Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
It was overall a very, very good performance. I thought that the first half was a very good performance. We know that, possession-wise, San Diego is a team who always has a lot of possession. That's their game and they're really good in that. But I felt like our performance was very disciplined defending. We were very well organized and we had really good pressing moments in the right moments where the guys worked really hard and actually stole some balls and created some stuff as well out of that. So the first half was really good. I think we could have won the first half and then we made a few adjustments in terms of possession on where the spaces are when they pressure us and I think the guys executed then really, really well. Obviously you could see that Owen (Wolff) and Lasse (Berg Johnsen) are very comfortable in midfield. They're very calm players and very good players so that that obviously helped in those moments. And then we created all these big chances so I'm very pleased with the performance and obviously I'm very happy about the win. In the last game of the season, it's really good to finish with a positive and especially with a good performance.
On Andre Luiz playing more centrally at times…
The reason was that we were able to keep the ball very well and move the ball up and we found a lot of good pockets and good spaces in between their fullback and center backs. With Andre in there and being so fast and going deep, obviously we were able then to create and to use these pockets with some good combination play from everyone. Now the next step is actually we have got to score these goals. I think we had like four or five one-on-ones with the goalie. That’s really, really rare to have that but that was the reason
On not finishing last in the Supporters’ Shield standings…
There are multiple things. I've mentioned it a lot and I know the results are not there, but I feel like the last three months our team has made a lot of progress in terms of the way we play and who we want to be. We were competitive in a lot of those games. We just couldn't turn it into results. So it feels really good today that we actually kept playing good football, creating chances, and we were actually able to win to win this game. That feels really good and I think that's a confirmation for the guys and important for the guys as well. To be fair, I did not talk to the players about not finishing last. I know that the players had this in the locker room and they spoke about that often. I was aware of that, but that wasn't part of my talk. I knew obviously if we win this game, we're not finishing last but for me it was more putting the effort in and being us and finishing the season with a positive. I knew before the game that that can lead to not finishing last. For the guys, it's really important. I think for the club it's important. For the fans, it's important. It's just good to finish with a positive and in the last three months I saw progress in a very difficult situation because we never had (all) the players ready. Even today, I had to pull Lasse out after 50-60 minutes. I stretched him five or six more minutes and took a little bit of risk there. That was every single game. We never had the players fully together and fully ready to play. So it feels really good to end like that.
On Ruben Ramos Jr…
Ruben did well. Ruben grew in the game. It's not easy to come in after 15 minutes or so but he grew in the game. I think he found he found good positioning where I feel like the last weekend he didn't really find himself in these positions that much. But I think after watching clips through the week and talking to him about in certain moments to float out to the sides as well and overload the sides, I think he actually grew really well in the game. He worked hard and did well. I think one of the big chances also was his pass. It was a good performance from him. I'm happy that also he feels probably good about that performance. Ruben is one of the best finishers we have in our team. When you watch him in training every single day when we do finishing, he is one of the best ones. The next step for Ruben next season is can he bring himself into positions where he actually can use that finishing in the game? Sometimes he's still too far away from where things happen in the box, but he's a young player with very good potential.
On the injuries…
I knew that I had to become creative today a little bit. I knew for sure I have to take Lasse out. I wasn't sure about Owen because Owen obviously is just coming back. I wasn't sure if he can go 75 and, with Lasse out and Owen out, I wouldn't have had more midfielders anymore. Jake Davis already came inside so I knew that. We had an emergency plan for that with Justin Reynolds who would have been the guy coming in but obviously we have to play players out of positions. I'm happy that it worked well and the guys got a win and got a very good performance and got a good feeling going into this offseason.
On the injury to Taylor Calheira…
Taylor looks a little bit like Mike Tyson now after boxing. He has a big -- I don't know how you guys call it in English -- we call it an egg. So he has a big egg there. Obviously with that being swollen immediately, he couldn't see anymore. If you look at him now, it would have been risking his health if he would have continued to play. I hope he's fine. I'm not sure about concussion protocol. I'm not sure how he felt and all of that. It doesn't look nice but he will be okay.
