Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
On the game…
I'm obviously very proud of the performance and proud of the team. Against a very good LAFC team, to bring a performance to the field in front of our crowd is really nice. I'm very pleased and very happy about that. We played a very good first half in all phases of the game, defending and attacking. Rarely a game for 90 minutes goes (perfect), right? We would wish that the second half continues like (the first), but that's football. They change something and then we had to adjust and we struggled in the beginning with adjusting. I think LAFC came out very strong in the second half and played well, but we fought together through that. That's also part of a team. We fought. We have to fight. We have to suffer in moments like that and then when we were able to stabilize everything, we were able to then react again and create a few more chances. In the second half, we obviously also had Stefan (Cleveland) making a few saves, but that's also part of football. We need that. That's why we have goalkeepers who help the team as well. I’m very pleased with the performance. What I like the most is that we played our game. With the ball in the first half, we played our game. It doesn't matter what they do. I think we had already in Dallas a very good performance in possession with the ball, where we created a lot of chances. And that's what we told the team. Let's be us. Let's play us. Whatever the opposition does, they reacted very well to that. I'm proud of that. That's a great win. I'm happy for all the fans who didn't see enough wins this year. That's a great win. And for us, the preparation for the next game already starts but I hope everyone can enjoy this evening and then we just have to keep going game by game.
On the plan and execution…
They executed really well. The plan is that you have a good rest defense, that you are anticipating that if you're not anymore attacking, that you're becoming the first defender, the first defending-thinking player. Our back line with Moises (Mosquera), Wyatt (Meyer), Emir (Karic), with Justin (Reynolds) at times who was a bit higher and wider, and with the two sixes, Kwaku (Agyabeng) and Lasse (Berg Johnsen) did a great job of organizing rest defense. We had a few good counter-press moments as well. So it's that, but every team knows that. Every team tries to do that and they still hurt you a lot. But tonight, I think we executed really well as a team and the guys were concentrated and focused a large number of times when we had the ball because they're very dangerous when we have the ball. That's how they score a lot of goals.
On Andre Luiz…
That's why we bought him, right? That's why he's here. He's a very good player. From the first moment he trained with us, you could see his individual quality, his change of pace, his 1v1, and obviously what he showed today he showed from the first day. Now, teams will analyze him, teams will put two players against him. It's going to be very important that we don't just give him the ball and watch and hope that he's going to dribble three guys, because that's not going to happen. We will still need to support him, have overlapping runs, underlapping runs, so that he can make it hard for the other team as well. On top of that, he's a good guy. He has integrated very quickly in the team. He's a person who enjoys, who smiles and laughs a lot, so I'm very happy with him that he lasted almost 80 minutes tonight. We're still trying to bring him to a 90-minute game fit. He hasn't played in a long time and we're still working on that.
On the standings…
When we come into the training facility, there are a lot of TVs around, and the standing is on every TV, every day, all day. That's enough. We don't need to talk. I see the standing every day and it hurts every day. It hurts every player every day and it hurts every staff member every day. We try to take it game by game. The next most important game is next Saturday, and we're going to prepare and we're going to try to bring our best version again against Philly and try to be us against Philly. With that, we’ll hopefully have chances to have a good performance and with a good performance, have the chance to win games. That's what we're focusing on and I have felt for a long time that we're close. We're closer than we were in March or April, way closer. We were in games. We were competitive in a lot of games. Things didn't really turn our way and we just have to keep working hard and believing in what we do so that we can actually not only win one game so that we can turn these games around and get more wins. Then we will see what happens.
On Jacob Bartlett coming off the bench…
It was a one for one sub. Kwaku (Agyabeng) had a yellow card. I didn't want to sub him at half-time. It's always a bit of gamble, but the player also has to learn. He's an unexperienced player who has to learn to play in this position with a yellow card. Otherwise I have to sub every player out who receives a yellow card. After the start of the second half, we felt that we needed fresh legs and we know what Bartlett can give us. He came in really, really well. Not only because of his goal, but he was very disciplined in his positioning. That's something he we always talk about that he wants to improve and he has to improve The goal is obviously really nice. I'm really happy for him. It's a beautiful goal. He was very calm. It obviously helped us a lot.
On Stephen Afrifa’s performance…
Stephen has done well. He was very dangerous in Dallas as well last weekend and he has been really good today as well. He works hard. I'm happy for every player who uses his opportunities and who shows, ‘I'm there and he can count on me.’ I think right now he's in a very good flow. He needs to keep working hard like everyone else, even after a win, and then confirm the next weekend. But I'm very happy for him that he actually gets minutes and can show some of his talents.
On Taylor Calheira scoring again…
I think he gets rewarded for his hard work. Taylor is working so hard for our team against the ball, but also in possession. He tries to battle with the center backs and hold up the ball. And he gets rewarded for it. He had really good games before the break and also after his injury, but he didn't get rewarded. He was in position, but then there was something missing. Right now, he's getting rewarded. The ball falls in front of his feet and he can score. That's where you have to be as a 9 and I'm happy for him that he actually works hard and gets a reward with goals because in the end of the day, you're a 9 and you want to score goals.
On the team’s first game without Or Blorian…
That is something which obviously goes way beyond a football game and it's way more important. I think it puts everything a little bit in perspective. He was there (in the locker room) and I just told him that we're just all really happy that he's here with us, because it was tight and people saved his life. So we're just very happy that he's here and that he knows that every player, every staff member, the whole club, everyone from this club will support him and will be there for him because it is more important than a game. That's what we told him. That's what I think about. I'm not a doctor. I cannot go into details, but there are things which are more important than the soccer ball.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Jacob Bartlett
On his goal…
Coming off the bench, it's definitely different than starting but for me I try to approach it the same. I go into the game thinking to myself I'm going to go in the game and I have got to affect it positively hopefully. The ball kind of favorably bounced to me and Andre attracted a lot of defenders for me so he gave me a chance to score. I'm just grateful to be able to do it.
On the significance of the win…
Obviously, I've been in this club pretty much half my life. It pretty much means everything to me to be able to score and to impact the team and help the team get back to where it used to be. It's the goal for everyone -- players coming in, players that have been here -- we know it's possible and we have the total belief that we're going to do it. I think you've seen pieces coming together. I think it's just a matter of time and hopefully we can go finish the season strong with as many points as possible.
On the key to slowing down LAFC in transition…
We talked about it all week. They have quality all over the field, especially up top. So when we're in their attacking third -- we call it rest defense -- having players accounted for, especially guys with so much speed and so much talent. You have to be able to know where they are at all times. I think our back line and midfield did a great job throughout the whole game. We were able to limit them with their chances.
On his development…
Obviously I can always learn and it's great info to take in and kind of process and try to go deliver on the weekends. I feel like I do have a lot of energy. I try to and I definitely need to harness it a little bit better and they're helping me do that. Having the partnership with Lasse (Berg Johnsen), he's a great player. He's experienced. He’s played in big games so having that connection with him just makes my job pretty easy.
On his mindset prior to the goal…
Obviously the touch sets up everything so obviously in my head, I just want to take a good touch to set myself up as best I could. I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time.
