Brian Quarstad

@brianquarstad.bsky.social

145 Followers 64 Following

Former writer/founder of Minnesota's first soccer news website, Inside Minnesota Soccer. Former co-founder and writer at http://FiftyFive.One. MN soccer historian. Member of Society for American Soccer History. https://www.ussoccerhistory.org

On if he regrets making so many changes to the lineup... "No, I don't. I think this is one of those places [Houston Dynamo FC] that you come to where you feel like, even with what is on paper, your strongest team, the team that is in real rhythm, the team that's played the large majority of the game so far, there's no guarantee that you're going to get, spark, energy, and real intensity, particularly after the experience we had on Saturday. So, with that considered, with the conditions here, the context here, the fact that we did what we did, on Saturday against [Inter] Miami [CF]. I think on balance it was a justified way of looking at this game and I don't in hindsight feel like, had I done anything distinctly different, we would necessarily have got a different outcome. I obviously wanted to make sure that we started the game in a certain way and finished the game in another way. And unfortunately, it came just a touch too late. We had a reasonable balance of the game from the point at which we made four changes, but also I'm very quick to provide that context for the players who played the first half for the first hour or so, they for sure were put in a difficult position. It's not a team that's in real rhythm in spite of the fact that sort of reflects the team that's played in the cup [Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup]. And ultimately we've got an outcome that is frustrating, but perhaps one that given the context as a whole would perhaps be at least understood if not expected."
Old photo of soccer player kicking ball in Nicollet Park in Minneapolis from 1906