Channel your inner Mike Petke (hair dye optional)

By now it is widely know and recognized among Real Salt Lake fans that Mike Petke is not afraid to speak his mind during press conferences follow matches. The away game at Minnesota was his first as head coach (albeit in the stands ) and so in honor of their visit to Rio Tinto we want to learn just how much you have learned about Coach Petke in the past couple of months.

What is the single sentence that you would like to hear come from Coach Petke following the Minnesota rematch on Saturday? Will he be complementing players or really letting it rip? Who or what might come to the fore and be mentioned?

Here are a few of his comments since accepting the role of head coach to get your mind working:

On becoming head coach

“They (the team) know very well right now, it’s definitely on myself and the coaching staff, but they have to buy into it, they have to be a part of the process as well.”

“Of course, everyone always looks when the goal’s scored, who was it scored on, who was the defender that made the mistake or overcompensated or didn’t have his mark, so for me it’s not just a mentality thing, it’s a starting point position thing.”

On the victory over Vancouver Whitecaps

“And I saw that it didn’t work at times, but the most important thing we saw tonight was that in one week the certain little tweaks that we want to make, they (the team) took it and they implemented it and they tried to implement it.”

“I mean I am yelling like a lunatic from the sideline telling them to possess the ball and my coaches are looking at me like I have three heads.”

“You can’t really see through it so then it just comes down to who wants it more, I guess.”

On the victory over Colorado Rapids

“It says a lot about their heart and character.”

“With a league like this, it comes down to not giving up and pushing until last minute.”

“They (Rapids) got behind the ball very quick and limited our opportunities going forward.”

On the loss to Sporting Kansas City

“Our plan was to manage the first 15 minutes and then from there things should open up. “

“Then in the second half, we give up another goal which I have some questions about, but I don’t want to say anything because I don’t want to get fined but there were some question marks on that goal.“

“Having said that, any time you come out losing 3-0 it’s tough to look for positives, but there were some.”

On the home loss to FC Dallas

“I have to prepare them better next week going into New England.”

“You know, there are things that we talked about that were done in slow movements and slow transition.”

“I am very frustrated right now, I am very angry right now, I am disgusted right now and I am trying to figure out a way, without being cliché to put it on myself.”

“In practice this week it was good but I go back that it falls on me because perhaps I didn’t talk enough about the energy of the game, and starting off strongly and taking it to them, and we’re at home, and rah-rah-rah crap.”

On the loss to Seattle Sounders

“(...) I told the guys after the game, and they understand and I think they agree, that this was not a loss tonight.”

“Over the last three or four weeks, there’s always been a slip up and it always had to do with the game plan and guys falling asleep or not listening – who knows.”

“I don’t let them have free reign, but I’m very clear that if you isolate someone out wide, I’ll never get on you for losing the ball.”

On the victory over Philadelphia Union

“I thought the first half we played some of our best soccer I thought at times, I even thought the second half at times as well.”

“We managed the game well and that was a big thing that we talked about coming into this, about managing the first 15 minutes specifically, because of the last month and half of giving up early goals and making mental mistakes.”

“I am never satisfied; I want 15-20 passes, god’s honest truth.”

On the loss to Houston Dynamo

“I apologize to the fans, I apologize to my owner, I apologize to Craig, my GM.”

“I could give you cliches, make something really quirky up, innovative ... but I guess we just crumple it up like a piece of paper and look forward to Dallas.”

“The losses didn’t feel that devastating, because there were good things in those losses — you know, new concepts that we’re trying to get to them, players that perhaps aren’t used to doing certain things.”

“Tonight, you can’t really take much.”

On the away loss to FC Dallas

“I advised them to workout during their break because when they get back, and we have the Under-20 and injured boys back, they are going to be fighting like dogs for positions because it's not good enough.”

“It's not good enough individually, collectively, from key players in key positions, not talking about everybody on the field, but I'm at a point now where I can't protect people anymore.”

“I've never been through something like this.”

On the US Open Cup loss to Sacramento Republic

“The rationale behind the lineup is that we have a very good USL side so they deserved to play and we have some guys who are looking for minutes and we also have a big game on the weekend”

“I'm not going to share that publicly, but there are certainly some questions both good and bad that were answered today.”

“They (Sacramento) deserved it today.”