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VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC MEDIA CONFERENCEMay 22, 2019Marc Dos SantosHarrison, New Jersey NY Red Bulls - 2, Vancouver Whitecaps - 2 Q. Considering the late arrival and the struggles in travel, I would imagine you are thrilled with a point here? MARC DOS SANTOS: Yeah, it's an important one. If we just look at the game, it's one thing, but then we accumulate that in the last ten days, Portland or Atlanta home, Kansas City, now in New York, it's difficult. It's four very good teams that demanded a lot from us physically. Considering everything, we're happy with the point, but the positive thing that we are going to take, really, is our approach coming in in the second half. Our first half, we suffered a lot. We were a little bit against the ropes. We were like in a boxing game and you decide to get punched a little bit, and you give the last punch at the end and that was a difficult time for us, a lot of pressure that was put on us from the Red Bulls where we were able to exploit something that we believe could be a weakness and in transition we got a goal. In the second half, I think it was a much more balanced game between two good teams, we were able to tie the game and in the game, I think Robles makes a good save, and he made key saves for them, and the game stayed 2-2. Q. What was it that you exploited -- MARC DOS SANTOS: Their pressure is very aggressive. You know, they have this way of being that they are all-in and their offensive marking is aggressive. So we wanted to exploit the spacing behind using Ardaiz, or in the second half, also Montero and Venuto. We were able to exploit that and it's something that we knew when we play against a team that's so aggressive in their pressure, and the center back out smarts the opponents, well, we have to be smart exploiting that. Q. (Inaudible.). MARC DOS SANTOS: We did a little bit too much of it, but part of it was to play some long balls behind them, yes. The other part is the one we had a very difficult time doing, breaking their lines through possession, that was a little bit better in the second half. Q. Your counter, as you know, it was dangerous and every time you had that opportunity? MARC DOS SANTOS: Yeah, and we wanted to use it much more than any other game because of being against a team that is so aggressive in their pressure, and we had a couple of situations that were very dangerous. You know, you need to be, I believe as a coach and as a team, you need to have your own identity, but you also need to be smart in a way that you know what the opponent gives you and then after you adjust your identity and play towards the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. Q. Joaquin's performance? MARC DOS SANTOS: Joaquin still needs to find consistency in the game. It was good to have him out there. He attacked a lot the space and behind, but inside the game, he has moments that are very inconsistent and when he's on, when the good moments are on, he could be very dangerous, powerful, and very dangerous attacking the space and behind. But then when the moments that are low and this connects with the team, it's very low. So we need to work with him in that part. Q. A few decisions that haven't gone your way this year -- MARC DOS SANTOS: Well, I have people around me that always tell me that it tends to balance out. I didn't believe in that because, you know, we were in a part that we were -- it's impossible to have so many DVR calls, but I just rewatched it, and it is a penalty shot, a fair one, and it's a good call from the ref. Q. Scoring the ball -- what have you seen on the back of -- MARC DOS SANTOS: Yeah, look, he's a great teammate, a good mentality, a guy that is important for the team and it's also me knowing how to work with his strengths, and I can't ask him to do things that are outside of his game. We've been learning a lot about him, what are his strengths, that he's a good player in possession coming into pockets. When that happens, we need to have other players in penetration and behind. So we're learning, and I think that his experience is important for our locker room. Q. He drops back a little bit to pick up the ball -- MARC DOS SANTOS: Yeah, and maybe I used him too much a little bit in the beginning as an out No. 9, and slowly I tried to learn and address to maximize the strengths of everyone. Q. You talked about -- MARC DOS SANTOS: You ask a lot of questions -- no, I'm joking with you. Q. The team in general, you've gotten some results, new team, new coach, everything. Are you content with the progress you've seen? How far along? MARC DOS SANTOS: Look, we don't live -- thank God, me, the staff, we don't live in Twitter land, yeah, and Facebook land, I don't know what's going on there. So for us, inside, we all believe in the process. We feel that every single game, if you go and watch every result, it's all 1-1,2-2,0-0,1-0,2-1. We're in every single game. We believe in the process. We believe in our group and we are staying the course. At the end of the day, it's what happens after the 34 games. That's where people could actually analyze everything. Do I feel growth? Every day. Every day I feel we're going in the right direction. Do I want more? Absolutely yes. It's not enough. I want more and I want this team to improve, and we know where we have to improve and move forward. Q. With all of these games, are you learning something about your team having to do all the squad rotation you've had to do? MARC DOS SANTOS: I'm learning from MLS, also, because it's -- you know, USL was a little more breaks. It's been aggressive and I'm learning about it, and maybe I'm learning about depth at the roster and learning about making sure other players are options. That, I'm learning a lot. But what I learned from the group is guys, if you would have spent the day with us yesterday, you would have never believed that we get out of here with points. It was a day of almost 24 hours from 7 a.m. to going to bed almost at 4:00. So I'm learning about mentality, character, approach, guys fighting together, guys believing in the process, believing in the project, that's what I'm learning from our guys. Q. Talking with Chris yesterday, the topic of you guys both coming from Bob Bradley came up and I just was curious when you see from him that he took from Bob, and then what have you taken and how you guys are maybe similar and how you're different? MARC DOS SANTOS: Chris for me is -- first thing, great man. So I know he's going to win a lot. He's a good person, a good man and he knows what he wants, and those traits are in Bob. Then he has the aggressiveness and courage that Bob has. I see that. But at the end of the day, they are not clones, you know, but has a lot of great and fantastic qualities, Chris, also, and it's good that in soccer, we are all different and we learn from each other and we move on. Q. Straight games off the bench for In-beom do you think traveling has affected -- MARC DOS SANTOS: Look, since March of 2018 to now, he's been close to 60 games. In the middle of that travel, Asian Cup, dealing a new contract, a new club, friendlies, adapting to a new culture. So much happened quickly, and while the guys after the Toronto game are going to have four days off, In-beom taking a plane to play with his national team -- so he doesn't have a break, and I have to find the best moment to do that, and probably he's going to stay home after the South Korea game. I'm going to give him four days to stay home and I just want to help him recover, because now it's everything so condensed, and we have to protect him as a player. That's what we're doing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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