Chicago Fire 0 – 1 Orlando City SC
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015
Toyota Park – Bridgeview, IL
Frank Yallop, Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer
On the performance of the current roster
"I thought we played well enough to get something out of the match; if not win, at least a tie. Just frustrating. I feel really bad for the guys, they worked hard, they were doing things that I thought, and we feel as a group, that's good enough to get more points on the table. What we're getting is very frustrating right now. You can say whatever you want about it. We seem to find every sort of opportunity to give goals up, and tonight, we obviously couldn't get a great chance on goal to score. In general, I can't fault the guys for effort, at all, I can't do that. They gave it everything they had, just couldn't get it done tonight. But talking about the roster for next year, right now is not the time to do that."
On Orlando's lone goal
"I only saw it live, I haven't seen it on tape yet. It looked like Joevin Jones gets out to shade but doesn't mark the cross. We've been working a lot on that because we've seen a lot of crosses that cause damages here. We've worked on that. A guy running from midfield has a bit of a free run, ricochets a bit, but again I haven't seen it on tape yet. It just seemed a little loose, and you get punished. Tonight, we didn't get too many chances like that, and it seems like we get punished for every half mistake we make, which is difficult to take, but you have to take it in the chin."
On Orlando’s three subs being involved in the goal
"It's a bonus for Orlando if their subs work out. I felt we did enough in the game to get something out of it. I thought we got some good half-looks that we didn't pull the trigger on and hit the target with venom and power, and being precise. Great subs by them if you want to say that, sure; but we have to do better defensively to stop that. Having said that, that would have made it nil-nil anyway, but we need to win the game at home. We didn't have some really clear-cut chances that I thought we needed to have to win the match. We had some decent moments, I think David [Accam] was nearly on the end of really doing something, but didn't really create a ton of chances that were clear-cut for us, which is what I look at. They hit the bar, had the goal; we had some near misses off bad plays, the final pass wasn't there for us. That's the story of the game. I wouldn't say we possessed the ball well, it was even, but I thought we pushed and shoved and looked like we were going to get into the game and win the game from the 60th minute on. Then we get sucker punched in the end, which is difficult to take."
On the performance of midfielder David Accam
"We moved him around. He was up front with Kennedy to start, we put him out wide left, put Harry underneath, put him wide right just to try and give him a little bit of scope and room to maneuver. He still had his chances though. Orlando sat back a little bit, which is normal away from home. Didn't quite have the gaps and space that is normal, but I still think he had enough looks with his ability to create something from that. It's not a slight on David at all, it just didn't quite come off tonight; he's our game-winner, he's very good, he's very dangerous. He was pretty close at getting something done but it just wasn't quite his night tonight in the final pass or shot."
On the performance of defenders Ty Harden and Daneil Cyrus
"In general, I think our shape's been okay, we have to look individually. I think Ty's not played a ton of games over the last six months, but he's a solid center back that I think can get the job done. Tonight wasn't his fault for the goal; it looked like he sort of slipped, and let the midfield runner come through. Maybe not the greatest night in New York for Ty, but he sticks to his tasks, and heads the ball out and defends when he needs to. I think Cyrus settled in quite well; doesn't have quite that many minutes with us in training, and obviously in game situations, but I like what I've seen from him. Again, I haven't seen the goal, but it looks like he's on that side, so I don't know what happened, but in general, I think both guys have been okay. We don't give up a ton of chances; they hit the cross bar and scored the goal. Other than that, I think we defended okay, but we got punished for an error we gave up."
On making substitutions late in the game
"I felt we looked like we were going to get something out of the game, most of it. We're driving on, we're getting chances, then we have the flurry of chances right before we made the subs. But, hindsight's easy, I think for us, I felt we were doing okay and getting chances. Kennedy's getting these little sniffs here and there, David's always dangerous; I just felt bringing Mikey out and putting Mike Magee on gave us another chance at a goal. [Jason Johnson] has shown, as a sub especially at home, he's made an impact. It's easy to sit back and say 'we should have done it earlier,' but I felt we were going to get something out of the game before that."
David Accam, Chicago Fire Forward
On the loss
“It’s difficult. I’ve not been in this position before. We keep making the same mistake every game. It’s like, the first 70 minutes we play well and if we don’t score, we concede in the last minute. It’s what happens every game. I can’t really tell what’s wrong with the team. We have good players, we have a good team but still, we don’t get results but it’s difficult to understand what’s happening.”
On the mood of the team
“Everyone is down, it’s difficult but the best thing is that we have a game again in four days so we need to keep ourselves up and go again on Wednesday.”
On if this team needs a reinforced roster
“I think that question is for the coach. We need more help. We keep getting the same result every game, even though we play well, it’s the same result, we don’t get the positive result that we need, so I think maybe we need help, maybe.”
Patrick Nyarko, Chicago Fire Midfielder
On tangling up near goal
"We’re just being aggressive. You're asked to show that, and I feel we've not shown that passion enough. Tonight was a night that we knew was going to be a sold-out crowd. We came out with the energy we needed, we played the right way. A little frustrating we couldn't get the breakthrough, and as it was going towards the end, we tended to lose our concentration and lose our discipline, and they got their goal. That sums our season, really. We've really not been [there] soccer-wise, in terms of playing. The end result has really gone against us, it just seems like it's not turning and the luck has not been on our side. But we're going to keep fighting, there's still games to play, and hopefully we can get some wins."
On keeping focus near the end of the regular season
"We have a relatively young team, but with experience. Some young guys coming out of Europe have played in Europe for a long time, they're professionals, everyone is a professional in here. We owe it to our fans, the club, and the organization, the opportunity that’s been given us to represent this club, we owe it. Regardless of having been in the playoffs way back, or right now, or in a couple games, we just need to go out and try to get some wins and make our fans happy. These guys have supported us all year, even though it's been rocky, and they keep coming out to support us. They need something to cheer about, we have to reward them, that's the least we can do. I think the guys are aware of that."
On a spotty road record
"We're not going to desist from the plan. We go on the road hoping to win games. It's not happened for us, but there's been a few games where we've been in there, we just lose concentration. We just need to correct our mistakes, we make way too many easy, simple mistakes. We just need to correct those, especially on the road, and play with discipline. Hopefully we can come out with a few wins on the road."
On providing a veteran presence
"It's just an average day thing. Us veterans, we need to hammer it into the minds of young kids. It's been a rocky couple of years; the kids that have been here, they've not really experienced winning here. It's just up to us veterans to tell them there's something like that, it gives you confidence, once you get that confidence, everything will come, but it starts with doing the little things right in 90 minute games. Staying in it every single minute of it, it's always going to be hard, there's no easy games in MLS, regardless of who you're playing. Keeping that concentration, there's been games that we go up, but we give up a goal right after, it's all about concentration and making up your mind to not get scored on in certain periods of the game. It's our job, it's the job of the veterans, and hopefully we can impart that into the young guys."
