Read what Frank Klopas, Patrice Bernier and Troy Perkins had to say about the Impact's newest player, Issey Nakajima-Farran and the team's upcoming road game against the Colorado Rapids, on Saturday, May 24.
Frank Klopas
On split training…
A lot of the guys have played a lot of minutes over the last couple of weeks, so they did some regeneration inside and the rest were on the field today. It was nice to see Marco [Di Vaio] and Nelson [Rivas] out there today. Adrian [Lopez] is getting closer, so that is good for us as well.
On Issey Nakajima-Farran…
He played some games with the national team. He’s a good technical player and has some good ideas in the final third. He’ll fit in nicely here. He works extremely hard. Coming from Europe, the rules are different where you would have a guaranteed contract. He was a little shocked at first, but he seems excited to be here now.
On having two goal scorers with Jack’s recent success…
It’s good to have a couple of guys like that. We have a lot of games coming up so we need to have fresh legs ready to come in and give us a chance to win. With the travel and injuries, you don’t have a full squad, so it can be tough.
Patrice Bernier
On Issey…
We played together for two years in Denmark and on the national team. He’s a good guy personality wise and on the field he’s creative and can play anywhere in an attacking role. His creativity can unblock things offensively and is good down the wings. Now we have to help him get comfortable as possible as quickly as possible.
On Colorado…
They are a little different this year, but last season, they were big and athletic, with good qualities in the midfield. For us, we have to take all the possible from the last two games and bring that to Colorado. It’s not an easy place to play with the altitude. On our last visit in 2012 we didn’t win, but it was the start for us of a lot of positives moving forward and hopefully we can go there and do the same this year.
Troy Perkins
What was the difference in Saturday’s game…
Our mindset. We talked all week about starting over, we still have time to say, this is game one and approach it that way. We wanted to go into the game with confidence and install our style of play. We went in there as a unit and did that.
On Issey…
He’s quick. He’s a tactical player and I think he’s going to fit in well here. I didn’t get to see him that much with the group split, but the club knows what they are doing. He adds another attacking option and some diversity. Having both Issey and Justin (Mapp) on the wings will be dangerous.
On the imminent return of Rivas…
First off, he’s a big boy! I’ve seen guys run into him and they bounce right off. He adds that physical aspect that we probably don’t have just yet. But also his experience, he’s played at a high level against some of the best players in the world, so he’ll bring a lot to the table.
