Veljko Paunovic, Chicago Fire Head Coach
On coming back and earning the point
“I think we are all happy with the point today. I think we opened the match very well, scoring the early goal and then I think we lost the game plan in the first half and we conceded goals just by feeling, maybe too excited in the first ten minutes, having that early lead that we took and I think these are the things we have to improve again. We don’t have to be afraid when we have a good result in our hands and we have to manage better with that. Second half, of course, we did adjustments, I think our guys did very well. I think we pushed for the game, I think our fans at least can be happy, they could see their team pushing hard until the end, leaving our heart until the end and that’s what I’m happy about. At the end I think we were close to scoring the third goal, we just needed a little more, again, again, a little bit more of that killer instinct that we lack of during all this year. Very happy about seeing that we can perform well with three strikers on the field, which is something we’re looking ahead with a lot of excitement, which is what we need. I think Solignac had a good game. I think David, like always. Michael was working hard for the team, maybe he lacked of opportunities to score but he was very important on the field. And of course Goossens and the guys up in front, Arturo coming in did well so now we have more alternatives and we continue to build. As we said, the process we all know where we are without trying to defocus people from where we stand but we also know there are improvements and that we are going in a direction that we want. At this point we will continue building and working hard.”
Postmatch Reactions: Paunovic | Accam | Cocis
On his message to the team at halftime
“Honestly I just think, as I said, we didn’t follow the game plan. We didn’t pay attention to the details and I will always address these things: when we are doing good things we will say, we will, of course, encourage guys to continue doing that. To me there is no mistake but just not having the right attitude on the game plan and this is what I think and this is what we address, everyone knows what we have to improve and what happened, so that was on one side. But on the other side we just said we still have this game still alive and we can score the goal and once we score the second goal and tie the game we can move forward, just follow the game plan. In the second half we did adjustments, halftime is a good opportunity for us to refresh and to remind our guys of the game plan or adjustment that we are doing. We did that and I think this second half the guys did it very well. They took seriously everything we said and these details are what matter. Details in the game, in modern soccer today is what matters: what will kill you or going to make you be successful and sometimes for us it was the first thing.”
On the early defensive formation of a three-man back line
“Listen, we started the game very well. We started the way we wanted to play, exactly how we draw our game plan on the blue print, we started very well. That’s how even the goal came from the free kick, I mean, from the deflected ball in and then it developed a different action but we put them in that situation where we put them in their end, in their box where we could explore possibilities and discover the best possible solution to score and I think in this case we had Goossens, who we all know has a very good shot from the distance, we had him in his place, he took that shot and we started well. But from that point we dropped and I think that’s what we have to understand. It’s good when we are winning. It’s not bad. Sometimes it just happens. Again, we’re here, we work on that and we will make these guys be successful.”
On shifting to a four-man back line in the second half
“Obviously we had a lot of issues on the right side with Kaká, very good by Jason Kreis, I think, very smart moving him on the sideline and I think also we struggled there. But once we did our adjustments, like switching to 4-2-3-1 and putting Kappelhof, our most experienced, guy on defense against Kaká. We were able to stop him, and I know when I say stop him I know what I’m saying because it’s very difficult to stop Kaká, we all know who is Kaká, fantastic player but I think he did a great job. So a little bit of character we had there which we lack a lot of before that. So I think that adjustment helped. Then we started the progressions after that moment, progressions of their best guys and we were waiting for the halftime, honestly, to make adjustments because how we ended the first half wasn’t good. And we were concerned. But then, as I said, second half, for us, especially for the coaches it was a great opportunity to do adjustments and I think in this case guys did and as I said before, the plan was going well and we were close to winning the game. At least once we scored the second goal we didn’t drop. We said okay we will stay, we will fight, at least let’s try to give our best to win the game and score the third goal.”
On Orlando City’s fatigue and difference under Jason Kreis
“As I said, this is what I wanted to highlight on the opponent’s half. We don’t, basically, we don’t comment on other teams, we respect everyone and understand they had their issues but we were in the same situation so we also have, every team has his own issues to manage and I thought Orlando did very well today. I don’t know the players day-by-day. Jason is for sure the guy who knows them the best at this point.”
On coming back and earning a point after the Open Cup loss
“We had a meeting, we said that there are only two ways here. One is nonacceptable, which is abandon and the second one is we continue working hard and work together and we have to keep the spirit and positivity in our group, which is very important because this is all the process and this is all a great opportunity for us all to become better professionals and for sure better people because these kind of challenges are very important and we have to appreciate this opportunity. And that’s not all of course. We have to improve, we have to perform better but at I think today we were the team that wanted to win the game. And at least the sensations are we gave our best.”
Razvan Cocis, Chicago Fire Midfielder
On the mentality after two straight losses
"It wasn't easy. We had a tough week, not the greatest, we lost two games and lost in the Cup, which hurt us a lot, it's still hurting us. We talked about it, and we just have to keep going, there's no other way. We talked about who wants to be in the locker room, and who wants to keep going, then who needs to stay more and more in the practice session to get better, and be better, as a team and as an individual."
On changes at the half
"We were talking about it at halftime. Everybody knew that we weren't having a great first half, and we encouraged each other. It's pretty much the same thing that we do every time it happens. But I think this time, it was a good and a better reaction. In the second half, we stepped up higher in the field, which was great. It feels good when I see that we can be there, we can be higher on the field, dominating the opponent, and stay there. As you saw, after we scored the second goal, we could've scored the third one, we kept the pressure and kept believing in turning back this game. It didn't happen, but hopefully, we don't have to deal with this anymore. I want to see a team that can play without conceding a goal, because we can score. We showed that we can score every game, and it's very important not to concede."
David Accam, Chicago Fire Forward
On the comeback
"In the last 15 minutes, we almost had a winning goal. Even though we didn't play well, the guys showed great courage, and I'm really happy with everyone in the team."
On playing up front
"To be fair, I'm not really a striker, I'm mostly a winger, so I want to be more wide. I'll do every job the coach gives me. He told me to be up front, so why not. Everywhere, I am happy to play."
On the feeling of the result
"For us, we want to dominate every game at home. We get a lot of chances, but at that moment, I would take 2-2, because we went 2-1 down and came back 2-2 and we almost had a win. I think 2-2 is a fair result."
On Orlando City SC
"They are a good team, they play really nice football. They pass the ball around, and it's difficult playing against their team."
On the mentality after losing in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
"Of course, it's tough to lose in the semi-finals, but this time, we needed to step up, we can't stay down. We need everyone to step up, and I think today, most of the guys stood up and just showed real character, which at the moment is good."
