CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 16, 2021

Ignacio Aliseda

Press Conference

New England 2, Chicago 2

Q. What were your thoughts on the overall performance; that you were able to go toe-to-toe with the team that's going to end up winning the Supporters' Shield this year?

IGNACIO ALISEDA: Yes, it was a very difficult game. The field was pretty difficult because we are not used to playing on synthetic surface and they have a synthetic surface, so it's a different game when it's synthetic.

But there is a reason they are in first place. They play very well and they have a very dynamic game. They play very direct.

Unfortunately we fell behind to begin with but with our tools, we were able to tie them twice, and I think that the game was fair. It was a fair tie. There are things that -- the team played well in general, and there are things that we can improve on, but little by little, we are going to keep improving.

Q. In general, unfortunately for you guys, there have not been enough of those this season obviously with how the season has gone with your record. Where was that for most of the season? Do you guys think about that after a good performance, like why weren't there more of those over the course of this season?

IGNACIO ALISEDA: Yeah, I think maybe that was missing earlier in the season, but there were a lot of things happening, and lately we've had a change in coach and a change of ideas that we are developing on the field. So now we have to adapt a little bit to what Frank wants. I think even though we already knew him and we were kind of already getting used to or adapting better to our previous ideas, and now with a new head coach, we are seeing a new set of ideas develop on the field.

But now we are getting a hang of it. We are adapting on the fly, and always, you know, with the change of coach, you get a new energy, a renewed energy, even though we already knew him and we already knew Frank, there's still that new energy of things we readjust, readapt and everyone wants to be on the field. Everyone wants to be playing. Everyone wants to be out there, and I think that everyone gets a little bit more competitive out on the field with each other because everyone wants to be out there playing. So I think that's something that maybe happened and it's going to be helpful to the team.

Q. What are your goals as you finish up this season personally and how would you evaluate your 2021 up to this point?

IGNACIO ALISEDA: Well, first, my 2021 season I think was a little bit better than last season but there were a lot of injuries right when I was getting to my best level. So that made me not get down so much but I did get a little bit down because it felt like every time that I was improving and doing well, I would get injury. For example, I had two goals, I scored twice, and then I got injured again.

So at that point, I did kind of put my head down a little bit and feel like I was starting over. But little by little, I've been improving and things have been improving. So my goal is to play out the rest of the season and to be able to help the team in any way possible. Preferably, help the team with goals and assists, and as a group have victories. It would be great to get victories as a team together.

But personally, I do want to score goals and have assists so that I can help the team and it would be good for next season to begin next season with those things in mind.