Sporting KC head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
I think I have to start in the first half, not just jump to the second half. First of all, I'm very happy that we won this game. Wins are rare, so wins we have to enjoy. You have to suffer to make wins. It's not easy to win games. I think it was a great performance from the effort from everyone over 90-plus minutes. I liked that we tried to play. We showed things which we didn't really do in the first 30 minutes in St. Louis. Obviously, sometimes you lose the ball, but you try to play with personality. The second goal is an example of that. We play from the back, from Stefan (Cleveland), and we score like that. I like that. I like the effort. We then started losing too many easy balls. In the first half, we have moments where we shouldn't lose so many easy balls because otherwise it's like you go into a spiral where you then start running and chasing. And I think that was also then the problem after a while in the second half, that when we had the bal, we lost it too quickly and too easily and then you're defending again against a team who's very athletic and very physical. (Minnesota) is a good team, we knew that. It was not going to be easy. I think we started well in the second half. We scored (to make it) 2-0. And then in these moments, it's not that the team wants to go back. if you have watched the game, we tried to press. Obviously, that is very, very tiring as well so it's either we don't press anymore and then we don't open gaps, but then we probably sit a little bit more. That's also something you have to do but you can't sit for 20, 25, 30 minutes. Obviously, that is then going to be difficult against that tall, athletic team. So that's where we will have to see what is the balance, and how can we be in those moments more calm with the ball to keep ourselves more in possession. But other than that, I think we've got to enjoy these moments.
On bouncing back from last week…
We lost in St. Louis, but we didn't come out of the game and think that in the second half we had a bad performance in St. Louis. We thought we had a decent performance. There were lots of things to do better as always. We came back to 2-2. We felt we had momentum there. Then we got this penalty. And it didn't really affect the team much. I think we started well today. We started to play with personality, even after losing in St. Louis. So that is something I wanted to see from the team and I saw that. They didn't hide. They were not low in confidence. We made, sometimes, the wrong choices or decisions but that is positive. And now, of course, a win should give you even more confidence and I hope that it gives confidence to the players. But again, like I said, enjoy the moment and then tomorrow we start preparing again for the next game.
On the play of Manu Garcia and Capita Capemba…
Capita had a nice assist. He's always a danger, right? He's so fast. He's so good in counterattacks and in 1v1’s. He works hard for the team, so I'm very happy for him. I think Manu as well, like in St. Louis, he puts in a big shift. He works hard for the team and I'm really happy for him that he can score. He shot, in the first 15-20 minutes, I think he had two shots. That's something me and the staff try to tell him. ‘You have the quality in the final third. Go there, take risks and sometimes be a little bit more selfish. Don't look for the extra pass.’ And I think if we can get him where he starts shooting more, then he has more chances to score goals so I'm happy for him there. And then there are moments where, obviously, he can do better as well in certain moments where we need him to help us to keep the ball more. We're looking at that with him as well. But I think he puts in a very big shift defensively and works hard for the team.
On the team’s grit…
We're growing. We had a very bad period in April, which was very, very bad and very hard for various reasons, but I feel we came back from that before the World Cup and we grew. Now we keep building. We keep integrating new players. Like I mentioned already a few times, I'm very happy that Or (Blorian), Emir (Karic) and Moises (Mosquera) are now with us. They will help this team massively, like you can already see. I think Or has his presence with the way he defends. He likes to defend and he will get fitter and fitter and he will be better for us. Emir is not yet 90-minutes fit and he still helps this team so much with his experience. And then that also helps the other players, right? That helps the - they're not extremely young, Wyatt (Meyer) and Jayden (Reid) and all these guys -- but they may not have six, seven, eight years of professional football under their belt so it helps them also then to grow. And I think it takes also responsibility away from some of the guys who sometimes maybe struggle a bit. But we need everyone. I said this after St. Louis. I think our subs came in very, very well in St. Louis. I think our sobs again today came in with Kwaku (Agyabeng) and (Jacob) Bartlett. It's not easy to come into a game like that when you suffer and you have to bring energy. (Stephen) Afrifa had a few moments and he also helped defending. Everyone who came in contributes to this team and that's what we need. We need everyone.
On Manu Garcia..
The attitude has never been a problem for Manu and there was no problem with Manu. In those games, I made different tactical decisions because I thought it was what was good for the team. Manu did really well helping us when he came in. There has never been a problem with him. There is no problem with him. There has never been a mentality or an issue. It's just football. Sometimes the coach chooses another player and then you expect the players who don't play not to be happy but to be there for the team and help them. That's what Manu does and that's what all the others also do, and that's what we need.
On the adjustments to the team's preparation…
That's something in the break that we analyzed with a lot of people on a lot of different points and that is something which came up. How can we try to change something to our home games? I think the home record in the last 18-24 months hasn't really been great for whatever reason so we said, 'what could we do different?' Because home games are so important for us, for any team in MLS, because it is very difficult to win games but even more difficult away from home. I did this in previous clubs. I like training in the stadium. If it's possible with the weather, we would like to do that. I think this can give you a little bit of a different feeling. We didn't win because of that today, let's be clear. But it may just give you something different. And then there were other points, like you said. We were talking about which we would like to change a little bit and that's what we're going to try to do and maybe it stimulates the players a little bit different.
On the impact of Or Blorian and Emir Karic…
What I see every day in training and the way I get to know these personalities is that they obviously have more experience, different experience, and they talk on the field more. What I'm expecting is they can bring some calm. They're two calm players on the field. They talk, they have experience, they bring leadership, and I hope that they can help other guys. Maybe in certain moments to say, ‘Hey, I've got you. Just be calm,’ right? Because that's what we need. I think that's what they bring. I believe that Moises (Mosquera) will bring that as well, and then hopefully that just makes it easier for the others to keep developing.
On Capita…
I believe that he can be very strong for this league. I think from the first day when Capita came, he worked very hard defensively, which is also a big something which our players need to do. He puts his ego back and works for the team and I've seen him work very hard for the team. And we have obviously seen that he's very, very dangerous with his speed, in counterattacks, in 1v1s, when we can switch sides and find him. I think winning helps him. He's a personality who likes to win and when he wins and when the team does well, I think he gets even more joy and he needs joy to play his football. I think there was a period in April, just after he arrived, which was a bad period where he was not in the best place as well. It was very difficult for him. He is very dangerous and he will cause a lot of problems to many defenders.
Sporting KC midfielder Manu Garcia
On his recent form...
I'm trying to help the team in whatever is required and that's it. I have been in the professional game long enough to know what it is to play or not to play. I try to keep a balance in my life. I'm just trying to give my best. That's it.
On his goal...
I play my best game when I don't think much and when things come natural. When things go well, I always get asked 'What were you thinking?'Â I didn't think. I was just playing. It's just a feeling I got today at some point. I think I still have a lot more that I can give to the team. I hope we all improve and I can help this team to grow a lot more.
On the team's attack...
It's not only the guys that are starting, I think the strength of this group lately has been coming from the bench. They are keeping up and improving the team. You are seeing it, even before the break. I think it's difficult. There have been a lot of changes in the club as you see. And you already see a lot of improvement on the pitch. I think it's to give credit to the guys and to the coaches of course and to this group that is amazing.
