Post-Match Quotes: Paul Buckle After Sacramento Republic's Draw with LA Galaxy II

Paul Buckle

On holes in the defense, what he saw in the game, and his general thoughts.

Well I don't think there was holes. I think I saw Derek Foran gift them the ball again. Like I saw Mike da Fonte do. Like I've seen Chris [Christian] do. Like I've seen Derek do in Portland. So individual error is one of the toughest things to stamp out because again, tonight that's a game we should've won. We had total control. We took a bit too long to work out matching up in the middle of the park in the first fifteen. Then we got to grips with the game and we were in control of the game. We scored a good goal, very good goal. Great ball from Emrah. It was a quality ball with Danny [Barrera] of all people in there.

And then we didn't do the basics. As a professional footballer, you can make a living -- a good long career for yourself -- by doing the basics right. And if you're a central midfielder you track your runners, which Barrera didn't do. If someone runs from the middle to the 18, you track them. And he didn't do it and it cost us. So then we're back into 1-1 and then we do a carbon copy of what we did the other night in the Open Cup. We gifted a goal.

So I'm not going to let them get away with it, no chance. I'm not going to brush it under the carpet and say it'll be ok next week. We've gone from being a very very capable team with the ball and without the ball to a team now that really is taking risks at the back which we don't need to do. We absolutely don't need to do it. You're never going to score a goal every time going from your 18 to their 18 passing it. Sometimes you have to do the basics and clear your lines, especially when you have somebody like [Adam] Jahn up front. And we didn't do it.

I have to be pleased with a point. I wasn't pleased with some of the calls, especially at the end -- I thought it was a penalty on [James] Kiffe. It's a foul minimum, outside. Sending off Trickett-Smith, who's not a dirty player. There's a stage in the game where the ball falls between where you can't get a head on it but it's there to compete. No one got hurt. It was studs up for the ball and we have a player sent off.

It was a real mixed bag for us tonight, but I have to be pleased that we were able to show character and get a point in a game we should have won.

On how things worked out in the second half

Well again, you don't see goals coming. I felt that we were going to go on from the one goal lead. We gifted them a goal, and then we gifted them another goal, and then you find yourself 2-1 down.

Lucky enough for us we did have the quality on the field to recover. Jahn came on and was a presence. That's what you expect from Adam Jahn. He's an 18 yard box player, he's a hold-up man, and he tried to get on the end of everything. Every ball that went into the box he got on the end of. And then Trickett-Smith, I asked him to make the difference and he did in both ways. He scores a nice goal for me but then he leaves the pitch. But the ball was there to be won and it didn't need a red card. The game didn't warrant a red card anywhere. So we had to sort of dig in.

The two goals we got were very good goals, it's two more to our tally. We've been unbeaten in the league now for quite a while so that's a real plus for us. But it is a game that we should've won. It'll certainly be back to basics whether it's tomorrow morning or Monday, I haven't made my mind up yet. But I'm not going to stand for that kind of play in the back line. We're not that good. No team in the world does that at the back, takes that sort of risk.

On Emrah Klimenta's performance

Well Emrah tends to have good games against Galaxy II and it's one of our strengths. I thought him and James put good deliveries into the box tonight. We filled the middle up with smart players, players that can play quick and we try to draw teams into the middle while we go on the outside. What we've lacked for a bit of the season is that final ball. I've spoken to you guys about it before, the final ball has let us down but tonight it didn't. It was a wonderful delivery, a great run from Barrera and also Trickett-Smith.

So we did get people in there. We looked dangerous and I felt we could come back. I did feel that we had enough character and our fans, again, I don't know any other team that has the support we have. I don't know any other set of supporters that -- the first thing I did when we went 2-1 down was look over and I'm like 'I can't believe we're 2-1 down' and our fans just lift you. They lift me, they lift the players, and they didn't stop and they got their rewards to see the two goals.

We have loads to work on, there's always a lot to work on but even more for me now. I think we've won the trust of each other, to be honest, in the locker room. I can say my standards are higher than that. The one thing I brought to the club was a decent shutout record. We're hard to break down but at the moment we're beating ourselves with that type of play in the back.