Chicago Fire 0:0 Orlando City SC
Quote Sheet
Recap
Veljko Paunovic, Chicago Fire Head Coach
On tonight’s match:
“I’m disappointed because we had to convert the two-men-up advantage we had during most of the game. It was okay to control the game, but it’s not enough. We have to understand that we are not the team that we were in the past. We are a team that could control the game and dictate the game. And it’s not enough to get the point, especially in a game like this. So I’m not happy with that. I am not happy with that mentality. We were just fine. I didn’t see the hunger in the final third. Maybe in the last couple of minutes we woke up from that lethargy that we were in, but we have to improve. We have to learn to play these kinds of games ... but me and the rest of the guys are a little disappointed today and we will keep working on improving. The locker room is not happy on this.”
On the match before the first red card:
“I think we are the team that could now dictate and control the game. We started very well. We had opportunities, but lack of hunger again. We could have converted opportunities better. Then, after the first red card, we were a little confused [to close] the first half. We made adjustments at halftime. We spoke about what we need to do, which is obviously moving the ball side to side and trying to finish the play 2-v-1 on the flanks, and then penetrate inside and finish the actions; [also] being aware of their transitions and the counter attack, which we did well on that side. But, as I said, the main point was lack of interest to get three points, so that’s something we have to instill in our game and ourselves.”
Matt Polster, Chicago Fire Midfielder
On the game:
“They had two red cards and they were down two guys. We dictated more of the possession, but we could have been better. Create more chances, better chances. We did not do a great job of being as threatening as we could have. We should have had three points tonight, so it feels like we lost two points tonight.”
David Accam, Chicago Fire Forward
On overall performance:
“Today there was no slacking off, even though we tried to play our game we did so in the first 30 minutes, but after that we didn’t take our chances or create enough chances.”
On what Chicago needed to do better:
“From our last pass to our finishing, we were poor today. I think we’ve done really well in the past with those, scoring goals, creating chances, but today we didn’t play well. We didn’t create chances. We didn’t give the final pass. That is a disappointment for us.”
On the expectations for the rest of the season:
“We want to win every game. We know we have a good team and we know we can beat everyone in the league. For us, we keep playing well and try to win every game we play.”
