Veljko Paunovic, Chicago Fire Head Coach
On the performance of Sean Johnson
“It’s my responsibility because I ask our goalkeepers to every time it’s possible to try to catch the ball, so we move forward, we learn from everything and we’re happy with the performance because Sean had fantastic saves today. Sometimes you win, sometimes you have to go with the good game today on the road where I think we were a very good team, very competitive, I think we deserved more but in the end, as I always say, you get what you actually deserve. We’ve got to get better, we were very close, maybe the first time on the road that we were close to winning the game and in the end, we learn from our mistakes and move forward.”
On the impact of Michael de Leeuw
“Michael improved our overall performance, not only in the attack but even our style is better with Michael since he’s been here. He’s another leader on the field with players like David and a couple of other guys, and he’s actually the silent leader who works and does the best for the team, so we’re very happy with Michael and we know that he’s going to do even better because the team is improving and I’m very excited to see his performance in the future.”
On the presence of the road winless streak
“We play our games to win. Facts like that, they’re there but we don’t think about it because we want to win our games, this is how we play. We have our game plan, we’re trying to execute it the best we can and I think today we were very close. We move forward.”
On returning to face New England in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal
“We learn from every single game. It’s a great training for us, something that will give us better insight on how to prepare for the next game against New England because it’s very close, completely different from the experience that we had here earlier this year. It’s a great experience for us and we will prepare well for the Open Cup game.”
David Accam, Chicago Fire Midfielder
Thoughts on the match
“It was a great effort from the team, we played really well. I think one of our best hour of a game that we played but we lost at the last minute. I’m really proud of the team for how we played, even though we didn’t get the result.”
On the positives from the match
“We created a lot of chances, we were really organized, so for me I think the future is bright. From what I saw today, if we keep going I know the results will come.”
On returning to New England for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal
“I think it’s an advantage for us because we’ve lost twice here and from what I saw today, I’m really encouraged that if we keep going we can get something positive. For me, it’s a good thing that we have to play them again here so we can prepare and come back stronger.”
Sean Johnson, Chicago Fire Goalkeeper
Thoughts on the game
“I thought we fought well for 90 minutes, obviously giving away the late goal was disappointing after fighting so hard, but you go down fighting, try to do the best you can to grind out a result and it just didn’t come off and I’ll take that one on me, and really look to come out next week and do it all over again. I think we showed that we can defend well as a team. These things happen when you’re trying to do all you can to help your team win but it’s a part of the game, just have to bounce back and do it all over again.”
