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...
ahead beat difficult early further given great last league matches playing quickly team time work year
Playing matches like this is great preparation for us. We know very quickly the things we need to work on. We're much further ahead this year at this time than we were last year, but we had to be, given the early competition. I like most of what I see with my team and I think we're going to be very difficult to beat in league play.
changes midfield might next player start type wholesale won worked
You don't make wholesale changes with your midfield that worked for you and won a championship overnight. But Landon is the type of player that is versatile. If it's not working for us in the midfield with Paulo and Pete I can put (Donovan) there. We might start with him there next week.
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.
ability absolutely attack beautiful continue football middle necessary repeat series type work
There was one series (on Saturday) that was absolutely beautiful one-touch soccer. That's the type of football that I want to play. It's necessary that we have the ability to attack in the middle channel, that we have the ability to attack on the flanks. So yes, we continue to work on varying the way we attack. That's the only way we're going to repeat as champions.
bad course difficult extremely factor great hot kids pain watching weather work
This course is extremely difficult and when you factor in the hot weather all the kids out here from every team, you could just see the pain on their faces, ... You feel bad for them?but it's great watching them work so hard.
against days exactly great koreans opportunity playing speed team technical test time training work
We've been in training for 12 days now and we're playing against a team that's very experienced. This is an opportunity to see where we're at. The technical speed of the Koreans will be more than we'll see at any other time of the year. It will be a great test for us and we'll be able to take from this exactly what we need to work on.
chances defense gave pleased result second team tidy work
I'm disappointed at some of the chances we gave in the second half. These are the things we have to tidy up, ... Don't get me wrong. I'm very pleased with the result but we have to play better team defense going up and that's something we're going to work on.
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.
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.
environment fare field guys ideal league rise stars step time
I think American players, of this league especially, a league on the rise -- any time these guys can get on the field and play international competition, they fare well. I think our all stars are going to do very well. Unfortunately it is not the most ideal preparation, but once they get on the field and see the environment I think they will step up and play respectfully.
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.