QUOTE SHEET
Chicago Fire FC 2:2 Minnesota United
Match Recap
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On what is stopping the team from being able to pick up three points in games in which the team leads…
“I look at the end of the day, it's a lot of the same mistakes throughout the whole season. First, we create a lot of chances; we miss those big chances. Missing a big chance alone in front of a goalie is like making a big mistake as a defender, as a goalkeeper. So we do mistakes on both ends of the game, and that goes throughout the whole year. And then on the other side, we give up often similar goals. We give up often set piece goals. We had a 2-0 lead and I know they have some big guys, but again, we gave a set piece goal away again in Nashville, so it's a lot of similarities almost in every game.”
“Yeah, what is it? Is it focus? Concentration? Is it bad luck? Is it quality? I cannot tell you. I can't give you the answer. I'm obviously happy that we create so much. That is obviously a positive, but I'm obviously not happy that we don't score these goals.”
On whether a result like tonight’s hurts despite the playoffs still being within reach…
“Yeah, we know it's all in our hands. We still know that. It's just right now directly after the game. We're very disappointed. We came here, we had the game in our hands. I think, honestly, we should have been 3-1 up at halftime and we should have, after 2-0, we should have killed that game. It was all there. And again, we don't do it, so that's why it really hurts. The result hurts. We still take a point. We know scenarios for Sunday, but right now after the game, this one hurts, and it's a game we shouldn't have drawn. We should have won this game, period.”
On whether he is confident about getting three points on Sunday…
“Oh, of course. Of course, I'm confident. We have shown throughout the whole season that we can compete with every team; that we can beat teams. So I'm confident. Right now, I'm disappointed right now. But of course I'm confident to go into the game against New York City at home that we can win that, of course.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Francisco Calvo
On what the team needs to do to consistently finish games…
“It hurts, first of all, it hurts, because we feel this is like a loss, even though we are getting a point on the road. We were controlling the game. We were managing the game. I think the subs for Minnesota changed the game. That's my personal opinion. They get into the game with good rhythm, with good intensity and they changed. We got a little bit tired in the end, I think, and then we concede the second goal, I mean the two goals, and then what happened, happened, you know. I know that this can happen but we need to fix this right away. We have another final on Sunday and we're just looking for that now.”
On what went wrong for the team away from home all season…
“I mean, to be honest, if I take the game in Columbus where we lost 3-0, I think we controlled the majority of the games. Yeah, we didn't get the results. We got some ties, but I don't have an answer for that. I think that the team needs to be more together. It needs to grow more as a team, grow as a group. That's all I can say about that.”
On whether the game tonight had any additional meaning for him considering that Minnesota was the team that traded him away last year…
“No, no. I just said thank you to them because they bring me to MLS, but I represent Chicago with every honor and I'm proud that I’m with this team, and also because they take me when they make the trade. It's just a normal game for me.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Jonathan Bornstein
On what is lacking that allows the team to build leads but not be able to finish the game off…
“I mean, that's a difficult question. Obviously if we knew the answer, we would try and fix it as quickly as we could. You know, just got to be a little bit more mature as a group, and know how to manage the game a little bit better. I think we're growing as a team. We have made leaps and bounds in terms of building the group and being able to create results at the beginning, but lately we haven't been able to finish out games. So it's definitely something we've got to work on and hopefully next game we can definitely figure out how to get that win and close out the game.
On what went wrong for the team all season away from Soldier Field…
“I mean, you know, I think with Chicago in general, been struggling on the road since I got here even last season. Before that Houston game last year, we were not finding results on the road. And so it's carried over and it’s something we need to focus a lot more on is when we go on the road, especially if we get up, figuring a way to finish out games and get points. You know, winning on the road is so important in this league because you steal points, and obviously with a few road wins, we find ourselves easily in the table for playoffs. I don't have a true answer as to why we can't win on the road, but we're definitely trying to figure it out and get that aspect a little bit better going forward.”
On how the team feels going into Sunday knowing it needs a win to qualify for playoffs…
“Yeah, that's it. We're conscious of that. We know, you know, at home we've actually been a lot better in terms of getting results and getting wins. New York is not an easy opponent, but that's the mentality we're going with is three points, it's in our hands. Put a good game together and then get those three points and qualify for playoffs, and then, you know, once you're in, you're in. You can get a good run of games going and you find yourselves champions. That's our plan, get three points on Sunday and never look back.”
