Chicago Fire FC drew Orlando City SC 0-0 at Soldier Field on Saturday night. Following the match, Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson, midfielder Mauricio Pineda, and defender Miguel Navarro assessed the team's performance.
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson
On the lack of goals two games into the regular season…
“Well, a couple of things. It's not too concerning because I think we have enough quality to get some goals. I think the goals will come. Had we been sitting here after a 3-3 tie, I wouldn't have liked that. Not that I like a 0-0 tie, but at least we're doing the defensive part of it and we're keeping that intact. Now if we could continue to keep games at zero and then get the attacking part of it going, then all as well. So right now, just a couple of games into the season. Guys are still learning from each other. Today was kind of hard to play. The way we want to play because of the wind, and you know, the field not being the greatest. But as far as major concern, No, but you know, I like to see goals and goals win games. Now, if we could continue to keep the zero and add the attacking part to it, then you know, I'll be much happier, to be honest.”
On the quality of the field and if he was surprised by it…
“Well, it's winter time still in Chicago. It was a nice day out but you know that field is probably not gonna get to be a near perfect surface until maybe the springtime you know, so that's something both teams have to play on it. So, it’s not an excuse by any means. We have to find a way of getting the ball in the back of the net. But you know, it's probably easier - two problems to fix. Had it been we can't keep the balls in the back of the net then that would have been some concern after a couple of games. We'll get the attacking part of it better.”
On the lack of defensive growing pains and what he attributes the defensive success to…
“Well, I think we have to totally buy into the way we're trying to defend as a team. We put ourselves in trouble when we hold the ball too long. We still have the speed of play down. Or tonight we had a couple miscues on passes, you know back half. Other than that, we didn't really get broken down. So as a team, I think we have total buy in by everyone that's on the pitch. And so that's helping us defensively. We have good defenders but the team defending is what I can attribute the clean sheets to. We just got to continue to do that and find a way of unlocking because when you have Shaq and you have Czichos, those guys on the pitch, Gaston, the goals will come but keeping a clean sheet is something that I think comes from total team buy in and what how we're trying to defend as a team. It's making it very difficult for teams to break us down. But now we just got to be better, you know, in the front half and I guarantee we'll fix that.”
On the VAR decision and what he saw from the sidelines…
“When I saw it, I thought it was a handball trap. But once the goal is called, you know, it's really, really difficult to overturn that. So I haven't seen it yet, but obviously the ref saw something that I initially thought I saw, but I guess that's why you have VAR, you know, to help in situations like that. I’ll have to go back and look at it to be clear about it. But when he when he brought it down, I thought maybe he trapped it you know with with both arms but thank God for VAR I guess”
On overall impressions of the team compared to last weeks’ performance…
“Well, compared to last week, I thought last week, we created more chances, more opportunities, put ourselves in better positions to score, even though we did have a couple of good chances. (Brian) Guti (Gutierrez) late in the game off (Xherdan) Shaq's cross there. He did give us a couple good chances. I think (Rafael) Czichos had another head off of Shaqiri’s cross. So not enough chances created this week as we did last week. Crowd atmosphere was great. It's nice to see. The one thing with this team as far as the overall game, what we talked to them about before the game in the pregame speech was three key values that this organization and these our supporters hold sacred. That's tradition, honor, and passion. And I told him tonight as the guys you know, you started a tradition. You started a tradition where this team is gonna be known as a team that's very hard to score on a team that's very hard to beat. The tradition of if we're not going to win the game, you're not going to win the game because we’re not going to let you score, so that's a tradition. We talked about honor, you saw the way the guys played, talked about playing for the badge and going out there and fighting, you know, and doing whatever it takes, you know, no run is too hard to make, no tackles too hard to do. You know, and they went and did that tonight. We talked about passion. You know, maybe a little too passionate because we ended up with a lot of yellow cards tonight. But I don't mind that, you know, guys are fighting. We talked about the city being a hard working city, a city of hard working, successful people. And that's what we want to show every week when we step on to pitch that we are a hard working team. And if we continue to do that we will be a successful team. And I thought the guys came out and played really, really well. Tonight. I'm very impressed if you want to talk about individuals. Gaston (Gimenez), he showed me something very, very special. The way he played today, the ground he covered today. That's what you need to see for your DP. And that trickles down. You know, when the young guy sees your DP making tackles like that and working hard like that. You have no choice. You know, it's contagious. So it's good to see that and I'm very happy over the course of the two games, what we've done now. Am I satisfied? No, because I want to see goals. I want to see the ball in the back of the net. Like I said previously, so good. Another good game but we need to create more chances.”
