Frank Yallop, Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer
Thoughts on the match
“Obviously not a good result for us. I think the guys gave everything they had, that is an important thing for me. The quality in the end and the final third wasn’t quite there. And we got done with it, with a terrific goal. Not a loss for words but that one hurt again but our guys tried their best. I don’t make excuses but I thought we did enough to at least get a tie or a win but we didn’t. We didn’t have a final touch that is what cost us. Obviously a great goal by Doyle.”
On why it’s been difficult to win in this stretch of games
“I don’t know, I mean we are putting all our efforts into it. I think maybe having a few guys out in a time we kind of need them the most, I think hurts a little bit. Maybe if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be. I don’t know, I am trying my best to turn it around. We have added some really talented players. Again I will go back to the work ethic, maybe it wasn’t there some of the games and we have let our foot off the gas in this season. We should be good enough to win games. We work hard in the training field, the guys are committed it seems, you don’t know if it really is real deep within them, but I think it is. I have been around awhile, I kind of feel for the guys right now. They are trying their best and I though tonight was a good effort. With endeavor and triumph and you can live with that. If it is just a lack of quality here, not quality but lack of final third play. I thought we defended pretty well most of the night and get with a wonder strike if you like. I don’t know, I have only been here for a year and half and you guys have been here for a little bit. We got to keep going and I feel like we have enough talent on the roster to get it going, once we get everyone healthy and feel better. If, buts, and maybes don’t get is done.”
On pulling Joevin Jones at halftime
“No, he was ill. So he was ill before the game and he said at halftime he couldn’t finish the game. So we had to pull him out, which another good player was coming out of the lineup. Maybe he didn’t play particular well the first half, usually kind of gets himself going but he was ill.”
On not using all three substitutions
“I just felt we were getting close to scoring to be honest. I thought we were going to get something out of the game. I wanted to leave the momentum and leaving Guly back, he did a decent job with his passing. He definitely tried very hard tonight in that spot and Mike looked dangerous and I thought that was good. I thought Kennedy was doing well and so sometimes you don’t want to throw all the forwards on. I felt like we were going to get something out of the game and it wasn’t to be tonight, obviously. Again, it wasn’t a lack of effort from our guys. The coaching staff is trying their best to right the ship obviously. We are doing the best we can with what we have but I think we still could have gotten something out of the game tonight. It was just disappointing for our group.”
On the challenges of his position
“The results are showing that. No, I mean, I like a challenge. I think that this is certainly a challenge. I feel that it is not only changing certain players in and out. It is trying to get a team to work together and gel and really do well. I think that is the hardest thing. For example, D.C. is a group that sort of grinds through everything, they got some talent obviously but don’t get flustered with whatever happens in the match. I think they had one header and the goal. I don’t know what the stats were and they didn’t have a ton of chances but that didn’t really matter to them. Our group seems like they need a lot of the chances to get one goal. I think we didn’t create enough to get that one goal tonight. But I think it is just a matter of building a group that can win no matter what. That is the hardest thing in sports, is getting the right chemistry and the right balance. I feel like the group we have right now, and maybe adding a few pieces to it is going to be good. But obviously time runs out in the season and we need to start to win and I will be under pressure if we don’t win. But I don’t give up and I keep going and in the end I usually get the group to go in the right direction. I am very determined to do that here because I feel for the fans first and foremost and the people who work for the club, and the owner. He wants to do well and has given everything in his resources to help me. It was a shame we didn’t have our guys on the field tonight but hopeful we will get healthy soon. And will start to put on the team I felt that is going to do pretty well in the league. Again, the game just slipped them by and in this league it is hard to catch up. But it won’t be from lack of trying from our players and the coaching staff and the staff.”
On teams scoring off set plays or off rebounds
“It seems to fall to their guys but you got to give them credit in that spot, to hit that shot. Sometimes your fortunate sometime you’re not. We have worked on set plays for a while and I thought Eric did a great block on the shot that got deflected on. And it goes to straight to one of their players which is Doyle and he is a great striker and anticipating where it is going to end up is the hardest part in soccer. You try to think about where it is going to end up, but it ends up in a good spot, rolling back to a fellow who can strike a good ball and goes in. It’s probably the best goal he is going to score and I think tonight that was one of the better goals we have seen here. It is just frustrating when that happens, it would be nice for one of those to go in for us. Then we can get the ball rolling and the effort from the group tonight was there. We didn’t want to lose the game, the fellows gave me everything they have, they give themselves and the team, the club, and the fans a right good go trying to win the game. We might not have the final touch and final bit of play in the final third to win the match but that happens sometimes. Especially when you have a loss of confidence, we have lost four in a row now before this game is was three in a row. You get down on yourself for a little bit but again the guys did shrug all the emotion of from losing three and gave everything they have. Things happen to you when you are down there, it doesn’t seem to go your way. We will keep fighting and keep going; hopefully we can get some wins in and climb up the table pretty soon.”
Jeff Larentowicz, Chicago Fire Defender and Captain
On the match
"Certainly, the one goal did us in. I think the performance was good, I thought that for large parts of the game we were the better team. I thought we had more of the ball; I think we created more chances, I'm not sure if that's true, but it felt that way. It's about taking one chance, and they did that."
