Coach Bruce Arena: David’s a real good player. There is no question about it. He’s a person with a lot of pride, along with that outstanding ability that he has. He did everything he could tonight to lead this team. I thought his performance was absolutely outstanding. You talk about a player that technically is quick, mentally is quick. He was fabulous tonight. He had a number of attacking opportunities, and he did the defending he needed to do. And the way he got out on the break in the second half was remarkable. David gave 100 percent tonight. No question about it, an excellent performance. Defender Omar Gonzalez: David did awesome today. He put a lot of effort today defensively and offensively, he helped us with his goal and to set up Edson [Buddle]’s goal. It was just great stuff from him tonight.
Midfielder Chris Birchall: I think with me playing it gives David the license to go forward and not really so determined to get back. It gives him license to take a bit of a risk because he knows he’s got me filling in behind.
Forward Landon Donovan: We needed a lot of guys to step up and be leaders tonight after last weekend. He was at the forefront of tonight; he was excellent all night. (*I thought that was really nice of him!)
And David himself:
On the result: It was a big night tonight, especially after last weekend. Tonight was a performance of the team. We worked hard all week, and the atmosphere was weird going into the game, I must admit. The players were quiet. We didn’t feel that comfortable at the start of the game. Once we got on the pitch, once we started playing, once we started passing the ball around, we calmed down. Tonight was an important performance.
On his performance: Some games happen like this. Some times you have no shots in a game or no free kicks and sometimes you have 20 free kicks and shots. Tonight I had a few. I hit the post. I should have three goals tonight, to be honest. I’ve never scored a hat trick. If I was going to—tonight was the night. You know what—it was about the team’s performance tonight.
On Buddle and Franklin returning to the starting lineup: It’s great to see Eddie (Buddle) back, Sean Franklin back. They are two talented players. Sean’s been out for a while. And for him to play 90 minutes, it was exceptional. Eddie is a player that puts himself in great areas to score goals. He’s strong, passionate; he’s a very good player.
source: LA Galaxy
