CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 16, 2021

Johan Kappelhof

Press Conference

New England 2, Chicago 2

Q. What were thoughts on the performance tonight? Looked from my end like a pretty gutty 90 minutes by you guys?

JOHAN KAPPELHOF: Yeah, I think it was a great team effort. Everybody gave their all. We worked for each other and we fight until the very end. So that's amazing. Also the guys who came in, the guys on the bench, everybody was supporting. It's a great team victory.

Q. Is there any regret, though, that like there weren't enough of those games like tonight this season? Is there any thought like, man, where was this for most of the rest of this year?

JOHAN KAPPELHOF: There's not really regret. We know we should have done better. We gave our all but it was not enough at the end of the day. But we still fight till the end. You know, we don't give up. It's a good team spirit and we have quality on the team, and we have to finish the season strong.

Q. And tonight's result against New England, in three games, you played three wide-open games against them and did okay and got two minutes against them. Does that maybe favor your team a little bit to play more wide-open style and wide-open games? Because I think there were, what, 13 goals over the three games between these teams?

JOHAN KAPPELHOF: Wide open, I don't know exactly what you mean. But it's a good team. It's a great team and you have to be very focused. They are good on the counter, so I don't think you should be wide open against them. You should be very compact and be ready for a counter because they have quality up front, and I think that's what we did great today. Everybody was shifting well and coming back when we lose the ball, and be in like a compact organization. I'm proud of the guys today.

Q. And then obviously you guys, unfortunately, were officially eliminated from the playoff consideration tonight, so now looking ahead to next season, where do you think this team needs to improve next season? What are some things this team need to improve in 2022?

JOHAN KAPPELHOF: We have a lot of quality with guys that are great on the ball. I think where we can improve is more matureness. You know, in certain moments in the game, more mature -- more like, you know, fight for the result and not always pretty but sometimes you need to be ugly to win games and if you show it a little bit more, I think we'll have more results.

Q. I'm being told that you guy aren't officially eliminated yet. My apologies on that. So now for you personally, what are your goals for the last four games of the season?

JOHAN KAPPELHOF: Finish the season strong. Anything can happen in life. If we can focus on ourselves, focus on the next four games and give our all and see where we end, and I think that's the most important thing we need to do is finish strong and show pride.