balls in the box. Kind of got wide and got stuck. Couldn’t get service in the box, lost the ball and little bit naive in the second half in trying to get forward and push for the goal.”
On if missing players affected the match:
“Not at all. They’re missing a couple players, we’re missing guys, but whatever team we put on the field, we put out there we feel can win a game.”
On head coach Dominic Kinnear’s absence:
“He’s okay. He had a tough week. Had a couple things happen to him. He was planning to come up and wasn’t able to come up so we took over for him just for this game. He’ll be okay. He’ll be back next game.”
On if Kinnear’s absence affected the San Jose players:
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s the reason. Shouldn’t be the reason. As a player, you come out and you’re ready to play. Doesn’t matter. Dominic was there yesterday and in preparation for how we were going to play. Tonight we just didn’t execute. I know he wanted to be here and on the sideline getting these guys going.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD QUINCY AMARIKWA
On the match:
“Yeah, I think it was a tough battle, but I don’t think we fought as hard as we have in the past. I think we know we could give a bit more in that game. I think a lot of guys realize it and the good news is we get to come back here in about a week and a half and kind of make up for the performance tonight.”
On how the red card just before halftime affected the team:
“We knew it was going to favor us from a possession side, but we wanted to be able to take advantage of that possession. I think Portland did well to sit in and absorb the pressure and frustrate us getting down the lines and getting crosses. Unfortunately we couldn’t adapt quickly enough and we weren’t able to get a goal. We created a couple of decent chances that were saved off the line there, but maybe another day.”
On his battle with the Timbers centerbacks Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers:
“They’re both physical centerbacks that are known for getting stuck in. I’m prepared for that. I think they’re equally annoyed with me and my style of play. I know it’s always going to be a battle here and my job is to fight for every ball and create chances for my teammates around me and again, unfortunately it didn’t result in any goals tonight.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER FATAI ALASHE
On the match:
“I thought it was a pretty tough game for us. I thought we didn’t play particularly the way we wanted to play. Obviously we were a little less in the first half. We were giving some balls away a little too much. I thought we were better keeping the ball in the second half, but just didn’t really create enough opportunities to score. Obviously gave away a bad one in the first half. We can’t really concede goals on set plays. It’s a tough game but one we’ll have to bounce back from.”
On how the red card just before halftime affected the team:
“It was positive for us obviously, whenever the other team goes down to 10 men. That was something to definitely be positive about coming into halftime. We were looking to exploit that a little bit. Obviously we were going to have a little bit more possession in the second half because of it. We were going to try and push more guys forward and see if we can attack a little bit. We made a sub and brought in Tommy [Thompson] to create more attack. It was something we tried and obviously we were pushing for a goal but just didn’t get one.”
On his midfield battle with Diego Chara and Ben Zemanski:
“They’re good players, but there are a lot of good players in the league. Every game is pretty tough. This is a big one, especially away, but some of those things are a good learning lesson. We’ve played these guys three times this year so it’s something we’re used to. We have a good group of guys on our team that are up for the challenge any game.”
