Chicago Fire FC were 1-0 victors against rivals Columbus Crew SC on Sunday at Soldier Field, courtesy of a 77th minute goal from midfielder Luka Stojanović. Following the win, head coach Raphael Wicky, goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth, and defender Boris Sekulić spoke to media to assess the performance. Read their thoughts below.
Up next, the Fire hit the road for six-straight matches, beginning with a trip to Florida to take on Inter Miami CF on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On the momentum of the team heading into six straight games away...
“Well, I think we're, like I mentioned last time, I think we're seeing obviously an improvement of this team since many weeks now, many many games. We had a little bit of that Nashville game, which was a big shocker for everyone, but let's put that aside and I think we see a big improvement in how the team works together, plays together. That's hard work and that's mentality. And we saw (that) today as well and I'm proud of that, that guys stepped in who didn't get many minutes. And that's what we need, what we need going forward. But still, we're taking game by game, and we're not going too far ahead. The next one is Wednesday down in Miami. And then we go from there.”
On the recovery and play of Stanislav Ivanov...
“Yeah, he obviously needs time. Look, if you know his story a little bit, I think his last competitive game was last November, mid-November, with his old club. Then he had like this four months break, three months break. Then he came, started preseason, started really well - 10 days, two weeks maybe. Then he was out for about three and a half, four months so that's a long time, not playing. And he's coming back, he's coming back. I think his performance against New York City was okay. I didn't expect much more than what I saw in those 50-60 minutes there. A few days later, I knew I was not going to start it because that (would) be too much for him, and now we just got to get him back into the rhythm. He looked sharper this week in training again and we will need him in these upcoming games and we will need him in these next two, three months going forward. But, that's his story. That's his reality from last November until now. So a player with that history, they need time, minutes and games and that's what we're going to give him - time and we're going to give him minutes as well.”
On the field conditions following a Bears home game...
“Yeah, we've had better fields. But they have done a great job, I have to say, from yesterday until today to actually put it as best they can, That's the reality. I mean they did a great job. I think it wasn't even 24 hours to cut it very short, to try to fill the holes. We all know how a field looks after an NFL game. So yeah, that's how it is.”
On if Alvaro Medran will be traveling to Florida...
“I cannot tell you that answer. He is still under health and safety protocols. We will see day-by-day how things go and I will see what the doctors tell me. If he is ready, if everything is fine, then he will travel with us. If not, we have to see how he is then for Orlando.”
On staying in Florida for the Miami and Orlando games...
“I mean it's not the first time. We were four weeks in preseason down there. I think these guys are professionals. They know that sometimes you're away from your family. It is what it is. We didn't have many away games (recently), so we were a long time home. So we’re going to go down there and after the game we will fly to Orlando. We'll stay at the hotel where we have been in preseason. And it's not like we’re gone for 10 days or two weeks, we’re gone for four or five days.”
On if it’s more ideal to stay in Florida instead of returning to Chicago…
“I think with the distance here in the United States and with time changes and everything, I think it's best to go down to Miami, after the game we fly to Orlando, and we stay there for two days. I think Thursday morning, then, the guys wake up at the hotel and then we can recover and prepare in Orlando.”
On the status of Kenneth Kronholm...
“Again, I can’t answer that. He’s not yet with the team, training with the team. We all know it’s been a year since he’s been training with the team. He is getting better. He's getting more and more training with Adin Brown and the goalkeepers, but we will have to integrate him slowly, slowly to the group. But I think we’re not yet there where I can tell you he will get minutes.”
Chicago Fire Defender Boris Sekulić
On positive momentum before a road trip...
"Yeah, the feeling is great, second game in a row we won at home. Also, we didn't receive a goal so I think it's great for us but as I said, now we have a series of six away games so we're going to try to stay humble. Next game is Miami and I start from there."
On breaking a road losing streak...
"I think we're trying not to think about this. This league is like, you want to win every game, no matter if it's home or away. We play, I think, same formation, same tactics when we play away so we always want to win. Let's hope that now we come in here and win a game so, I hope we will start winning away, too."
On the condition of the field...
"I think it was not so bad, I expected worse. We saw the lines for football, so that was like, little bit weird but when you play, you're concentrated on your game. So I didn't see a big difference."
On the difference between halves...
“Yeah, I think the second half, we had more chances, we were better in the attack. So the difference, it was better but we should say also, in the last five minutes, we were a little bit lucky, they hit the post so that's something we should improve.”
Chicago Fire FC Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth
On going on the road for six straight following tonight’s victory…
“Yeah, I mean, when you can put them together, it feels good. Things start to get a little easier and, you know, like you said we're going on the road now for six games in a row so, tough task. It's gonna be difficult. But approach one game at a time and we know we’ve got to go on the road and get points and get back in the playoff race.”
On the excitement of the locker room, and the vibe of the team after finding success...
“Yeah I mean winning solves a lot of problems. You know, it's easier to come back in the locker room after you've won games and definitely rode our luck there at the end, some big blocks obviously a little bit of luck coming off the post, that kind of stuff. But these are things that, you know, the last 18 months haven't necessarily gone our way and it's nice that the ball bounces our way today.”
On the chaos during the final minute of play…
"Yeah, I mean a little bit of chaos and just trying to ride it out and, to be fair, you know, I come up with a save, we come up with a couple really, really big blocks. Guys get back and I mean, it's all hands on deck there at the last minute and you do everything you can to try to get the points and we were able to do that.”
On Carlos Teran and his growth following multiple starts for the club…
“I think he's had a little bit of a difficult go just because he's had injuries and he's back in the team and he gets injured and he's come back in. He's got all the tools, he's big, he's physical, he can cover ground, and with him I think it's when he dials in and he's ready for 90 minutes he's a difficult player to play against, and I think that's showing over the last few games.”
On last week's match and what he expected from the Crew tonight following their championship run…
“Yeah, I mean, even though you go up 2-0, you know it's not gonna be an easy game against New York there, they make it difficult to play against you, they put it in shift and they're gonna close you down and make things difficult. So, I mean even when we played Red Bull and we were up 2-0, we knew we were going to have to continue to put in our performance for the rest of that game. We knew coming into this game Columbus has a lot of quality. I mean, they haven't been on a great run but they have very good players, very good attacking players and we knew we had to get in our blocks, defend well, close the ball down, and I think we did a great job. I mean, I can't, other than the save I made at the end of the game, I don't think I had made any saves and that's credit to the guys in front of me.”
On the quality of the pitch following yesterday’s Bears game…
"Yeah, I mean, considering there's a football game on it yesterday, it was in decent shape. You know, the thing is, it's a non-issue. Both teams need to play with it, the ball bounces the same for both teams and it's not an excuse so I think like I said, it was in better shape than I thought it was going to be considering there was a football game, but I don't think it was an issue today.”
