CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 7, 2021

Raphael Wicky

Press Conference

Chicago Fire 3, Orlando City 1

Q. Finishing the home stand 2-1-1 and scoring nine goals in the last three games, how satisfied are you with the performance of this homestand and how can you build off this heading into the rest of the season?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, I'm obviously very, very happy about the performance of the team over the last three games, creating and scoring a lot of goals, but also, yeah, having a good structure defensively. Even today, we had a great goalie who saved us in difficult moments, but I think that's needed in games. You see that the Euros at the highest level, that's sometimes needed.

But overall I'm very happy with the performance and the performances over the last three games. And I think, of course, like we always said, winning gives you the most confidence. I think we have to build from that. We have to keep working and believing in what we do, and we know that we can beat a lot of teams in this league. We know that.

But it often depends on the details and on really making this extra step and really working for the team and I think that's going to be the base for this next three, four months.

Q. How are Aliseda and Pineda, and Robert Beric getting on the scoreboard for the first time in ten games; what could this do for him from a confident point of view?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, so Aliseda, I don't have the exact diagnosis, but it shouldn't be that bad. It was an ankle problem, and he felt cautious, and he wanted to come out because he couldn't do any more of the same effort that he did, which is very smart from him for him to actually say so we can bring in fresh legs.

Pineda I think it was a knee-on-knee. That should hopefully be not that long or that bad. Yeah, but overall, we will see tomorrow in training how they feel. They come in. They will have treatment. The doctors will be there and look at them, and hopefully it's nothing bad.

And yeah, for your other questions, obviously I'm very happy for Robert, that he scored. I'm happy for Chino that he scored. You know, strikers need goals. Strikers need goals. Robert did a great job against Atlanta in pulling away defenders and creating spaces for Frankie and for Nacho to run in there.

Even we always speak to him as a staff and we tell him to keep going and to keep believing he will always have chances and he will always score goals, but for a player I think it quite hard when you don't score for so long. I'm happy for him, and I guess he's obviously relieved as well.

Q. Compared to the first game, there was a lot of rotation in the team because of international absence and others. Do you think you found in these last three games that you scored nine goals, the teams and the positions of the players that you really want on this team?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, look, it's always a question of finding the right balance of a team I think, and the system is not really that important. I think found a shape right now where the team feels confident but I'm pretty optimistic that we can play in a back four or a back five, but it's about the mix, the mix which players play together, and that's something as a coach, you always try to find.

And I think, yeah, we have found a good mix. But we have guys coming back, Gastón coming back, we have players from injuries coming back, hopefully Carlos Teran, Stani, those guys come back, and then we have a lot of competition on the team, and then it's exactly the same. Sometimes you cannot put all your, say, best players together on the field. You have to find the best mix. But that's a good problem to have.

Q. Two more assists for Alvaro tonight, but in addition to that we saw a lot of him standing up for his teammates on the field and seems like he's taking up more and more of a leadership role. What are you seeing from him on that side right now in addition to just how well he's playing?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, look, that's the thing which makes you the most happy. He becomes a leader. He takes responsibility. He does very good defensive work. We all know that Alvaro is a great player. He's a fantastic basketball footballer, but I actually feel he plays more simple and secure in our own half, and then when he goes forward he has the quality to give assists or to play passes.

But overall in the last three games, again, I think his defensive performance was actually quite good, and that's what a center-mid also needs. I'm happy that he accepts his role and I'm happy that he -- yeah, he's willing sometimes to also to do the dirty work. Because defensive midfielder or center midfielder need to do also dirty work for the team, and that's a point we spoke about.

And yeah, happy about that, but again, no time to relax. Being happy, happy about the performances, but we need to keep that consistent.