Steve Sampson
Steve Sampson
Steve Sampsonis a soccer coach, currently of the men's soccer program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is also the former head coach of both the United States men's national team and the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. By the media, he is nicknamed Uncle Sam...
against atmosphere competition decide difficult expect good job league letting ourselves players prepare teams together union wants win
I think we have to do a better job of letting our teams prepare for this event. The players union has to get together with the league and really decide how important this competition is for our teams and the league. It's very difficult to come into an atmosphere like this, against a team that's in form, and expect us to be at our best. Our league wants to win CONCACAF championships, and we're good enough. We have to give ourselves a better chance.
close felt greater measure meet needs normally scoring since small team tonight urgency win
I think we're very close to being very good, but that small measure comes in the way of scoring goals, and we have to get better. Normally I don't meet with the team (after a game). I felt that tonight it warranted it. There needs to be a much greater since of urgency to get the win and I felt there wasn't enough urgency out there.
best escaped fans field giving good happy importance longer man money playing product relates single win
It is not good enough any longer just to win championships. We want to put out a product on that field where every single day our fans feel like we're giving the very best possible. It has not escaped me, the importance of us playing well and how it relates to making money for this club. I'm not a happy man when we're not consistent.
finish good performance saw win
Overall, I was very disappointed with the end, but not disappointed with everything we saw tonight. I thought we put on a good enough performance to win if we just finish our chances.
management regardless win
Management has never told me that, but regardless of what management's expectations are, my expectations are to win the trophy,
both business cups great opportunity playoffs teams trying win
We know that after this match, both teams will get on with the business of trying to do well in the playoffs and win the MLS Cup, ... So, both teams have an opportunity to win two cups going forward, and I think it's a great opportunity for both teams.
ball clear defenders missed players responsibility taking talk win
We talk about defenders taking responsibility. The players that missed clear opportunities also have to take responsibility. That's how you win ball games.
certainly change dangerous either games last personnel player score win work
You either change personnel or you work on it in training. We're working on the personnel issues. Certainly I think Cornell Glen has been a very dangerous player the last two weeks. You can't win games if you don't score goals.
bubble cup dangerous difficult far fighting guys hardest squad teams win
Sometimes that's even more difficult because these are the guys on the bubble as far as making the World Cup squad for Korea. They're going to be fighting the hardest to win a spot; sometimes they're the most dangerous teams to play against.
ability form gain leading looking night wednesday winning
This is a part of that. Our ability to play well Wednesday night is not only important to winning a cup, but also to gain that form that we're looking for leading into the playoffs. It's part of the process, and it's very important to us.
defense game holding leaving left loss lost marshall middle quite tyrone
I thought that Tyrone Marshall leaving the game was a big loss for us because I think he was holding the middle of the defense quite well for us. When he left we lost the middle of the defense.
ceremony couple created emotion evaluate game hopefully minutes played quite stepped
I thought that the first 20-25 minutes of the game we played quite well. We created a couple opportunities. If we put one of those away it's a different game. I think the emotion of the match, and all the pre-game ceremony before we stepped on the pitch, hopefully wasn't that much of a distraction but in the end I think we'll evaluate that it was.
along england further last time year
I think we're further along this time of year than we were last year at the same time. We also know that New England and Chicago, our first two matches, are going to be tough.
attention details last midway paying
I think we're concentrating more. I think we're paying attention to details a lot better than we did midway through last season.