Orlando City Head Coach James OāConnor
Opening statement
āIt wasnāt pretty. I think for us we had some passages that you think, first half, not bad, couple of passages, nice goal, some good chances first half. Second half just became a complete game of transition. For us it became pure heart. I think you could see, both teams to be honest, the humidity played a huge factor in the game tonight. I think you could see both teams were really impacted by the humidity and thatās when you need the character and the heart to be able to push through. Thatās the one massive credit I can give the players is the heart and the commitment that they showed to dig in and push through because it was very tough conditions tonight.ā
On what Tesho Akindele brings to the attack
āA lot to be honest. The big attraction for us when we looked at Tesho was that heās a team guy and players like that, for me, I place great value on players that put the team first and you get performances like that. When you need to dig in, youāve got people who dig in. Heās also got tremendous quality, I think his finishing is underrated. I think heās someone that is very capable of scoring goals whether he plays left of the front three, whether he plays central of the front three, I think he has an ability to score goals. Iām delighted for him because heās a great young man. Credit to his family the way he handles himself and how hard he works.ā
On the importance of grinding out victories
āI think the biggest thing is that because you always want the perfect performance, regardless of whether you win, I think youāre always looking and thinking where could we be better. I think thatās my biggest thing is youāre always looking and I think that the massive encouraging sign for us as a Club is we did not played well tonight, but we won the game, which is great. At this stage of the season we needed three points. Thereās a load of positives that we can point to. I think weāve equaled the clean sheets that the Club have had so weāre one away from setting a record, so hopefully we can go and do that. Thereās multiple things throughout the course of the season that you can point to, but we want to get in the playoffs so we needed three points tonight and thatās a massive three points for us.ā
Orlando City Forward Tesho Akindele
On the team performance
āI think Iām happy we won. Do I think we played the best we could have? No, but thatās kind of the mark of a good team I think. Sometimes you play good, sometimes you donāt, but good teams find a way to win and thatās what we did today and thatās whatās most important.ā
On whatās allowing him to flourish in the attack this season
āThereās a lot of things. I think Iāve kind of been asked a similar question a few times this year, itās just so many things. The coaching staff believes in me a lot, my teammates have been providing me great crosses. I think just the opportunity to be on the field more often, thereās just a combination of a lot of things and me taking advantage of my chances.ā
On his view of his finish
āYeah I saw Dom [Dwyer] make a good hard run into the box and I saw some space kind of just around the six and I thought if I move there and the ball comes to me then I could score. I donāt even think Carlos [Ascues] looked, he just put the ball into a good area and I was there and able to finish it. But like you said, Dom took two or three defenders away with him which led to the goal.ā
Orlando City Defender Shane OāNeill
On coming in early into the match
āI thought the first half was alright. I thought we had the ball going forward, felt really good. I felt like I was growing into the game, kind of expressing myself and then second half was tough. Second half was very tough you know, they pinned us back. Obviously, [Johnny] Russell is a tough guy to go one-against-one with, but I think for the most part we did a good job. There was one or two lapses and we got away with it, but at the end of the day the most important thing was getting a win. We kind of dug it out really, we just dug it out.ā
On the team not conceding a lot of goals at home
āJust the dedication to kind of getting into our shape, getting into a compact shape not only top to bottom but also from a width standpoint. I think we have been a lot harder to break down, maybe not as exciting to watch, but definitely more pragmatic and itās gotten us results and weāre at the cusp and hopefully we can keep pushing it to get over the line.ā
On the teamās ability to rotate players in the lineup
āI think the manager always speaks about ānext man up,ā and at the end of the day obviously I havenāt played a whole ton of outside back. Iāve played some, Iāve played bits and pieces, but I would say Kamal [Miller] is probably the same way, but I think youāve just got to do a job. Youāve got to stay compact, stay with the line, listen to the really experienced guys in the middle. Youāve got Lamine [SanĆ©], whoās one of the best communicators Iāve ever played with, and youāve just got to listen. At the end of the day when youāre going forward, I think for me personally you canāt get sucked into the transition game, because itās enticing to go forward, you want to go forward, but that means youāve got to go back if you lose the ball, so itās just finding that balance. But I think itās just guys with that mentality, just wanting to play, wanting to get out on the pitch.ā