CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 7, 2021

Bobby Shuttleworth

Press Conference

Chicago Fire 3, Orlando City 1

Q. What's it like seeing the team emerge and score points?

BOBBY SHUTTLEWORTH: It's been awesome. It's been a boost of energy for sure. We knew that if we just kept the faith here and kept doing the right things, and you know, keep working hard in training, working on things that we're working on, working on things that we need to improve on; hopefully if we're doing all those things, things will start to turn a little bit.

I think over the last two or three games, we've seen that a little bit and I think it's something that we need it continue to do and not rest or relax now. We need to keep pushing forward and keep trying to get points.

Q. Finishing off a home stand here 2-1-1, how do you feel heading into the next match and knowing that you come back to Soldier Field for two more after a road game?

BOBBY SHUTTLEWORTH: Good. I think obviously we'd like to take more points at home. We never want to lose any points at home. That being said, it's been a tough start to the year for us, and to get two wins in a row going into our next away game is big, and we can keep that confidence and try to use that momentum, try to get points on the road and then comeback home and try to get points at home again.

Q. How much did the organization in the back mean so much in the second half?

BOBBY SHUTTLEWORTH: Yeah, a lot. I think it's been really, really good over the last two or three games, and communication has been brilliant. We're picking up really good spots. We're limiting chances. I think it's been much improved, and you know, hopefully something that we need to continue to do, and like I said, we don't need to relax for one second here. We need to keep going. We need to keep pushing forward and trying to get points.

Q. Building off of that, at the end, you and Alvaro, in particular, when all those corners and crosses are coming in, are yelling a lot at the defense and it seems like guys are responding really, really well in those moments. What does it say about where the team is as character-wise now that you're able to be that forceful in games like that and see the response?

BOBBY SHUTTLEWORTH: Yeah, I mean, I think those things obviously are easier and easier to respond to when things are going well, and we're winning games. That being said, it's something that we've tried to do all season, and you know, it at times hasn't gone our way. We've put ourselves in bad positions but also had a little bit of bad luck, as well. I think at the moment right now, we are picking up better positions. We're listening to each other and nobody is taking anything personally and everybody is responding in a positive direction that's putting us in a better place to win games, block shots, win corners, all those little things that add up to points.

Q. How dangerous was this team, Orlando in the first half? You had a lot of difficult defenses. How do you resolve this issue after the halftime?

BOBBY SHUTTLEWORTH: Yeah, I mean, they are a good team. They are up high in the table because they are a good team and have good players and good attacking players. I think out wide, they have good players that can go one b one on guys and in on isolation.

At halftime we went over things and tried to change a couple things. Kept people in better positions, when they try to overload one side, slide people over, communicate better, and something in the second half we definitely did better. And then obviously they made some changes and picked up a little bit of momentum at the end of the game. But we weathered the storm there and scored another goal and see it out.