On Federico Navarro and why he wasn’t a part of the game tonight…
"Well, in the latter part of preseason he took a knock, had an injury. He will eventually start. We will have to get him on the pitch because he's a big part of this team. He's a good player. He's a ball winner. And we need that, the way we want to play, we want to always have the ball. When we lose it, we need to have guys on the pitch that could win the ball back. You know when we take possession a lot of people just think possession is just, you know, having a ball but you know, it's not realistic to think that you're going to have the ball 100% of the game. So when you do lose it, you have got to have people on the pitch to regain that possession. So recovery is a big part of keeping possession. And Fede is a big part of that. But you know, the way the guys played last week, it was hard to make a change in the squad, but you know, he's been doing well in training. He's back training with us now and, and he'll get his minutes because like I said, he's, he's a big part of what we do and he's a big part of us. Being able to regain possession when we lose it and help us keep possession. So he’s not in the doghouse or anything like that. It's just, you know, after last week's game, I had a talk with the coaches and staff and it's kind of hard to, you know, take anyone out of the midfield to insert him, so he'll get his minutes.”
On only using two substitutions throughout the course of the game…
“Well, it's a situation where you're at home and you haven't given up a goal. And you think, okay, maybe the guys that you have on the pitch can get you that goal. You know, if you want to make a sub, you know, I guess you're insinuating going for a goal. Who do you take out? You know, do you take out Czichos who you know might be able to give you a goal? Do you take out a Shaq that might be able to give you a goal? So we didn't find it necessary to make a third substitution. Because we thought with what we had the pitch after the two sub, it was good enough to get us a goal. And so, you know, we had two young kids come in, (Jhon) Duran and Guti, I thought Guti played really well. I like to see, he's a very talented player, but sometimes he shies away from taking the game to the opponent, but tonight I thought, you know, whenever he picked it up, he was hungry and he was going, going at defenders, you know, trying to create it. That's what we need from our young players. But all in all, I thought the subs that we made would be sufficient to get a goal so that's why there wasn’t a third sub made”
On the team's gameplan, especially heading into the second half…
“Well, our game plan is to attack, get the ball into the front half and be very dominant with our possession, but progressive possession, breaking lines, and getting into the attack. Unfortunately, we had the wind come into our face in the first half. So it became difficult to play, you know, to execute our game plan, our style of play, how we like to play. That being said, when we talk possession, this team and getting into the front half, we don't really care how we get into the front half. If it's from a goal kick or it's a long ball. We just want to get the ball into the front half and let the game be played in their back half. And I thought we were able to do that a little bit in the second half because the first half was hard just because the wind was, you know, in our face. We were a bit nervy and started the game in the first 15-20 minutes. Opening match home game, good crowd. I thought some of the guys were a little bit nervy. We settled in after about 15-20 minutes. But still not you know the possession type of game that we like to play and that we came here to try to play. They are a very dangerous team on the counter, right? They're very fast. They have some very fast players so that they can sit in with it on a turnover and go at you they become very dangerous, and we were trying to avoid that. But our game plan is always to attack, attack, attack. If you lose it, get it back as quickly as possible. And attack, attack, attack. So that was nothing changed tonight, but to the first part of the question. Thank you for your well wishes. Appreciate that.”
Chicago Fire Midfielder Mauricio Pineda
On a second straight shutout for the team, but no goals for the offense…
“Yeah, I think that's the base. That's where we can start off and we can build off of that if we're not conceding goals, I think that's a good sign. Obviously over time, as the season goes on, we'll keep improving on the offense. And once the goals come, it'll be perfect that we're still not giving up, anything in the back. So I think we're happy with where we're at. Everyone's working hard working together as a team to keep the zero in the back and we can build off of that.”
On the atmosphere tonight…
“The atmosphere was great. For me playing at home obviously it's great to see a crowd like that. At one point the game was paused and I saw a wave going around the stadium. So it was amazing.
It's amazing to see that type of atmosphere at our game. So we're excited to have more of that in the upcoming home games.”
On what the team thought about the Video Review that overturned Orlando’s goal...
“It was hard in the game to see where that handball was. But as soon as it happened, everyone was excited and ready to keep going. I think we maybe got bailed out a little bit there, but that's part of the game. Sometimes it goes our way, sometimes it doesn't. But obviously the thing was there to try to get a goal and keep pushing the game.”
