Stevie says. . .

After the match versus Chivas USA, Steve Nicol answered questions. Between him and Mike Burns, I really wish I had a digital recorder so our readers could hear them via audio. With Nicol's Scottish accent and Burn's Boston twang, they are two of the more distinctive voices in the league.

On why NE lost:

"We had two guys playing in the central midfield for the first time together. If you don’t pass it and control it, you’re not going to get anywhere."

Copa America absence?

"It hasn’t helped us, but look at them tonight. They’re in the same position as us. They lost players and they won, two nil. I don’t think they were that much better than us, but they won the game."

"We can’t look at anybody else but ourselves. We had too many players who weren’t playing anywhere near their best."

Can team win title?

"I think so, but if we keep playing like that, we won’t be."

Returning players from Gold Cup out of sync?

"That’s only one small thing. There were a lot of wee things added together that caused problems. At the end of the day, our players, from one through eleven, weren’t on their game today."

"Tonight’s problem was passing the ball."

On best MLS teams:

"There’s probably three teams who you expect to do better, but there’s so many things going on all the time, obviously the Copa and the Gold Cup, and if you get a couple of injuries, there are a whole lot of things you have to contend with, but at the end of the day, you can’t go blaming that."

Who are the best?

"I’m not telling you. I’m not going to disrespect anybody, but there are probably two or three teams that people expect to do better. Those teams better make sure that they’re on their toes, because if they’re not, they’re going to be in trouble."

League competitive?

"It’s certainly is. There’s not an easy game. If you don’t come prepared to do the right things and do your best, you’re going to lose, like we did tonight. We weren’t at our best. It wasn’t like two or three weren’t at their best. I can’t think of any of them that covered themselves in any kind of glory, that’s for sure. If you do that, you’re going to lose the game."

On facing Chivas USA next week:

"I like to think that our players are sitting down right now and thinking, “We’ve got a chance to get them back next week.”

Red card repercussion:

"Well, he won’t be playing. Suarez is a regular on their team, so that will affect them. They’ll have to make a change for that. We’re at home next week, and I expect that we’ll be getting after them and making up for tonight’s bad performance."

On Galindo:

"He’s having a good season. When he gets running at you with the ball, he’s got some ability."