Chicago Fire FC secured a point at home against the LA Galaxy in a 0-0 draw at Soldier Field on Saturday night. Following the match, Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson and defenders Rafael Czichos and Wyatt Omsberg delivered their thoughts on the performance. Read their postmatch quotes in full below:
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson
On him not joking about keeping opposing teams from scoring if the Fire don’t score...
"No, not at all. And I think I really gotta tip my hat off to these guys. I mean, every man, again, played. This was a game, I'm sure the fans loved it. It was end-to-end action from minute one to minute 90. That's the kind of game that we expected from them. They're a very good team. They’re one of the better teams that we've played so far this year. But we didn't back down from them, we went at it with them and that's what the fans like to see: a nice, entertaining game like that, even at 0-0. The excitement was really there. And yeah, keeping it to zero is something that, we know if we do that, we won't lose the game. And we just have this belief that we can keep every game at zero. But great, great job by the guys tonight. Really, really good. I'm really, really proud of this team and how they are coming together."
On whether this game felt like a point gained or two points dropped...
"At home, it's always gonna feel like two points dropped. But if I'm honest, it was an even game and I think both teams probably got the deserved point. But for my sake, I'd much rather have three points, so I'll call it two points lost."
On where to turn for more offensive opportunities...
"Well, it'd be nice to get Shaq back on the pitch. We have some reinforcements coming, (Jairo) Torres will be here in a couple of weeks, that will also help. But I think we have the players now to be better on the attack. You know, if I was sitting here and we hadn't created chances, I would worry but we're creating chances. And tonight, I think there (were) a couple that we probably should have put in the back of the net, if I'm being honest. But it's about patience and just making sure that the guys continue to believe in themselves, believe in the people that we have here currently, the people who are on the pitch, because we have what it takes to score some goals. It's just a matter of doing that and just being a little bit more clinical, having a little bit more quality in the final third. But that will come, that's an easy fix."
On the adjustments following Galaxy’s goal disallowed by VAR…
"Well, I mean, VAR or no VAR, part of the game is, if you're offside, you're offsides. It was an offside. I think, especially second half, the game opened up a lot more and they were able to get behind our midfield a little bit more than we like. We typically don't let teams get into our interior. If they want to break us down, they have to go through the outside, away from our goal. But there were a couple times I thought we stepped too quickly and they were able to get behind us. They have good players, and if you give them that space, and you open up the interior that they're trying to get to, then you pay for it. But thankfully, the back four was in line and stepped up together and played him offside.
We don't get broken down too often but when we do, the guys back there do their jobs, whether it's stepping together to pull them offside, or making a tackle, or Gaga (Slonina)coming up with a save; those guys back there, they've done their job when called upon. So, the game opened up a little bit, they got a couple more chances than we would like normally, but so did we, on the other hand; we had a breakaway that probably nine out of 10 times, he's gonna make that. Both teams I thought had chances."
On his message to the team ahead of facing Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez...
"Well, basically what we said to them before the game was, ‘listen, what we're trying to do here with this organization, with this Club, is to win some fans and then get some fans back who maybe were fans in the past but not currently coming to games. And what a better time to do that than a game like today, when there's 30,000-plus people in the stands, going out and playing good football. Let the fans who may have left us, or fans who we're trying to gain know that, you know what, this team is for real. It's a great opponent, they've come to see Chicharito, but if we could keep him at bay, and if we can shut him out, maybe we'll turn some heads, maybe we will gain some of these fans that we're trying to gain.
They took that to heart; they went out and they played. He had a couple moments in the game, which you know, he's a good player so he will have (chance). But for the most part, I thought we were able to keep him at bay. He's been hot, he's scored, coming into this game, five goals out of six games and we were able to keep him off the board tonight. So, for us and for the team and for this Club, it's about getting the fans to give us a look, coming out and saying you know what? Maybe the Fire are for real. Hopefully, we have some returning fans for our next home game."
On the one-on-one opportunity missed by Kacper Przybylko...