On looking ahead…
No, I have not had conversations yet. Obviously I want to be part of the club. I know it was a difficult year for everyone. Obviously, I want to be here. I want to have this team because I believe in this team. I mentioned it a lot of times. When this team is healthy plus the additions we're going to make, we're going to have a competitive team and I believe in that. I believe that the last three months have shown that with much difficulty and with a small roster and with a not complete roster that we were competitive in many games. Now result-wise, obviously it wasn't what we expected. I want to be here but I haven't had conversations.
Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland
Thoughts on the match…
Obviously it's been a disappointing season for all of us, but we knew we couldn't do anything about the last 33 games so we took this 90 minutes as our last opportunity to show what we had and to wear the pride on our chest. We did that. I think that the team performed excellently tonight. We showed, unfortunately, what we haven't been able to do for a lot of the season. There's been too many spells in a lot of the dropped results where we've had some really good moments. Even tonight in the second half we had some really, really good moments that ended in fantastic chances. Pablo Sisniega stood on his head tonight and made some fantastic saves. We were able to put one past him on a penalty. I think that we deserved the win tonight. I think that we played really well. We have a lot of injuries. It's something we've been dealing with all season but I think the guys that we had on the field put their best foot forward. We knew that going into the offseason, this was our last chance to play together and we relished it and cherished it and took the most of it.
On the defensive performance…
I think that we were really responsible defensively in our press. When we pressed, we pressed together. They're a very good team. They broke it a lot of times, but then we recovered together. We didn't start flying after the ball. One man here, one man there. We recovered our shape and kept the ball in front of us. And then defensively in the back line when the ball is higher up the field or when we're in a lower block, I think we understood that the people in front of our center backs, (Anders) Dreyer and their number eight are really good with the ball. But as long as the ball is in front of us, we can deal with it. Their striker made some good runs, but I thought our defenders were really responsible tracking runs in the depth and then our midfielders protecting them in front. I felt we defended as a team tonight and I think that's why we got the shutout.
On the defensive organization…
I wouldn't say we did anything special this week. I think the focus was there. We had a goal tonight to get three points and get a shutout and we committed to it for 90 minutes. Everybody was able to stay focused for all 90 minutes and I think we did our job.
On the clean sheet…
I think that Houston is a good team. Whether they had 10 guys on the field in the second half or not, a shutout is a shutout. What you see in the box score at the end is a zero and I think that this is our true second shutout of the year. I understand what you're saying, but I think that we had some moments where we had to defend in difficult parts of that Houston game. But I understand what you're saying. I think that we deserved a shutout tonight and I think that it is very special. I think we deserved a shutout against LA Galaxy at home. They score a golazo in the 93rd minute or whatever. That one hurt because that one would have been the first one for the year. I think we all remember that and we still got the three points out of that one. Keeping the shutout tonight earned us all three points. I think the team, like I said earlier, was very responsible tonight. We were very disciplined. It was a mature performance away from home so I'm very, very proud of the boys.
On his mentality going into the offseason…
I think that we can carry this momentum into the sprint season. Especially the second half of the year, we've had some very good performances. There was that spell – Dallas, LAFC. Philadelphia -- where we were on the front foot. Obviously, the way those games started, you'd expect to get nine points out of those and we didn't. But I think that we remember the performances that we had. Take you know maybe 10 minutes away from each of those games - obviously, soccer is a 90-minute game so you can't -- but if you take 80 minutes of those games and then you add a little bit of maturity from the learning moments from this year and take those into next year, I think that we feel like we're in a very competitive place. I think that we definitely feel like a playoff team. I think for me my goal is the same goal it's been for the last 10 offseasons: get better, get fit, get stronger. Because that keeps injuries away, but to also get cleaner in the areas where I feel like I can improve. And I think everybody has that same mindset. Everybody wants to get better. Nobody is content with this season. Everybody is incredibly disappointed, but everybody also understands that we can do a lot better next year and we expect to.