On the team’s morale
"It's difficult, but that's the job. We're 15 games into the year, and that means we have 19 left. There's plenty of time to turn things around, and everyone has to work. I think that, more than anything, we feel like we deserved something tonight. It's not a game where you get beaten down 3-0, and you just feel like you need go home with your tail between your legs. It's kind of, maybe we're on to something, but we're just not getting it all the way there."
On D.C. United’s goal
"The last two weeks, we've had some pretty good goals scored on us. But like I said, in that moment, they take it. That's skill, that's talent. Good goal, and you can't say anything more than that, they took a chance."
On the play of D.C. United
"DC is an organized team, for sure. They've been together for a couple years now, having success doing what they do. I think they have a group of guys that compete, very smart, organized tactically. When they feel pressure, they're able to stand up to it. Late on in the game, they bring another forward on as well to try and win the game, but they end up winning on a rebound and restart. They're a good team, they're at the top of the league for a reason, and I think you can see why."
On reaching a turning point in the season
"I don't think it's ever too late. You look at 2013, things turn around, it's possible. The Revolution went to the final last year losing seven straight, I think, at one point. So you have to find a way to keep the morale up. I think that having good players in the lineup is good; however, I think that we had good performances tonight and didn't get the result."
On the trajectory of the season
"It is surprising. At 3-3, we felt like we were in a pretty good spot. We're competing with teams in the league that are good teams. I thought that we've been playing well at home. That's kind of turned a bit; losing a couple at home, still not finding a way to win on the road, that's going to hurt you in the long run. We have to get tougher on the road, and obviously take advantage of home games."
D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
On the team’s performance:
“I thought we were a group. That’s what you need to be on the road. It’s been awhile since we’ve won an away game. We understood that again, that it was going to take every one showing up and looking out for each other out there. I thought we were organized. At times we sat back too much. We would have liked to get a little more pressure on the ball, obviously take care of it ourselves and make them work. When things weren’t going well, as sometimes do when you put a new team in there that are not that familiar with each other, you’re going to defend. I thought when we did defend, we looked out for each other. We were organized and tough to break down. Fortunately we got a great goal from Conor Doyle.”
On the goal being hit well:
“He’s one of the best finishers on our team and at practice. We’re asking him to get more shots in the games and be more of an offensive threat. Today he did that at times and we know he has the ability to hit a ball like that. I will have to look at it again, but live it was a pretty nice goal.”
D.C. United Midfielder Conor Doyle
On his goal:
“Yes, I’m happy with it. It just kind of a scramble in the box, and Bobby [Boswell] hit it, and the defender made a good block and it just popped out nicely at the top of the box and I was able to strike it clean and it kind of flew in.”
On his scoring luck against Chicago:
“Yes, it’s kind of weird. My first year here it was against Montreal, I scored my first two goals against them. I don’t know what it is about scoring against the same team, but I don’t mind it.”
On the team’s performance:
“I thought we were all right. We defended well, we had good shape. We were hard to break down. We were able to get our goal and get out of here with a win.”
On the importance of the first win on a 4 game road trip:
“It’s a big one. It’s a big three points. Obviously we don’t put out a lineup we don’t usually put out, and for us to come out with three points on the road is big time. Now we have to turn our focus to Toronto on Saturday.”
On the lineup chances and its effects:
“Facundo [Coria] and Silva played a little higher in the midfield. It didn’t change much. We had to sort out our defensive shape and the start of the game but we got it sorted. We were hard to break down. It was a little bit different but it worked out.”
D.C. United Midfielder Markus Halsti
On the team’s performance playing with a different lineup:
“I think we did a good job, generally. As a team, we changed our tactics a little bit for this game. Every guy worked hard. I think [the coach] is happy. Coming here, every game is a tough game. We let Chicago have a little bit too much space that we were didn’t think about, but again we defended well and didn’t let them come in to the box. We let them play on the outside with a lot of crosses [served in]. We have big guys in the center of defense and they did a good job today.”
On shutting down the Fire offense:
“Yes, of course, especially for Bill [Hamid] at keeping it at zero. It’s always good, of course, for our confidence. We have some guys like Mishu and of course, I have also played my, like, 4th game in MLS, and like the young guys, it’s good for their self-performance to see that they can perform in away games. It’s a good sign.”
On it being confidence building with moving players in and out of line up and still getting results:
“Yes, of course. I think mostly every player wants to be on the field and every player wants to fight and the position to play in the starting lineup. That’s really positive stuff. I think today we showed it. We wanted to show [the coach] that they could be in the starting lineup.”
On using this result to take into Toronto:
“Yes, it’s not a negative. We know our next game is going to be very tough, a tough away game. We just need to keep going. Train hard. We need to have the confidence and believe in ourselves. Hopefully then that means we have been the good stuff all year.”
On what the team needs to improve against Toronto:
“Maybe offensively, we were not generating that much. We could do better with creating better build up. But we need to wait to see what sort of tactic we have for that game. We never know.”