"Well, I hope not. I have not spoken to him about that yet. I'm sure we'll have a conversation about it in the next couple of days. But right after a game like that, that's not something you want to come up to a player and talk about. But no, one of the profiles that we like from strikers is their ability to forget things really quickly, especially when they don't go their way. So he's got to be able to leave that alone and move on to the next play and move on to the next game and stay confident. So it's upon us as a coaching staff to make sure that he stays confident and he knows that we believe in him, because he's gonna score a lot of goals in this league this year. But we just gotta be patient and make sure he stays confident because we need our strikers to forget the last play, especially when they miss an opportunity like that. So hopefully, he keeps his head up and next time he gets that opportunity, he puts it away."
On how close Xherdan Shaqiri was to playing in the game...
"Well, it's always been day-to-day. Yesterday, he went out and tried to jog around a little bit and you know, we weren't going to rush it and end up losing him for the next few months. We thought, even though (with) the magnitude of the game, it was probably best that we just wait a little bit, another week or so, and make sure that it's fully ready. Because he's able to jog and move around and do some stuff, but it was a risk-over-reward kind of situation and we decided to not risk it."
On Gaga Slonina deserving a call-up to the U.S. Men's National Team...
"Well, yeah, definitely. I'm surprised that he hasn't yet because, you know, he's 17 but he's playing beyond his age. And off the field, he's more mature than a normal, typical 17-year-old. He's a very good goalkeeper and he's showed it week-in and week-out. That's what, maybe five shutouts already this year? It's amazing for a kid like that to, you know, be able to have those kinds of stats. And as a coach, as a national team coach, you want someone who can keep the ball out of the net, and that's what he's been doing so far this year. So I expect him to get a look very soon, you know, sooner rather than later, because I think he's deserving of it."
On the decision to keep Gastón Giménez on the field despite his injury...
"Well, we only get three opportunities, we get five subs, but we only get three opportunities to make those five subs, and we had already used those three opportunities. So, if he was injured, we had to play a man down. But we felt, (with) that last sub, we had to get Jhon Durán on the pitch and try to see if maybe he can get on the end of something for us and win the game for us. So that decision was made and we had already used up all our subs.
But he's a warrior, man. He toughed it out. I tell you what, when you see your DP putting in that kind of effort, and is willing to stay in the pitch and continue to run - obviously his leg was beaten up - that sends a message to the rest of the team. And that stuff can flow through the team. It's great to see that a guy of his caliber, a guy of his stature, is willing to put in the work for the team and sacrifice his body like that. So, I'm very happy to have him on the pitch and to have him at this Club. But the reason for him staying in is because we didn't have any more chances to make a sub."
On the Club only losing once in 2022 despite scoring in two out of seven matches...
"Well, I would say I would take it, first off, but we know that making the playoffs, we need to get points and especially at home, we need to get full points. And then whatever we can get on the road, we get. But we're not satisfied with tying games at home or not scoring in games because we know we need to win some games, especially at home, and you can't win if you don't score; the best you can do is tie and like I said, tying, while it's good, it can bite you in the end because you don't really pick up the points that you need to.
But I'm happy. I'm happy that we're not losing these games. We keep ourselves in every game because of how we play defensively as a team. And if I was sitting here and we had scored 15 goals but we hadn't won a game yet, then I would have been disappointed. But I'm not; it's the opposite. It's better to be fixing the attacking part of things rather than losing games 4-3 or tying games 4-4, you know, the other end of the spectrum. So, we're happy but not satisfied and we will get better. I think the team has a great mentality, they believe in themselves; they believe in what we're doing. And this team is just gonna get better and better as the year goes on."
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Rafael Czichos
On his overall thoughts on tonight’s match…
“Yeah, I think it was a difficult game. I think we did a great job defensively. Offensively it was, like I said, difficult. And we're happy that we kept the clean sheet again. But we have to work on our game in the offense.”
