Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On the match:
"We had a really, really good first half. We knew they were going to come out in the second half and we talked about it, being at home. I think they did a good job and they had a good spirit. I'm not happy with the goals we gave up but I am happy with this early in the season having the kind of spirit that we had to not just really drop our heads and close up shop and go out of here with a loss. The fact that we got the tying goal and we still had the mentality to go get the winner, those are massive three points. This isn't an easy place to play and they were massive three points for us."
On anticipating the Fire's coming out hard in second half:
"No, I think we have a lot of respect for the Fire and the team. They have very good players on it and there is a good mentality within the group and there's good experience too. It's not a surprise. I do for sure have to go back and look at the goals that came against us. I have a pretty good idea in my head and I'm not very happy with them but like I said, what's really easy, especially away from home, you can put your head in the sand and be done. We didn't do that. And the fact that we got the tying goal and then the winning goal really showed a lot of heart within the group."
On getting an away win after last week's loss:
"I'll be honest with you. New York was better than us. They really were. They were a better team at this point in the season. They were just in form. I would think that anybody they're going up against right now they're going to be pretty good against those teams. I think if they're playing like that, because they were flying, and they had an air of confidence. The hardest thing about this league is, obviously it's long and you also want to try to peak at the right time. It was a good lesson for us last week. We also played a really good team and I think that also prepared us to play in this environment too. Getting three points on the road is always a good thing."
On still tinkering with his lineup:
"Sure, we have quite a few new guys. I'm really happy with some of the performances from the new guys today. We still have to be better in certain situations but again we have time and we have to work on that. Our whole thing is about getting better as we go instead of being the other way. You know, like when you getting bad as the season goes on."
Sporting Kansas City Winger Johnny Russell
On the match:
"I thought first half we were in control. In the second half Chicago made it extremely difficult for us. I think we played into their hands a little bit. They put us under great pressure and managed to take the lead. From there it was about us sort of digging deep and finding something else and we managed to do that. Luckily we came away with the win but it could have gone either way."
On not quitting late in the second half and getting two late goals:
"I think we've got that in the team, the desire to get those goals. I think when a team has got you pinned in so deep that's where your breaks are going to come from, on the counter. We managed to do that well, we managed to finish our chances well. It could have gone either way on another day but we managed to get the three points."
On working hard for their first three away points of the season:
"There's some things we need to work out but it's a new team. It's going to take time, we didn't get off to the start we wanted last week. This week was about coming on the road and putting together a performance that merits a win. We did that today. It's a good feeling to get yourself the first three points and we'll look to build from that."
Sporting Kansas City Forward Daniel Salloi
On back and forth goals in the second half:
"It was a rollercoaster game. We were very happy we got the win at the end. We probably had four heart attacks during the game. I think two-zero is a very dangerous score because it looks like a good lead but you can kind of sleep into the game. They lived up to their chances and they came back. The good thing about their comeback is it happened early enough we could pick it up at the end. We showed that as a group we can step up our game when we are down. I think this game really showed how good of a team we are together because everybody took part in this win. I am very happy. We are very happy."
On losing a two-zero lead:
"Yes, obviously it's difficult a lot of teams can make that mistake. Yes we have to work on that. The thing is, it's difficult. They had the whole half to come with long balls at us and set pieces. Once they got a goal back, that's when they really stepped up the game. They had the crowd behind them. At the end of the day we won the game so that's what makes us really happy."
Chicago Fire Head Coach Veljko Paunovic
On what he learned about his team:
"I think that we, especially in the first half, saw that we weren't ready to compete with the team that had the advantage that they had: playing competitive games before us. That was the main difference in the first half. But adjustments in the second half were tremendous and I think showing that we can score three goals that quickly and create even more opportunities was the positive. Obviously, disappointed with the final outcome of the huge effort we had in the second half but what we learned today is that we have to get better on every side of the game and in every aspect of the game. We are not there. We didn't have a good game, I think. Overall, a lot of innocent and naive mistakes that led us to drop, not only a point, but three points. So we got to get better. And also, of course, I think on the other side, I want to congrats to our opponent. They had a great game especially in the first half.”
On Kevin Ellis and his performance tonight:
“He has experience, obviously, and a lot of athleticism. He's also somebody that we rely on. That he can help in the set-up of our defense in that moment of the game when we needed to control a little bit more at the back so he's going to be important for us and for the whole season.”
