LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 17, 2021

Bob Bradley

Press Conference

Los Angeles Football Club 2, Austin 0

BOB BRADLEY: Very good team win. I thought we started quickly and then, I don't know, after ten minutes or, so I thought we let the tempo drop a little bit. Started to pick it up in the first half but we really talked at halftime that we needed to play quicker, step up a little faster.

I thought we did a really good job of starting the second half in that way. And then as the game goes on, I thought our subs came on, did a good job. Really unselfish. Great play by Mahala and an unselfish pass to know that the easy goal was to play across to Cifu. Great there. Corey gets first goal. Pablo makes a couple of saves. So good things there.

The Carlos situation, I said on the interview, maybe I jumped the gun. When he went off the field, he had a look and he gave me a little indication, and then he came over and it was almost like he wanted to try. We still need to get to the bottom of it. There might be just a little knot in there. So exactly what it means from here, hard to say.

But like I said, the way he went off the field, my understanding at the moment was that he needed to come off, and so those things happen.

Q. Thank you. A little bit extra question on the Carlos situation. Did you get a chance to talk to him at halftime and kind of talk it out and stuff, because it seemed like there was a mix-up on the sideline, and did you guys kind of come to an agreement so that you sort of understood what was happening?

BOB BRADLEY: Of course. There's no -- there's no issues. You know, if he gives a little bit of a look like I need to come off, and then he comes over and at the last second, says, no, let me try, it's too late at that point. So I told him quickly, look, I thought you needed to come off. I take responsibility. Sorry about that.

At halftime I checked on him, and said, look, hopefully it's okay. We're still checking that part out. So there's nothing more to say. I can take responsibility if I make a move too fast. There's no problem for me saying I jumped the gun on that one, but it happens.

Q. So no hard feelings with Carlos, and how is he --

BOB BRADLEY: Let's be clear, right. He's got a little knot in there. So you know, in the moment, whether he thinks he gave me an indication, doesn't think he gave me an indication, there's still a part where you make a move. And so he knows that that's the way it works. When you win, then everything's also fine.

Look, you make quick decisions. Sometimes you take a guy off because you think, you know what, I don't want it to get worse. It's the first game of the year. So yes, I jumped the gun, but as a coach, you do a lot of things that players don't agree with or don't like. And you don't go around apologizing for everything every day, either. You say, hey, here is what I did, it's on me, and that's it and we all move on. They don't agree with a lot of things that I say and do, and I don't agree with all of the things they say and do. That's part of the work. It's just how things operate inside a team.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Diego and what happened in training or how is he doing?

BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, felt a little something in his hamstring where he was slowing down and maybe he slipped a little bit and felt something. The images don't seem bad. So I'd like to think that he's not out long. But he still felt a little something, and once again, there was no reason to push it if he wasn't comfortable.

Q. I know it was a weird game for you guys but a win is a win. I wanted to ask you about the goalkeeping situation. Obviously we found out yesterday Kenneth Vermeer, you decided to mutually part ways but Pablo stepped up. Can you tell us what happened with Vermeer and do you guys plan on getting another goalkeeper?

BOB BRADLEY: There were discussions that took place within the club and there was an agreement we would part ways. At the moment, we have Pablo and Tomas Romero, and we are excited to push both of those guys along, and then we'll go from there.

Q. I wanted to ask you if you have an update on the injury for Kim Moon-hwan, and assuming that he is fit soon, what are some things that you expect from him that you might not have gotten from your right back position in the previous season?

BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, I can't say -- I can't comment on that yet because he hasn't -- he hasn't been able to be at 100 percent going through training. He's getting closer, and so it's positive. You know, this week, you could tell that he's determined to push his way in. So we'll wait. We'll see when the moment comes, when he gets some minutes and then we can talk about it.

But other than that, I thought Tristan played a good game today, and we know the first step with Moon is getting him 100 percent so he can show us everything he can do.

Q. Just want to ask you a few questions. First of all, your thoughts about Corey Baird, his first match, the goal, your thoughts about Corey Baird, and second, we know that this was the first match. But what you say of your team, what does LAFC need to do on the road for the next match against Seattle, a team that won 4-0 yesterday?

BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, I don't think you're giving enough credit for a good win today. In stretches we played well. We created a lot of chances. I think we had 24 shots, nine shots on goal. We still in a few moments weren't so sharp. The three shots on goal they had, two came late in the game.

So you know, we still played against a team that tries to build from the back. There were moments where they spread us out but we won a lot of balls, attacked quickly. I thought we were a little bit inpatient at times in the first half, as the second half unfolded, I mentioned earlier how we got after the game. The start of the second half was very good. They were having a hard time getting out of their end. We would win the ball back quickly and creating more chances. I think in all that, Corey did well. He works hard, rewarded with a goal. He's got an ability when he plays wide to come inside, get into the box. And I think as he gets more and more comfortable, we're going to see even more from him.

Q. Just ask you about the atmosphere with the fans back, what did you feel, and also remembering Mo Fascio, what does he mean to the team?

BOB BRADLEY: Yeah, first of all, first of all, it was a special day to have the fans back in the stadium.

But when we talked yesterday and looked into the stands, we knew that there was a bittersweet part to it. I've said a number of times that so many of our fans helped Los Angeles in this last year with the roles they played, the jobs they have, and sadly enough, some of the neighborhoods and some of the communities where our best fans come from, they were hit hard with the virus.

And Mo Fascio on the board before the game, they had a tribute, and his personality and his presence and how much he loved LAFC just came across every time we got a chance to be around him. The memory of him in the locker room with some others with the supporter shield, I saw it again. I always think back to that night, and you know, seeing him holding the supporter shield and that smile showed how much LAFC meant to him and as a result, he meant an incredible amount to all of us.