LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 27, 2020

Bob Bradley

Press Conference

San Jose - 2, LAFC - 1

BOB BRADLEY: It's a bad loss. Come in at halftime with a late goal, didn't start the second half well, but still as we move on in the second half we have some advantages to get the second goal. We don't handle them well.

And then in the final moments when we just need to be able to defend certain situations better. Not enough commitment on certain situations. Their first goal comes off of a foul. They play out on our right side. We're slow to move over. They double the flank. Latif didn't do a good job dealing with the first situation, and then when we needed to step out quicker and defend as he got into the box this was poorly done.

And then late in the game off the throw-in we have a couple of chances where we have two guys right around the ball. In the final moment it's with Eduard and Eddie, the ball comes loose, Danilo isn't able to deal well with the dribbler and then Andy does a poor job as they run across the front of him. So these are bad errors and it's a day where I don't think we have enough guys that play well and now the ability to just finish a game, even if it's not your best day, we let ourselves down. It's a bad loss.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions, please.

Q. A game like this, do you view it that you guys lost the game or that San Jose just did a better job down the stretch? And also, if I can just add, what do you tell the team after a game like this?

BOB BRADLEY: We talked quickly about our ability to finish chances to take the second goal and then the ability at the end to stay focused and make the plays that matter and that it's a bad loss and that we let ourselves down. Similar to what I just said to you.

We give San Jose credit. They have gone through a tough stretch and tonight at the end they fought hard. But we still look only at ourselves for our inability to close the game out or to deal with some moments late that caused us to give up two goals.

Q. Going along with the first question, in what way does San Jose deserve credit on tonight's victory?

BOB BRADLEY: I'm sorry, I couldn't understand your question. Please give it one more time.

Q. Like, in what areas does San Jose deserve credit on tonight's win? What did they do well to win tonight?

BOB BRADLEY: They just fought hard. They kept going until the end. It's just hard work on their end. So like I said, we had chances to get the second goal. When we don't finish them off, it still means that they know they're fighting for a chance first to equalize and when they got the equalizer, then they had a little bit of momentum and made one more play at the end. So what they did is fought hard and made a couple of plays.

Q. When you make the substitution for Cifu we saw, was that so he has ice on his legs?

BOB BRADLEY: Yes.

Q. Is everything okay with Cifu?

BOB BRADLEY: Cifu has had a little bit of a tight quad and so we wanted to be careful with his number of minutes tonight. I don't think he was moving quite as well as he has been moving lately, so at that point we felt we needed to get fresh legs in the midfield.

Q. And also, is there any news, is there confirmation or Ecuador has communicated with Eduard and Diego and Cifu and potentially Cifu and asked you?

BOB BRADLEY: We have talked to the different federations and we are awaiting word on the final 23's of their rosters.

Q. Wanted to ask if there were anything tonight that you saw particularly in the finishing, Rossi, Rodriguez, that gives you pause about the offense or concern about the offense going forward?

BOB BRADLEY: No, we created many chances. I don't think we had enough guys that played well tonight. When you -- you go into games to be sharp, to take advantage of certain situations, to control midfield. So for me it's a night where we had advantages. The fact that we weren't good enough tonight is something that we're disappointed about, but we continue to create chances and we've just got to find a better way to play right until the end of games, to execute better when we have advantages, to concentrate in different situations defensively. So these are the areas where we have hurt ourself on different days.