On what he thinks it will take for the Club to start scoring goals with Xherdan Shaqiri’s absence…
“Yeah, (as) you said (Xherdan) Shaqiri is missing. He is a big part of our offense. And you saw it, so the substitutions, Jhon Espinoza comes in as a right (wing). Normally he has to play right (back). Then AJ comes in, I don't think he's a left wing. So it's difficult for us but I think we keep fighting every game and we create chances. We had a big big chance, or Kacper [Przybyłko] had a big chance. If we make it we're going to win 1-0, but we didn't unfortunately. So we have to improve our game.”
On the 30,282 fans in attendance, and having to defend Javier “Chicharito” Hernández…
“Of course, he's a player with high quality. We knew (this) before and the atmosphere was amazing. We know it was mostly because of Chicharito. But we want to show the fans a good game so that they keep coming to our games. I think today was a good game. They didn't see any goals, unfortunately, but I think it was an intense game and it was good to watch.”
On the last two free kicks from Gastón at the end of the game…
“Gaston practiced it the whole week, the set pieces, and he did a great job. I think the first corners today were great. So yeah, I don't know, maybe he was tired a little bit, but next time it's going to be better, hopefully.”
On Gastón Giménez's 50th match played for the Club, and the contribution he brings to the team…
“Gastón is so important for us. He has such high quality with the ball. I’ve known him for like four months and he's fighting in every game. It's good to have him as my teammate. And yeah, like I said he's so important for us and I think he will be an important part of our team for the rest of the season as well.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Wyatt Omsberg
On the team’s shutout performance against the Galaxy…
“I think that's a good team, a lot of attacking players that are dangerous. We knew we had to be on our ‘A game’ tonight. We really limited their chances. A couple here and there, but I felt like we were pretty solid as a unit. It’s something to build on for us, for sure. We just have to keep limiting chances from other teams and we know on the other end we’re going to score some more goals. [It was] a good performance overall. Obviously, we would have liked the three points but we’ll take the point and move on.”
On the changes made from last season to this season…
“Good question. It’s hard to pinpoint one thing, I’d say. I think just all 11 players defending as a group and being very committed for 90 minutes, not switching off. I think we’ve limited our mistakes. We’re always tuned in with set pieces and we’re just making it hard on the other team. It’s hard to pinpoint one thing but I have to give credit to everyone on the field from the forward and back. It’s been good performances pretty much every week as a defensive group.”
On the support from the fans tonight and if the Club won over some fans…
“Yeah, we hope so. We knew that there were going to be a lot of people there tonight. We try to put out a performance that they would be proud of. Obviously, we would’ve liked to win but we’re really thankful for the support. They were awesome tonight and it was one of the better atmospheres that I’ve played in, so I’m very thankful for the support. Hopefully, they’ll keep coming and see everybody back in a couple of weeks.”
On the performances from Gastón Giménez, Federico Navarro and Mauricio Pineda…
“They’ve been awesome for us and I think especially tonight. They were just clogging up the midfield, winning balls, making it hard for the other team to play through us. All three of them are kind of different players but they all bring something to the table and they’ve been really, really solid for us. We’ve kept a lot of goals out, but it’s not just the back four. It's especially the guys in front of us, those three in the middle and even up to the forwards. They’ve been awesome and hopefully they can keep putting out performances like that.”
On the team’s feelings for the upcoming U.S. Open Cup match on Tuesday…
“We’ve talked about it a little bit. This team has won the Open Cup before and we want to go for it for sure. It starts on Tuesday and I’ve played in it in the past. It’s an awesome tournament. Lower level teams and even teams that aren’t professional come and try to win. So, we’ll have to be ready for it and hopefully our run starts on Tuesday. I think we’ve talked about it’s five, six, seven games and you can be in the final. It’s something we want to do and it starts on Tuesday, so we’ll have to be ready for it.”
On goalkeeper’s Gaga Slonina clean sheet and facing zero shots…
“We’re happy with it. We’ve worked hard on it since day one of preseason. It’s been our focus to be hard to break down and try to keep goals out of the net. We’ve done it so far, but we’re only six, seven, eight games into the season so it’s something to build on. We know that goals are going to come so as long as we keep putting out performances like that and keep making it hard for the other team, we’ll be in every game. We just have to keep going.”