On if he has seen any improvement from week one…
“It's hard to say right now. Obviously the game is fresh. There's a lot that goes on in the game. We would have to go back and look at some things that we did better. Obviously not everything's perfect but that's the goal – that every game we keep improving little by little. So we'll take a look at that and try to improve it next game.”
On how comfortable he feels playing in the midfield…
“I think it's something that I've trained since starting preseason. So it's been good that I've been getting the reps there. Obviously last year, I was playing mostly center back but I was in both positions. But the good thing is I have been getting reps there since I started this preseason and little by little I've been feeling more and more comfortable there. So hopefully just try to improve whether it's there or centerback, ready to play both.”
On his thoughts on Orlando’s goal that was overturned…
“Yeah, it's obviously disappointing when you give up a goal like that. I would say for parts of the game, we felt like we were in control in the game. Obviously the game was back and forth for parts of it but everyone's working hard, everyone's working for each other so it's disappointing to give up a goal like that late in the game. Like I said, luckily we got a little bailed out by that and at that point we were just ready to move on.”
On how he assesses Xherdan Shaqiri’s performance…
“It's hard to say. I think as a player you just try to use every game to try to get to know him, try to get to know your entire team. Obviously it's somewhat of a new team. So just keep getting reps in and training and games and trying to get to know him, where he likes to pick up the ball and where he likes to be in different spaces. So I think over time, that's something that we will keep growing together, not only with him, but with the entire team. So that's what I'm looking forward to.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Miguel Navarro
On the team’s performance…
“I think the team looked good. I think we did well. In the first half there were some nerves there I think for being the first game at home in front of our fans. But as the game went on, we started opening up and we started loosening up. Now this is something that’s going to go step by step. We have a new coach with new ideas and I think with each game, we’re going to start getting better and find a rhythm.”
On what he saw during the play that resulted in the goal, which was later overturned by Video Review…
“I saw it clearly that when he went to control the ball, he controlled with his arms toward the front, forward. And it was so so clear that they were going to look it over and it wasn’t going to count.”
On the atmosphere with 25,477 fans out there today…
“We did know that there were going to be quite a few people out there, that it was going to be a great crowd and I think that’s something that we need, for us, for the crowd to keep coming out because it’s great. We need the support from the fans whenever we go out there. I think that the more they come, we need them to come so that we can feel it as well, to give us support and joy.”
On how much of a concern it is that the team hasn’t generated very many goals, even during preseason…
“We know that it’s pretty urgent for us to start scoring goals. But I think the first thing is to defend and then after that we can think about going forward and scoring goals, so we’re not very nervous. We’re tranquil and in here, I mean, we got a point, well, we actually let go two points. We know that at home we have to do better. We have to do better here on our own field. But I think the new ideas are coming through and in every training session that goes by, and every day, we’re going to work hard and keep moving forward. And as the training sessions go on, we’re getting more comfortable and getting more confidence. And then, after that, well, I’m sure we’re going to start scoring more goals, which is the most important.”
On getting two clean sheets in the first two matches and what is different defensively this year from last year…
“We've been working a lot on the defensive end of things. I think that on our part, we're working hard on both attacking and defending as a team. So, last year, we did let in a lot of goals but this year we're working hard defending first as a unit and going forward as a unit and it makes us more solid, a more solid group. So we attack and defend all together as a unit and I think you know, as games go on little by little we're going to keep improving.”
On how he perceives the growth of Venezuelan football, with several players playing in the U.S., Mexico and other leagues…
“Yeah, the growth of football in Venezuela has been growing for several years. I think, we've been able to come through. There players here and players and other leagues, we've been able to open doors for younger players to come through both in MLS and other leagues across the the world. And so the improvement has been growing slowly and that's really important for the national team to be able to grow, which is allows us to continue opening doors for everyone which is since the national team has a dream for everyone who plays.”
On whether he wants to become a leader on the Chicago Fire defense…
“Of course. It's not a secret that every player comes on to a team and they're not necessarily trying to become a huge figure on the team, they want to become a leader on the team. And we're all working really hard together on both aspects. We're working hard on the defense in order to be able to work towards getting the results, little by little, so we're all working really hard and yes, I definitely want to be the leader on the team and help consolidate the defense and be one of the pillars on the Chicago Fire.”
