Chicago Fire head coach Raphael Wicky and goalscorers Boris Sekulić and Mauricio Pineda recap the team's 3-3 draw against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night at Soldier Field.
The Fire are back home for the third of four-straight matches at Solder Field next Saturday, July 7, against Atlanta United.
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On the mood of the team following a draw…
"Yeah, it's always a little bit in between. I think we take the positive out of this. Against Philly, it’s a good point, coming back, coming back, fighting back. Yeah, we are disappointed about the last goal but at the end of the day, I think it's a good point against them and we take the positives. I think the mood, the mood right now is okay, like I think in the beginning everyone is (down), but then after 10 minutes or so, you realize, okay, I think there was a lot of positives and we have to take that. That's how it is now. Same with me as well."
On what caused a strong attacking performance…
"I don’t have an answer for that right now. I mean, look, there were some games where we didn't create many chances. This in the last 10 games, in this new season now, I agree, but there were also a lot of games where we actually created chances, where we hit the posts two or three times, where we really had chances but just didn't score. Today, obviously we scored three, which is great; two set pieces which is also good, since those are the first, if I am not wrong, the first two set piece goals that we have. That is good, and overall we had some good movement going forward. I'm happy about that. Why exactly that is, I cannot tell you. I’m happy that today we scored but then again, you score three at home, you wish that you’d win."
On what to take from this game going forward…
"Yeah, we have to take the positive from this, we have to analyze what we have to do better and then keep working and keep trying to do the similar things, taking the positive out of it. That's all we can do. Go to train every day and keep working on trying to repeat this performance. Also, the mental performance from the second half, because just giving up these two goals before halftime against a very good team in the league, knowing that it's not easy to create chances against them, and then coming back. I think mentally, hopefully that gives the players confidence because obviously we spoke about that last time, when you don't win many games, your confidence level of an athlete goes down very, very quickly. So hopefully, this gives them confidence."
Chicago Fire FC Defender Boris Sekulić
On feeling frustrated or relieved after tonight’s tied game…
“I guess both. We had 1-0 and then 3-2, so I think we’re all angry. In the end, it’s good that at least we have one point but I think considering that we were leading 3-2, 10 or 15 minutes before the end, I think we were all angry about the result in the end.”
On being involved with two goals…
“I don’t know, it's hard to say. I have to see the replay. I was close to Bobby (Shuttleworth) so for sure I wasn’t expecting this ball. It hit my shoulder so I think it was hard to react but I have to see the replay. We all thought it was (a) foul a few seconds before so in the end I think we were unlucky.”
On playing on the wet field...
“The pitch was really hard to play (on). There was a lot of water especially on our right side in the second half. It was full of water. It was hard to pass and hold the ball, so this game was mostly about duels and fighting. We knew this from before. We were on the pitch a few minutes before the game so we knew how it will be.”
On feeling the fans’ support…
“Oh yes, for sure. I’m from Europe. In Europe if you lose eight from 10 games it’s a little bit different. We feel [the fans’] support even when our results are bad in this moment. We cannot expect more people in the stadium until we start winning. That’s all I can say about this and thanks to all the people who came today in this weather to support us.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender/Midfielder Mauricio Pineda
On the feeling of tying the game or not receiving all three points…
“Yeah, I think it was a really emotional game. And at the end, I think we’re happy with the point. Having worked so hard at first to go uo. Going up again in the second half after being down and giving up a goal to lose our lead sort of late in the game was a little upsetting after that everyone put in. A little mixed with the feelings after the game, but we'll take the point and move on to next week.”
On recovering emotionally from Wednesday night’s match…
“I think that it’s important that we knew that every game is a new opportunity. Every game starts 0-0 and we have to clear our minds from what happened in the last two games. I think we did a pretty good job of that after only having two days to turn around to the next game. We knew the game would be tight. The weather was very hard to play in but we knew it would be a fight. I’m happy with the fight everyone put in. We’ll take the point from that difficult game.”
On getting more opportunities from Raphael Wicky...
“I felt the same throughout the season. Whether I was on the bench or starting the game, I feel motivated and ready to help the team in whatever way I can, so that’s how I feel from that standpoint.”
On being frustrated with games this season…
“I think we’ve been dealing with it throughout the entire season and not just within the last few games. I think we have to show that we can be more consistent. We have shown we can have really strong performances not only in a tactical sense but in a physical sense and in a fighting spirit that we have. And that’s the minimum that we have to bring to every game so it’s definitely a little frustrating for us so we’ll do more work on being a little more consistent.”
