QUOTE SHEET
Chicago Fire FC 1:1 Nashville SC
Match Recap
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On whether it is encouraging that the team controlled play for most of the second half or frustrating to not obtain three points…
“To your first question, I'm proud of the reaction of the guys. We are in a very difficult place here, and we all know that, Nashville is a team that defends very well and doesn't concede a lot of chances; if you look over the whole season, who doesn't concede a lot of goals. And we came back, which is not easy against them, coming back away; we did, and a good reaction from the team. And then a totally dominant second half with moments with hitting the post, and actually being quite good, organized, for not running into counterattack. Of course they had one or two opportunities or moments where they counterattack, and that's normal when you play against a team who is sitting that low that at one point may have a counterattack. We actually did well in that. I'm happy with what I see from my team and I'm happy with the progress over the last two and a half, three months, the team, I'm very happy with that. That gives me a very positive feeling for the future whatever happens. But I'm frustrated that we cannot win these games because we came here to win. I mean, a lot of those games in the last two months, two and a half months, were there for us to win, as well. Yeah, that's frustrating, but on the other side, like I said, I'm very happy with a lot of things I see from the team.”
On Minnesota United’s Sunday match being postponed and whether there is anything he would like to see done to avoid repeating what happened the last time the team had a game against Minnesota…
“Well, of course, I mean, we would like to know before obviously. I don't have all the details on how many cases and when the cases came out. So I think now maybe the league or the teams have more time to prepare and to analyze what the situation in Minnesota is, and hopefully we can get an answer by Monday or latest by Tuesday morning so that we can also prepare our week of training and not lose, like last time, not fly up there and then have a last-minute cancellation.”
“But on the other side, look, it's not in our control. Everyone tries to do the best they can. Everyone tries to keep people safe, and so we trust the league, and yeah, hopefully we get a result and we get an answer sooner than later.”
On whether he is approaching this week as a referendum on the season…
“No, not really. Of course, we all want to make the playoffs. We believe that we can make the playoffs. I see the progress. I see the progress and the process of this team, and I see a lot of progress, like I said. I see it in every single game. I saw since we started against Columbus after the Orlando tournament, I see a huge, a huge progress on this team, and that is what gives me the feeling, that's what I take and that's what I want to see, and then of course, we are all a competitor. We all want to win. We all want to qualify and play for a title or play for a trophy or something.”
“But it shouldn't be -- the two last games shouldn't define if this was a good first year or bad first year. It's honestly the way we play, what we do, how the team progresses, and that's something which right now gives me a lot of positive feelings. But we know that we want to transform that into winning. That's the step we need to work on.”
On whether he will be watching the matches on Sunday whose outcomes may affect the Fire’s position in the standings…
“Of course, we are watching. Of course we want to go into the playoffs. We know that certain results would help us to be in a better position. So I think that's just human. We never wish anyone bad, but of course if a team who is competing with us doesn't win or loses, we are not going to cry. But in the end of the day, again, that's out of our control, and I said it a lot in the last week to my team and to my staff: We can always look at the others, but we have to win our game.”
“So we are going to watch these games and by the end of the day, if we have one or two games left, we're going to make our points. That's more important. That's what we can actually -- what we can work for and what we can control more than the other.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Mauricio Pineda
On how he feels about the importance and uncertainty of the games in the upcoming week…
“Yeah, they actually just told me about the Minnesota game right now. I think we are just going to prepare as if we’re going to play Minnesota on Wednesday. I think that's all we could do, just control what we can control, and if we have the game, that's not really up to us. So we'll just prepare as well as we can for that and just see what happens with the league.”
On MLS changing the standings to points per game and how much it changes how he views tonight’s result…
“I don't think it changes much. I think we came here wanting three points. Obviously, it was a really difficult match, so we're happy with taking one point on the road. But I think we go into every game, regardless, looking for three points. I don't think that will change much for our team and our mentality going into games.”
On his assist to Boris Sekulić…
“I think in my mind I was taking the space to look for a shot. I was pretty determined to take a shot from there. It was still a little far out, so that's why I kind of hesitated. When I looked up, I saw Boki (Boris Sekulić) pretty much wide open. Not sure if maybe everyone else was expecting me to shoot because of my body language, but yeah, Boki was in a good spot and luckily he put it away.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Miguel Navarro (translated from Spanish)
On whether it was encouraging to control play against a playoff team or frustrating to not obtain all three points…
“Good night, first of all. Yeah, we are a little bit upset, a little bit sad because we felt like we could have taken the three points and come away with a victory. But it does give us a good feeling. We are very happy about having played well. We had a good game. We controlled the ball and managed that well, and we were -- we did have good possession, and so we leave here with a sensation, a feeling that we're starting to play better than our opponent, and that's what our coach wants. That's the confidence that he's instilled in us, and so now we just keep moving forward.”
On the team’s second half performance…
“Well, I think mostly what Coach told us was to control the ball, to keep the ball -- keep control of the ball and manage that well, and that's what we did. We kept the ball. We kept playing. We managed the thread, the rhythm of the game, and we were able to play a good game, I won't say a great game because we didn't come away with the three points but that's what Coach told us to do, and so we walk away with a good feeling.
On whether he will be watching the matches on Sunday that may impact the Fire’s ability to make the playoffs…
“I'm the type of person that always says God's timing is perfect. If the time comes and it's time for us to be in the playoffs, then He's going to decide, and in the meantime we are going to put our part and do whatever we have to do to keep working on the field. Maybe it would be nice for opposing teams to give us a hand or tie or lose where we could use those points but we are going to keep going on the field and playing our hardest and do what we have to do so we can move forward and make it into the playoffs.”
