RGV FC Pregame Quotes
Texas Border Business
RGV FC HC Gerson Echeverry
On keeping the team motivated to turn things around…
“I don’t think we need to. I think the players themselves are extremely [motivated]. The one thing that we’ve given them a lot of kudos for is their attitude and how they’ve not given up. We can see that in training they are still motivated. They are coming to training; they are training hard. It’s just a matter of making plays when it counts. Not making mistakes when it matters and making the plays necessary to pull off a victory. I think that we’ve been close in so many games but at the same time, as close as we are, we are so far because we just haven’t been able to execute at the right time. Unfortunately, every time we make one mistake or two, we concede goals and that’s where it is. We concede some goals that are very immature, and I guess you can say, when are they gonna learn from them? When are these growing pains [going to stop]? But, it’s not because a lack of effort. It’s not because a lack of their attitude. It’s just making the right plays at the right time.”
On hosting fans in the next home match and how it can affect the team’s performance…
“Absolutely. I think we have fantastic fans. I think we have really passionate fans. We have quite a few who know and understand the game. I think it’s important for us to make sure that we have them. Obviously, whenever they are around and supporting us, its outstanding and we have a big home field advantage because of it, and I think that anytime that we can play in front of our fans for sure its beneficial. So for me, I’m definitely looking forward to it, if they do allow to have fans in the stands, I am all for it because fans give a different vibe and at the end of the day, our players want to entertain them and they want to entertain them live. They want to be able to perform in front of fans, in front of a stadium and whenever there’s people, there’s just an extra motivation. There’re moments in which when there’s no fans it could have a tendency sometimes of a practice or just a scrimmage. For sure fans make the game so much exciting so I hope that’s the fact.”
On what the team has learned from San Antonio FC…
“It’s the same thing. It’s a matter of how you start the game and not let them do what they want. I just don’t think that, either the goals that they have scored on us, we’ve been broken down or that they’ve done something outstanding that we are like wow, there’s nothing really that we could do about it. It’s been off of our mistakes. They are unforgiven, you know, and anytime that you make a mistake, they punish you. They have the quality upfront to punish you. So, we have to limit our mistakes but at the same token, we’ve had opportunities. We’ve had plenty of opportunities against them to be able to score more goals. It’s a team that doesn’t really concede a lot of goals, I think they’ve conceded about maybe like six goals and we’ve scored [two] of them – five or six goals and we’ve scored [two] on them and we feel that we could’ve scored maybe another three or four because of the chances that we’ve had. So that is just kind of what it is but at the same time, we’ve given them their goals. If you look back to the goals they’ve scored against us, it was off of mistakes that we made, and they didn’t hesitate to punish us.”
RGV FC DF Erik McCue
On training with Houston Dynamo and using what he learned there with RGV…
“It is pretty much all about knowing what you are good at and helping the team in that way. So, obviously each player is in a position for their individual skills and basically, just trying what I can learn from up there [Houston] which is obviously a lot of professional mentality when it comes to consistency, performance in games and performance in training. Kind of always bring a professional mentality so that is what I have been trying to implement here as much as possible.”
On how his development at RGV help to play with the first team…
“My development with RGV can really help me with the first team because minutes. You can train as long as you want as a footballer but playing games is a completely different environment and I haven’t been able to get into too many games in the last two years. So, I know that whenever I am on the field, I try to make the most of it. Every single game I feel that I’ve learned so much so any type of minutes on the field is really helpful.”
On the matchup against San Antonio FC and the quick turnaround…
“I think the team could stop San Antonio in terms of just being able to be defending together and being sharp together, in terms of transitions as well. Anytime we’re finding ourselves on the counterattack, we have to be able to slow it down as quickly as possible and take their strongest players off the ball and defend as a team. So, that’s how we can slow them doing, being able to really sacrifice ourselves and put ourselves in the tackles.”
On how the team stays motivated even when results aren’t happening…
“Obviously, every single one of us wants to win and we are all chasing that first win back. It’s never easy to lose a string of games and it can be very difficult in football. But to stay motivated, all of us know that these games are super important and that we know that one win could make a chain reaction. So that is what we are looking for and we are going to keep working really hard for it.”
On the team’s mentality and how it can affect to turn things around…
“I think the team’s mentality can heavily affect the performance on the pitch. Obviously, confidence is a thing I’ve spoken about before and I think it’s such an important part about being a footballer. There’s obviously inter confidence and confidence from outside, like results and stuff. I know each and every one of us is good enough to play in this league and to dominate in this league but obviously the results haven’t been coming in and it’s not the fact that we’ve been playing badly, we’ve been doing quite well, it’s just that the last part isn’t coming along which is the getting clean sheets and scoring goals. That will come and I know that each and every one of these players are good enough to do it and I am really excited for when we can celebrate the first win.”
RGV FC MF Luka Prpa
On scoring his second professional goal and how it motivates him…
“Scoring the goal felt nice for me personally, however, I wish it would have meant more towards the result of the game [against FC Tulsa]. Having my family there was special as well, as they have supported always, whether in person or from a far. In tough times, it is important to build on the positives and keep looking for more. I think the team is highly motivated and ready to give everything in the coming games.”
On his first professional year been and how his playing skills have developed…
“I think my first professional year has not necessarily been what I wanted in terms of results, but it has also been a valuable experience. Playing at a higher level, you have to adapt a little, as the speed of the game is faster, and quality of opposition is better. I think I have grown as a player a lot this year.”
On the matchup against San Antonio and the quick turnaround…
“We’ve seen San Antonio a few times now this year, and I think we have a good idea of what to expect. They are obviously a very good team, but if we execute and play how we can, I think we will do well.”
On what will be key to turn things around…
“With a quick turnaround, we need to recover well and take care of our bodies properly. I think looking at what we have done in the past, learning from our mistakes and building on the positives. I believe we have a quality group of players that work extremely hard every day and can definitely get the job done.”
