This Saturday, the boys in Old Glory Red welcome Real Monarchs to Sacramento for the last preseason fixture before the official start of the 2021 USL Championship regular season.
Fans will be at the match in-person for the first time in over a year and for all the supporters attending, be sure to check out all the Know Before You Go information.
Training camp has been a busy one, headlined by exhibition matches against top tier opponents including a pair of Major League Soccer sides. The squad also seized a 5-1 win in a closed-door friendly last weekend against Oakland Roots SC.
This weekend marks the final match before competitive play begins and before the Indomitable Club takes the pitch tomorrow against the 2019 league title-winners, it’s time to see what head coach Mark Briggs and his midfielders Fatai Alashe and Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu had to say prior to the last scrimmage before the results really matter.
This Saturday, the boys in Old Glory Red welcome Real Monarchs to Sacramento for the last preseason fixture before the official start of the 2021 USL Championship regular season.
Fans will be at the match in-person for the first time in over a year and for all the supporters attending, be sure to check out all the Know Before You Go information.
Training camp has been a busy one, headlined by exhibition matches against top tier opponents including a pair of Major League Soccer sides. The squad also seized a 5-1 win in a closed-door friendly last weekend against Oakland Roots SC.
This weekend marks the final match before competitive play begins and before the Indomitable Club takes the pitch tomorrow against the 2019 league title-winners, it’s time to see what head coach Mark Briggs and his midfielders Fatai Alashe and Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu had to say prior to the last scrimmage before the results really matter.
Head Coach Mark Briggs
Head Coach Mark Briggs
Overall thoughts on the week and Saturday’s match…
“I think it’s been a good week. It was nice to get a result last weekend, although a preseason friendly, it was good to get a result and get the morale going. Get the confidence going. We’ve had a good week of training this week, just fine-tuning those tactical things that we need to get better at, so we’re prepared for next Friday down in LA. With Real Monarchs coming in this weekend, it will be a good test for us against a very good team. That’s what you want leading into your least preseason game, you always want a good test against a good opponent at the level you’re going to be playing at – so it’s really important tomorrow.”
On what he likes about this season’s squad…
“I like the culture. I like the mentality. I’m not sure if you’ve been here for the small-sided games, but it’s competitive. People want to win and if they don’t win, they’re annoyed, and that’s what you want. That carries out onto the field when we’re playing real games, so I think the mentality and the culture and on top of that, we’ve got some good players. But for me, we’ve got a group that’s like the city. We’ve got a group that’s going to fight, we’ve got a group that’s going to give everything they have and then at times add the quality that we need. But we’ve got a group that’s going to prove people wrong.”
On how exciting it is to have fans attending the match…
“It’s amazing. I can’t wait, personally. The game’s different without the fans. We need the fans in arenas. In whatever sport it is, the fans make a difference and I’m sure the fans, I think it’s 2,300 of them tomorrow, they’re going to make a huge difference to how the players feel, to the atmosphere, to everything that happens in the game. I can’t wait to have them back and I hope they’re noisier than ever, I hope they’re more raucous than ever, I hope they get behind us and they roar us on.”
Overall thoughts on the week and Saturday’s match…
“I think it’s been a good week. It was nice to get a result last weekend, although a preseason friendly, it was good to get a result and get the morale going. Get the confidence going. We’ve had a good week of training this week, just fine-tuning those tactical things that we need to get better at, so we’re prepared for next Friday down in LA. With Real Monarchs coming in this weekend, it will be a good test for us against a very good team. That’s what you want leading into your least preseason game, you always want a good test against a good opponent at the level you’re going to be playing at – so it’s really important tomorrow.”
On what he likes about this season’s squad…
“I like the culture. I like the mentality. I’m not sure if you’ve been here for the small-sided games, but it’s competitive. People want to win and if they don’t win, they’re annoyed, and that’s what you want. That carries out onto the field when we’re playing real games, so I think the mentality and the culture and on top of that, we’ve got some good players. But for me, we’ve got a group that’s like the city. We’ve got a group that’s going to fight, we’ve got a group that’s going to give everything they have and then at times add the quality that we need. But we’ve got a group that’s going to prove people wrong.”
On how exciting it is to have fans attending the match…
“It’s amazing. I can’t wait, personally. The game’s different without the fans. We need the fans in arenas. In whatever sport it is, the fans make a difference and I’m sure the fans, I think it’s 2,300 of them tomorrow, they’re going to make a huge difference to how the players feel, to the atmosphere, to everything that happens in the game. I can’t wait to have them back and I hope they’re noisier than ever, I hope they’re more raucous than ever, I hope they get behind us and they roar us on.”
