Orlando City head coach Oscar Pareja and defender Kyle Smith give their thoughts following Saturday's 2-0 defeat at CF Montreal:
Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja
Overall thoughts on the game
“Well, again with two very different phases from our performance in the first half. I thought we dominated the game, I thought it was very clear with the actions that the boys put on the pitch and had enough actions to level the score and surely just believed in it. But we came out to the half with a 0-0, that it was a dangerous reaction from Montreal in the second half, it made a difference. We started probably shy, we were not the same. And then they started hitting the spaces in the flanks and they were more precise than us. Every team has a half, but we couldn’t score in the first, and the second one, Montreal did.”
On how much Montreal’s second goal changed the game
“It was a moment where we lost concentration and we knew that their wingbacks are aggressive and we needed to control them. And then after that our reaction was not with the same intensity and the same fire that we had in the first half. The game came very lazy, I thought Montreal, they started stopping the game at every second and then it was a non-reaction, so it was difficult for us to get back in the game.”
On how he as a coach can help the team get the final details cleaned up
“I don't have any other formula than keep working. The players are getting part of that job done because it’s getting those options to score. Some things that they are doing well but we need to be precise in that last part. So we will keep insisting on being more lethal in that part of the field. Seems like our last game we came off the game more optimistic, we scored two goals but today, after the first half, that it was very good which should happen later in the game, definitely.”
Orlando City Defender Kyle Smith
On his overall thoughts on the match
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the result. I thought we played well in the first half and then in the second half we let our foot off the gas. They took advantage of us not having our best performance in the second half and scored two goals. Definitely a little disappointed.”
On the mentality of the team with a quick turnaround between matches
“Yeah, we have to put this game behind us and take the positives from this game, which is the first half because we played very well. We were dangerous and good. I don't think they had many chances at all in the first half, so you have to take the positives and have a short memory so we can get a result [on Tuesday].”
On what the team has to do to get some consistency
“Yeah, I think an important piece is everyone maybe just [has to] look at themselves and what they can personally do better and then if everyone just gets a little better, then the whole team gets better. Once we get everyone being consistent, then as a team we are more consistent. So yeah, I think if everyone just tries to look at film and practice [hard], just be consistent on a daily basis, then we can start stringing together those results as a team”
