Chicago Fire FC head coach Raphael Wicky, captain Francisco Calvo, and defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda recap the team's first win of the 2021 season, a 1-0 victory over Inter Miami CF at Soldier Field.
The Fire's homestand continues next weekend when CFFC hosts the Montreal Impact on Saturday, May 29.
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On the attitude in the locker room following a win…
"Yeah, I mean, you can probably imagine, you can also see that we're all a little bit showing a bigger smile while sitting here. No, look, that's why we do this job, that's why we play; that's why the players play, that's why the coaches coach. In the end, you want to win every game and that's the feeling you have, it's obviously just super nice. I'm very, I mean, we have one win so I want to be, I don't want to go too high but the way the team responded after four losses was really, really good, and I'm really, really, happy about that. The way they entered the game, they came out with energy, came out with confidence, immediately tried to be active and take this game in our hands and create, with the ball and without the ball being very active, that was just very, very positive. Because, the ones of you who are athletes, who do sports, who have played on a certain level, when you do lose your confidence, yeah, your confidence goes down very quickly. And then, sometimes you come out and things don't go smoothly. Today, I'm really happy with the way the guys responded and I'm really happy that they actually got rewarded for a very good game."
On a strong performance by the defense…
"Well, the defense is always the whole team. When you concede, and I know you guys asked me before we have conceded lots of goals, do I make changes on the defense. You don't concede chances only because of the back four, back five, whatever you play, it's the whole team. It's being compact as a team, Robert is our first defender. I think overall, the whole team was very compact, worked very hard, worked synchronized together. That's what we're trying to do every single game. And on top of that, we really didn't do any easy mistakes today, I think the team was very focused and concentrated. I think it's the teamwork, it's not only the defenders."
On starting Luka Stojanovic on the bench…
"The thought process was that I wanted Fabian. Fabi gives us something different, Fabi gives us a lot of movement without the ball, he's a different player. We have - with Alvaro, Guti, Mauri - a lot of players who want the ball in their feet, who are really good with their feet if Gaston's there; it's just a tactical choice. But I also spoke with Luka before, I saw him, he's getting fresher again, I told him that before. And I expected, at one point, that Luka would be in a little bit of a hole, if you can call it that way - he comes back after eight or nine months injury, appear but he didn't play, he had a preseason where he worked very hard, he had a lot of games. So I expected it at one point that he is going to be a little bit flat. He had this period now but I see him in training getting more fresh, getting sharper again. Like I said a few weeks ago, I'm not doubting about Luka, he has so much quality, so much technical quality. He will create and he will score goals for this club, I am 100 percent sure. But sometimes, I have to make tactical choices and I have to see who fits best together and that's what I chose today."
On the goal's impact on the season…
"Yeah, we actually talked about that and this was one of my points to the team. I said, guys, sometimes in football, we cannot explain. Sometimes, everything goes in and you score; and then sometimes, you have periods when things don't go in, even if you play and I think we hit five times already, to the post or to the crossbar before this game and sometimes you don't know why. So I said, we just have to keep believing, keep working and at one point, the ball goes in; maybe it's a deflected shot, maybe it's an own goal, we don't know why. That's what happened today. So sometimes, I just believe you have to keep having a positive energy, keep working, keep working hard and then things will turn around. Yeah, hopefully this is the starting point today. We created good chances, I think we played well today, we played good football but it didn't want to go in. In the end of the day, we were a bit lucky with that goal but I’ll take it."
On his first home win in front of fans…
"It's just great, it's just great to have fans in the stadium. We're proud of our fans, the fans were really good overall the whole game, they pushed us. I think, and I told the team this week, it's up to us to bring the fans behind us, it's up to us to get the energy to go in the game, it's up to us, the way we play, the way we fight, that they are going to be applauding for us. So I think the team came out very well, with good energy, with good football, and then obviously our fans were great pushing us throughout the whole 90 minutes. Yeah, we're going to keep working hard so that we can give them many, many more victories, of course."
Chicago Fire FC Defender Francisco Calvo
On how it felt to finally get a win this season…
“Fantastic. I think the team, the players, the staff, the fans, the whole Club deserved the win. And we knew it was going to be difficult, we knew the pressure that we had and we gave it our all like always. But today, we scored, and we kept the clean sheet and we demonstrated a lot of character.”
On dominating play and believing that the team would capitalize on a chance...
“We just believed. We knew that we were playing better and we were controlling the game, we were keeping the ball, when we had to defend, I think we defended well, and we did everything to win the game. We had a lot of chances, the keeper made some saves, and then the free kick, that’s a great goal for Luka. And yeah, we keep this here in the bag and we just keep believing that we're going to score at some point.”
On if the 4-3-3 shape helped the team defensively...
“We haven't changed anything. We played the six games with the same line - 4-3-3, exactly the same. Today I think we played our football, we kept believing in our idea. The idea that our staff is bringing to us, that we like, and we grabbed a big three points for the Club today.”
On what it felt like to win in front of the home crowd at Soldier Field…
“It’s amazing, it’s an amazing feeling. They deserve it. We deserve it. And we go home happy. We haven't won anything. Now, it’s just time to rest, time to focus on the next game. Hopefully they come, they support us and have our backs, and we're going to give everything next Saturday again to try to win again.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender/Midfielder Mauricio Pineda
On the importance of tonight’s win...
“Yeah, I think it was really important for the team. We've been working really hard for this moment, and it feels like the hard work finally paid off in a game, but that's all it is, it's just one win. So we'll keep working and look to get a lot more this season.”
On how he’d rate the team’s defensive performance today…
“Yeah, I thought we did really well defensively. Obviously, we had a lot of possession. It makes it seem like it's easy defensively, but I think we were really well organized, prevented pretty much all their counter attacks. So we worked a lot on that so we're happy that that went well today.”
On how the season has been for him personally…
“I'd say it's pretty similar in terms of just working hard every day in practice. I think the games don't really make too much of a difference for me, where I play, if I play. Just working hard in practice and making the team better is the most important thing to me. End of the day, whether I'm playing or not, where I'm playing, as long as we get three points that's the most important thing for me.”
On the importance of next week's match vs. CF Montreal before the extended break…
“Yeah, for sure. I think it would make the break that much better for everyone. It's difficult when you lose a game and have to wait so long to play the next game. So it'd be really good to go into that break with two wins in a row.”
On the mood of the team during the winless streak and the team's mood after getting a win…
“Yeah, it's obviously difficult when you're not getting the results that you want. When you're putting in the work every single day but you're not getting that end result that you're looking for. But I think overall the team stayed positive, kept working throughout the weeks and we were ready for when the games came up in the weekend and luckily today we were able to get three points and that'll help the team a lot going forward.”
On Sector Latino being reinstated and his message to the supporters...
“Yes, I would say that it was an amazing feeling today. The crowd was very loud, very into the game and I think that helps us out so much. It was a hotter day than we were used to and the noise from the crowd makes it that much easier for us, pushes us, and I'm really grateful for everyone that came out tonight.”