Fatai Alashe
Fatai Alashe
On how training camp has been…
“It’s been good, I think we’ve seen a lot of growth in the team over the last two weeks which is important. Guys are still getting used to each other but with the first game coming up next week I think it’s important that we’re starting to see some good progress and starting to learn our shape and our system a little bit better. We’ll hope to continue that this weekend and see if we can continue to grow those relationships leading into next week.”
On what the goal of this final preseason test is…
“The goal is to win. It’s the first time in a long time that the fans will be back in the stadium so that’s something that we’ve been thinking about as well. Obviously, we want to put on a good performance for them and then just to build our own confidence going heading into the first game. This one’s not for points, but we treat it the same as a real game.”
On what the identity of the 2021 team is…
“We set out to be a hardworking team that also has a lot of quality with the ball. We’re going to look to keep the ball, try to possess the ball as much as we can but also score goals but also keep it tight at the back and make sure we’re not conceding as well. I think it’s a well-rounded team that can do a lot, but we’ll try to dictate games for the most part and try to be on the ball because as players, that’s what we like to do.”
On how training camp has been…
“It’s been good, I think we’ve seen a lot of growth in the team over the last two weeks which is important. Guys are still getting used to each other but with the first game coming up next week I think it’s important that we’re starting to see some good progress and starting to learn our shape and our system a little bit better. We’ll hope to continue that this weekend and see if we can continue to grow those relationships leading into next week.”
On what the goal of this final preseason test is…
“The goal is to win. It’s the first time in a long time that the fans will be back in the stadium so that’s something that we’ve been thinking about as well. Obviously, we want to put on a good performance for them and then just to build our own confidence going heading into the first game. This one’s not for points, but we treat it the same as a real game.”
On what the identity of the 2021 team is…
“We set out to be a hardworking team that also has a lot of quality with the ball. We’re going to look to keep the ball, try to possess the ball as much as we can but also score goals but also keep it tight at the back and make sure we’re not conceding as well. I think it’s a well-rounded team that can do a lot, but we’ll try to dictate games for the most part and try to be on the ball because as players, that’s what we like to do.”
Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu
Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu
On how the 2021 preseason camp has been heading into the final tune-up test…
“Awesome. It’s been a good time. I think there’s been a lot of excitement because we get to get back and have fans. Hopefully have a real season, a normal season so there’s been a lot of positivity in terms of our energy. Ups and downs in terms of training and how games go, but that’s what preseason is for. Get in, get your work done and prepare for the season so overall, it’s been fun.”
On the approach heading into tomorrow’s match…
“Hopefully we put into effect the things we’ve been working on that past four weeks. I think we’ve had noticeable improvement in each of the preseason games we’ve had thus far. The idea is to keep in that same direction, you don’t want to regress. So, both in terms of how we play and the effort that we bring, we’re looking to keep moving forward.”
On what he hopes the 2,300 fans bring to the match against Monarchs…
“There’s no hope, it’s a certainty. I’m certain that they’ll bring every bit of energy, for every one person, it will feel like 20. My experience in brief that I had last year with fans in the stadium was incredible and I can’t wait, regardless of how many numbers are in the stands tomorrow, to experience that again.”
On how the 2021 preseason camp has been heading into the final tune-up test…
“Awesome. It’s been a good time. I think there’s been a lot of excitement because we get to get back and have fans. Hopefully have a real season, a normal season so there’s been a lot of positivity in terms of our energy. Ups and downs in terms of training and how games go, but that’s what preseason is for. Get in, get your work done and prepare for the season so overall, it’s been fun.”
On the approach heading into tomorrow’s match…
“Hopefully we put into effect the things we’ve been working on that past four weeks. I think we’ve had noticeable improvement in each of the preseason games we’ve had thus far. The idea is to keep in that same direction, you don’t want to regress. So, both in terms of how we play and the effort that we bring, we’re looking to keep moving forward.”
On what he hopes the 2,300 fans bring to the match against Monarchs…
“There’s no hope, it’s a certainty. I’m certain that they’ll bring every bit of energy, for every one person, it will feel like 20. My experience in brief that I had last year with fans in the stadium was incredible and I can’t wait, regardless of how many numbers are in the stands tomorrow, to experience that again.”
