Chicago Fire FC fell 3-2 to Inter Miami CF at DRV PNK Stadium on Wednesday night. Head coach Raphael Wicky, midfielder Gastón Giménez, and defender Francisco Calvo discussed the performance with media following the final whistle. Read their reactions below.
The Fire will remain in Florida to take on Orlando City SC next, with kickoff set for Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT on WGN-TV and CFFC Live.
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On the mood in the locker room and the level of disappointment with not getting a result out of the match against Inter Miami CF…
“Yeah, it's obviously big, when you get -- when you concede the loss in minute 90 plus three, or 90 and four, I don't know exactly what it was, that's obviously very, very painful and that's how the mood is right now.
Yeah, I think that's okay for now, and then tomorrow we've got to get up and move on. Get up again.”
On how he feels about the way the team played despite the result…
“Yeah, I think it was a good game. I think we came back well after the 1-0. We had a few adjustments. I think the team actually did really well with the ball. We found some good gaps. We were controlling the game, the score was 2-1 and I saw a lot of positives there.
But then at the end of the day we beat ourselves, we beat ourselves with the second goal which is too easy and the third goal, minute 93, we have the ball before the throw in. We have the ball; we could clear the ball. Those are little details where we have to make better decisions, not to concede so late and not to put ourselves into trouble and at least walk away with a point here.
Yeah, we have to learn from that, and I hope we learn from that because otherwise obviously things repeat.”
On how he prepares the players physically and mentally for the next match with such a quick turnaround…
“Yeah, first I give them a little time for themselves. I usually don't really talk after the game. I didn't do that today either. We all fly back now to Orlando and then tomorrow we will meet and we will talk and we will then move on.
We have to prepare again in two days or, in three days, there is another game, another tough game like every game in this league but in a game where we know if we do things right and better, we are able to get points, and that's how we will prepare.
At the end of the day, it's not our mentality to put our heads down and to give up. It's a tough loss tonight and it hurts, and it's okay that it hurts but then tomorrow we have to move on.”
On what Inter Miami did that opened up the defense in ways other teams hadn’t done recently…
“I have to watch the game again, but I think they made runs behind. They played a little direct sometimes. Even, they tried to obviously combine, but I think they stretched us a little bit with some of those runs. But I will have to watch the game again.
But in general, again, we give three goals away. I don't think we gave up that many chances. I think we were still quite stable and defended okay. It's just that the third goal is obviously, like I said, we had the ball before the throw in. We should clear that ball there. And the second ball is a long ball over the top where we don't track the runner, which is very easy and it has nothing to do with the shape or the system. It's just we have to track the runner.”
On the play in which Gastón Giménez wasn’t able to clear the ball, and how surprising it was to see that from him…
“It's not more surprising (than) from anyone else. Of course, he is a very experienced player and these are the moments we have to learn from. We are on the road and it’s minute 91, 92, there is a moment where we could clear the ball or we can take our shape again -- I have to watch the game if even there is a striker in front. But it is just those moments we have to make better situations, and whether with Gastón or another player.
Yeah, those are maybe the little things where we still, I think we are in a progression, but we have to learn then also how to be smart way from home and say, okay, 91, 92, we are just doing everything and just walking away with a point here and maybe not trying to find the playing solution in those moments. But on the other side it's also a strength from a lot of our players that we actually try to play and look for playing solutions.
But, yeah, in this moment it was not the best decision.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Gaston Gimenez
On the team’s frustration with the result, considering the tempo of the game…
“Yeah, the truth is we are very disappointed with the result and the game, especially when the moment that it happened, we had the game controlled. When we were up 2-1 we were moving the ball around and we had everything controlled.
And unfortunately we took our foot off for a second and we were distracted for just a second, and they were able to get the second goal and tie up the game, and so we weren't able to come away with the victory. We came with the illusion, with the thought of winning this game, of being able to win this game, and go up in the standings and come away moving up, but we ended up losing. Sometimes things go this way sometimes. This is football.
But fortunately for us we have another chance in a couple days so we can go ahead and look forward to another game shortly.”
On what went wrong for the team tonight…
“We'll surely see the mistakes after. The sensation on the field was that we had everything under control. So I don't think it was a question of tactics. The game is very dynamic. It changes throughout the game. Things change. So I don't think it was a question of anything tactical. You know, something within the game as it happens, things are changing, so maybe it was bad movement or motion by some player or something along those lines. So, we'll see it, we'll solve it and we'll make sure it doesn't happen again.”
On how confident he and the team are that they will win some games on this road trip…
“We always think that we can go into a game and win the game. We always play every game to win as well.
Me personally, and I know the team does as well, we are not thinking about whether we are on the road or whether we are at home. We are always going out there to go and win whether it's a game, whether it's in training. It's something that we have learned ever since we were young kids to go out there and always give everything you've got and be going to win.
So we are going to always go in with a winning mentality and we are going to fight until the end, and we'll see where destiny takes us.”
Chicago Fire Defender Francisco Calvo
On what changed defensively against Inter Miami…
“I am not sure if I really have an answer for that. Yeah, we concede three goals but it's not what the game looks like. I mean we were winning 2-1 and then we couldn’t control the game with the ball and I think we were a little bit spread out and so they started finding their pockets. Then they are getting Pizarro, which he was really active. Unfortunately he made the 3-2 in the 92nd minute.
On the disappointment of earning no points this match…
“It is sad. We are hurt of course. We want to win. Basically, yeah, we were winning and then we just, I don't know, we couldn't keep the result, it's clear. But we cannot be just dead, you know, because we have a game in two days. Now it's a really quick turnaround and try to beat Orlando.”
On how he moves on mentally from a heartbreaking defeat and prepares to face Orlando…
“It's tough. It's hard. Mentally of course you are disappointed with the result. It is how it is. It's gone. The game in Miami is gone already and now we need to think of Orlando. We are not happy. We are not happy because we want to win the game and at least tie the game.
But football is like that. That's why it's the most beautiful game in the world because it could change at any minute. Like I said before, mentally we need to try to clean right away and try to sleep tonight, which I don't think so, but we just try to just start thinking Orlando.”
On how much of a factor the heat and fatigue was for both teams…
“Yeah, for me it's not an excuse but the only difference is that they have one more day for recovery. We play Sunday and we have to travel. But it's not an excuse. I think in some parts of the game, we had really good moments. We need to take that and move on. The team has to keep the atmosphere positive. Try to keep pushing. We know what we have in front of us, six games on the road, and we need to take the results away from home. Today unfortunately it wasn't the best way to start. But we keep believing in the group and we keep believing that we can get some points on the road.”
On what positives the team can take away from the performance tonight…
“Like I said before in some parts of the game, we controlled the ball really well. I don't think that we were like really, really attacking them but we caused them some troubles in some part of the game. Teams like Miami, they have similar style like us. They have good players. We have good players.
But to be honest right now, it's too soon to think about it. We need to see some video. We need to analyze the game which we will do for sure and then we take the positive from that and try to correct the mistakes and keep going.”