On the adjustments in the second half:
“We did tactical adjustments with two forwards and we pushed a little bit more, we pressed more. We exposed some other positions but we had to go for the game and I think with two strikers we had more passes in attack and obviously a lot of opportunities in the second half that helped us to have that turn over. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep our defense in the second half again. We couldn't keep consistent with defending well so that's something we got to work on. That's something that was the main thing. We worked on it in preseason but I think we have to improve. Our defense, four goals, first game, four goals last game, last year. It's still the same so we have to improve.”
On the lost opportunity caused by conceding two late goals:
“Absolutely. I think coming back in the game was very important but as I said, this is a game where you have to take advantage of your opportunities and you cannot allow opportunities. Not so many. Especially not so many. It's so innocent. Not good.”
On coming back in the second half:
“I think there is a strong argument that a team who plays their first competitive game is always better prepared than the team that hasn't. That is our case. So the advantage of this team is their game rhythm. Simply put, even playing friendly games trying to maintain that level, it's not the same. I think that the first 45 minutes reflected our lack of game rhythm. But I expected it. Honestly, I expected it. Even so, we shouldn't have allowed those two goals but I also expected the second half to be better. Especially with the adjustments we made. We changed, we put two forwards instead of only playing with only Niko. We accompanied him with Lucho Solignac and behind them we had Katai moving well between the lines and I think it was a good adjustment. The guys did a fantastic job to equalize including going ahead but like I said before, our defense, and I'm talking about it as a unit, our defense wasn't good enough. We crumbled way too easily.”
On what he noticed on the breakdown of his defense:
“Concentration. I think lack of awareness but that's the whole team. I'm not saying Polster, Johan, Dean, Brandon. All of us. We all have to do a better job defending because if we're not consistent this is what is going to happen. We can score a lot of goals. We proved that in the past and we did it today. But if we don't defend well. If we commit those innocent mistakes, it's just going to come back over and over again. So, as I said, we worked on this the whole preseason but we still have to keep working. Again, a lot of positives but it's time to turn on the red light and start working hard.”
On the performances and importance of Nikolic and Schweinsteiger:
“This is expected from them. This will be expected from them especially, the way how we work our offense and how much opportunities or how much work also our defensive players in the organization of the play are putting in to bring the balls to the final third. So these opportunities, and I think we had more, not only the goals that we scored, we had clear opportunities and we have to score them also. We have to, you know, in the modern game, like I said, you have to kill. Our opportunities, we had more than three, we should have scored five goals. That's what we expect. I know this game is not easy but we have to know that when you have them you have to score a goal and that instinct is that we, I don't think that we lack of, but I think that it has to be sharper and it has to be more pronounced.”
On his defensive options against Minnesota and the team's response after going down 2-0:
“The defensive response is like I said. The group has to work better defensively. I think we've failed again in that aspect. We gave the opponent too many opportunities and, even though our opponents have quality, we could have prevented at least half of them with better pressing as a team, with better positioning on the pitch, and then resolve the situations individually. It was like a domino effect. They kept falling one after another and, in the end, the consequence was losing a game we should have won. A game that, especially in the second-half, was a great half. A great response by the guys and in the adjustments we made that we all came together to resolve the situation and it paid dividends. But we can't be so naive defensively.”
If the defensive struggles can be fixed with more work:
“All I can do is work. I can't do anything other than that and I trust in the work that we are doing. I also think that we need time. I also have to reiterate both in English and Spanish that this team has only worked together one week. This team had a lot of injuries, a lot of them came back, and a lot of those pieces weren't together so you need time for the defensive work to gel. But, like I said, there are things you simply can't allow. When the dominoes fall someone needs to put themselves in front and stop it. That's what we lacked. We lacked it in the past and we lacked it today.”
On Katai's involvement and his play:
“I think he has a huge potential and we have to work to help him. Give him also time. I'm definitely sure that he can impact the game more but he needs time and we need time also. And the team needs time to figure it out. But obviously it's good for him and the team that he started really well. He had a great reaction as the rest of the team in the second half. That's helpful to build the trust, to build the confidence. But I think all our players have more potential than we showed today and we have to work together to, as soon as possible, get back on the winning track.”
Chicago Fire Midfielder Dax McCarty
Main takeaways from the game:
"It's definitely the loss. You concede four goals at home, you're probably giving yourself the recipe to lose at home. A lot of character to come back from 2-0 in the first half, we didn't have a very good first half and we believed we could come back, we did. Then, less than ten minutes to go at home, you should be able to see the game out and I think it's a good lesson for us. We think the game's over after we score the third goal; they keep pushing, they push harder, we don't know how to defend, quite frankly, from back to front, front to back. The defending aspect of our game was pretty poor. A lot of things to learn, but ultimately lose the game, give up four goals at home, it's just not good enough."
