Thursday, July 10, 2008

More LD

Here's the rest of the questions LD answered. I can't post audio because I didn't use a recorder where I can transfer the sound file, so it's just the text.

On his flu:

It’s all right. It’s doing all right. I’ll get through tomorrow. I thought I was feeling better, then it’s taken like a dip and I’ve started not to feel so good the last couple of days. But I’ll be fine. It’s just physically getting through it.

On the teams tied at the top:
It’s kind of interesting, because it’s never been like this. The game’s going to be fun, like always. There’s going to be a lot at stake. I know they have SuperLiga coming up soon, but my guess is that this is the most important game this year for them. It is for us. It’s a chance to separate ourselves.

On the importance of winning before playing a series of away games:
This is the time of year where we play seemingly all our games on the road. We haven’t been that bad on the road, but we haven’t been great at home, either. It’s the last chance, really, to get out of here with some points. In some ways, it’s nice to be on the road for an extended period of time. You get used to the pattern of going and coming back. You get used to how you have to play. We’ll see.
We’re getting halfway through now, so this is getting into the serious time now. Not only that, but if any team in the conference wins a couple of games, they could jump not only into first place, but you can jump clear. We’ve got to be careful, because if we lose a few games, three or four teams win a couple of games – we could be in last place.

On the team's latest performances:
We weren’t terrible, if you look at the whole 90 minutes last week.We gave up a couple of set piece goals. They should have been ahead maybe more by halftime.

On the formation change by Ruud:
I think that helped us, to be honest. The way [the Revs] play, with three in the middle, it’s hard to get around them. So I think that helped us. Clearly not enough, though.

What to expect from Chivas USA:
We know them well. In their last two games, they’ve not played great, but it seems like they’re starting to find themselves a little bit. They’re still struggling a little bit offensively, but they’re hard to break down. If you get past that, then there’s Brad, and he’s playing well. If we can get a lead, like last time, it makes the game a little easier. If not, they don’t present too many challenges defensively. But we’ve got to find a way to score goals and obviously, keep them away from our goal.

Facing the defense of Cluadio Suarez:
He’s just smart. He’s so smart. It seems like this is a guy that we can run at, but his positioning is flawless. He’s a very good passer. He’s good for them on set pieces, both for and against. It’s never easy playing against him.

Is Chivas USA the little club going up against the big one?
That doesn’t come into my mind, but they might feel that way. They might feel less pressure, but they also had a great year last year and they’ve struggled to find that form again. So they’re probably wondering where that’s gone and they want to get back to that.

Did he forsee equal records at this point?
Early on, they were not good at all, and we were flying. Now we’ve met. Fortunately, we’re still in first place. No, I would not have predicted that.

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