Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
Tonight was not good enough. I apologize. Tonight was not what we showed for the last two months. It wasn't good enough. We had 10 really good minutes. I think we started the game really well with a good chance, with some good combinations, with a good counter-press, with good energy. We don't score and then we fall asleep twice. We don't track. We don't follow. I mean, at the end of the day, it's hard work. You have got to work. You have got to follow the guys. You have got to run back. That's the game. It's too easy. That's the reality. It's too easy to score against us and we can’t expect every game to score three or four goals. That is disappointing tonight. It's very disappointing.
On the defensive lapses…
It's just realizing every single one of us, we're all together. It's not blaming a player. It's all together and realizing that 80% is not good enough. Eighty percent is not enough to win more games or to be more competitive. That's just not good enough. We cannot be happy or content when we do eight times out of 10. It's just the reality of where we are. We cannot allow us not to work harder than the others. And that is frustrating. In the end of the day, you can talk tactics but you have to follow a guy. You have to run. You have to track back. We're conceding many similar goals and that I think is disappointing.
On if the message is getting through to the players…
I don't have that feeling. That wasn't the feeling I had in the last months. I think we've improved a lot. And tonight is a step back. Wednesday was a different game against Nashville. Tonight is a step back and that is frustrating.
On the substitutions…
We all know that Andre (Luiz’s) strength is probably on the right side and he is doing damage there, but we also struggle to defend on that side now and not only in this game. So I then, at one point, wanted to bring Capita (Capemba) in to help on that side and having Andre a little bit more in the center and Calvin (Harris) on the left side. That was the reflection, nothing else.
Sporting Kansas City forward Taylor Calheira
On his goal…
We were countering and with Andre's speed and how he plays, I knew the ball was going to end up in the box so I was just trying to go and support. He was just destroying the other two defenders and so I was just trying to be an outlet just in case. He had a good pass and I saw guys were coming so I just decided to take a touch and it worked out.
Thoughts on the match…
I thought we came out really well. I thought the first 10 minutes we were doing well. We I had a chance that I probably could have scored and that changes the game. It's just kind of been a theme where we take a span of 10 minutes where we just seem to give up goals but that's just everybody. We need to just do a better job. I feel like every week we're saying the same thing so I don't really have anything new to say. Enough is enough and we need to do better and create a better standard.
On the frustration…
We’re all trying. That's the frustrating part. I feel like we're all giving our 100% no matter what. We're trying to get out of last place. We know how big of a club the club is and how much it means to wear the Sporting badge. We're all trying. We're all giving our 100% and I think that's the frustrating part when things aren't going our way.
On the recent losses…
I don't think anything has changed. We have a lot of injured guys right now, which is unfortunate. But we all need to step up. That's me included. That's as a front group and as defenders. We can all do a better job. It was starting to turn, but we can't be happy that we were close to getting results. That’s still the bare minimum so it just needs to be better.