On fixing the defensive play:
"For sure, of course it's fixable. They had some nice goals, but again, most of them are self-inflicted, whether that be turnovers in the midfield that lead to them getting out on the break, whether that be not fouling runners, whether that be losing 1-v-1 battles. I don't know if it was their third goal or their fourth goal, we have an opportunity to stop Russell 2-v-1 on the right side and he breaks through, and he's running at our goalkeeper almost 1-v-1 and makes a good decision, goal. The little things that happen before the goals, that can be solved. These are things we have to work on."
On improvements in the second half:
"I think we played with a little bit more urgency. The first half, there was no sense of urgency, we were playing the ball side to side, we weren't penetrating, we weren't getting in behind them. It was really comfortable for them to defend us. In the second half, we made them uncomfortable, we got the ball wide, our crosses were better in the second half, we were dangerous. It's simple: good teams like Kansas City, if you just ping the ball around in front of their back line the whole game, they're going to be comfortable. Credit to us for the reaction in the second half, we showed character, obviously. But it was ultimately, you look at the game and it's a very frustrating day at the office. You want to set the tone for the season in the right way, you want to win the game. You're ten minutes away from the headline and the story line being, ‘Chicago Fire showed great character and make a fantastic comeback, won the game 3-2.’ Yet here we are, sitting here somehow losing that game, which is insane, it's totally insane. That's what it is, it's on all of us to make it better. It's not just the defenders, the goalkeeper; it's us as a team, the coaching staff, it's all of us to try to figure out what we're going to do defensively because we were all over the place defensively."
On the midfield partnership with Tony Tchani and Bastian Schweinsteiger:
"It's still a work in progress, obviously. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we're all similar players. We all are more or less defensive midfielders. Sometimes that means that Bastian is going to be the deepest guy, sometimes that means Tony will be the deepest guy playing the number six and sometimes that means that I'll be the deepest guy. Our spacing was okay, myself, I’m not super comfortable pushing on and being a high midfielder with the game on my back; I think all of us are better when the game is in front of us. But I thought the spacing and the combination play and the understanding was better in the second half, so it's just going to continue to be a work in progress, it's going to have to be a constant evolution for all of us. All three of us can understand the game and how to play and we want to try to dominate the midfield, but we also need to figure out ways to have guys be able to play in those little half spaces that defenders don't want to come into and can get Niko a little bit more free. He got a little freer in the second half and he scored two goals. Yeah, it was okay, I think, it wasn't great but for our first game together, I think we'll continue to try to get better."
Chicago Fire Forward Nemanja Nikolic
On scoring a brace:
"Of course, it would be the best if the team wins first the game. It was an important game for us, opening game here in Chicago. I think the first half was not the best, we don't create so much and they have two opportunities, they score two goals. After that, our reaction in the second half was really good, we changed the formation in the field and we were much more aggressive in the last part, we created opportunities, we changed the game. After 3-2, we cannot give them opportunities to come back again and again and after to win. It was a negative, positive thing; negative thing that we received four goals in our field, positive thing the second half attitude, and the motivation and aggressiveness was perfect, and this is the way we need to play. Of course I'm happy about the two goals, it was not the first game for me here, but what I had in this game I put in the net. I'm happy because of the goals, of course like always, but how I said, it does not mean a lot today for my team, so I cannot be happy."
On the difference between the two halves:
"This was our problem: in the last part, we don't create so much, we don't create nothing. If you don't shoot the goals, you cannot score. Of course, we tried in the beginning of the game, we received the goals; after that, we had some moments in the game when we have a little bit of control in the game, but it was not also perfect. But like I said, our attitude, our aggressiveness in the first half was not the best. I have a feeling that we respected too much, our opponent, but after that in halftime, we changed our mind and the reaction was perfect. I think in 82 minutes, we scored 3-2, and we had the ten minutes where we need to defend much better. After 3-2, we cannot give them opportunities to come back."
On what went wrong after leading late:
"I cannot say it was so wrong because they reacted good, they scored immediately after our goals. I think in that moment, they built better momentum than we did. It was a cross ball and we don't close the second post. We need to look forward to the next game against Minnesota. Of course, we need to analyze this game, we need to analyze a lot of things, but how I said, against Minnesota we need to show our face from this second half."
