CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 24, 2022

Fabian Herbers

Press Conference

Q. What's the mood of the team going into this match after, let's say, not one of the team's best performances Sunday against NYC?

FABIAN HERBERS: Yeah, obviously a tough stretch with Philly. You go there, have a rough loss. Maybe an unexpected loss or maybe a loss that you can take but then you come home and really want to show the home fans that you want to keep the three points at home and really make a playoff push.

Tough to come off of that, with that performance on Sunday. But right now, it's, yeah, it's another match ahead. You know, we have to turn the wagon around and try to create momentum again to make a push for the playoffs because right now we dig ourselves a hole with that unnecessary loss, I would say, against NYC FC. You know, we have to, yeah, turn the ship around and keep going again.

Q. I feel like you could hear a pin drop in the locker room on Saturday it was so quiet after the loss, or on Sunday, rather. Whether it's a win or a loss, does what happens on the field affect your mental health and your mood away from the field, and what do you do to not get too down or not get too excited about things, keep things a little bit more leveled off way from the field?

FABIAN HERBERS: Yeah, that's true, after the game on Sunday, obviously everybody expected or hoped for a home win. Again, we had a good stretch before that Philly game where we had -- we were unbeaten in five games.

Then you go to Philly, maybe had a night off and then you want to come back home and you show the fans and show the organization, and prove it as a team that you're good enough to get into those playoffs. And obviously the frustration and disappointment is there. If you saw that performance overall as a team, it just was not good enough.

You know, it was, yeah, really, really disappointing. And mental, I think I've been long enough in the business now to don't go too down after a loss and at the same time don't go too high as you win a game because the truth is always somewhere in the middle, I want to say.

You know, sometimes you win a game, 2-0, 3-0 but maybe the other team had some chances or they could have tied it or something and they just couldn't convert their chances, and vice versa, if you lose a game, auto you are not the worst team in the League. You're still fighting and still there and maybe things could have changed. Some details could have been different. You might have won or you might have tied the game.

Yeah, it's mentally important as players to don't get too high or don't get too low after a win or a loss.

Q. Your opinion, how important Gastón is for the team, and also playing different positions this year with the Fire, what's your favorite position or what's your main position that you like to play?

FABIAN HERBERS: Yeah, obviously Gastón is a huge loss for us. He's one of the better players that we have, and he's played pretty well this season. And we've proven in the season that other guys can step up. I remember we had some games, I think it was during that five-game stretch where Mauri and Phillip played next to each other and they won games as well. So I don't think we are a team that's so dependent on certain players. We have other players that can step up and that can step in and do the job just as well.

So again, it's a big loss for us. So then what was the second part? For me, the position, my strength was always to be very version tile and to play several positions. I've always throughout my career have played in different positions, so wherever the coach needs me, wherever he puts me, I'm obviously happy to play. I want to say my natural position is maybe the right wing but again, I've played on the left. I've played years prior on number 10. And I've played the 6 or the 8 as well.

So I'm fine with that and I'm flexible and I'm just happy as long as I'm playing.

Q. When you have a match like Sunday that is very disappointing? What is the key shake off a loss like that, learn from it and then move on.

FABIAN HERBERS: It's tough to say because you just try to be positive again. You train as hard as you can and you know to prepare the best you can for the next weekend, obviously, for Montréal ahead. There's nothing really specific that you do. You have to show up with a good mentality, with a positive attitude, and you know, you've just got to keep working. There's to real secret to it or nothing specific that you have to change or do. But you know, just prepare the best way possible and do what has brought you success in the past as well.

Q. Just seems like it's the never-ending question when you guys played at Soldier in the fall but what have you been told to expect with the field conditions Saturday, and how does a team prepare for field conditions knowing that they are probably not going to be great for passing and movement and there could even be some player safety issues, too?

FABIAN HERBERS: Yeah, we haven't spoken within the team about the field conditions to be honest but I've heard and seen on social media that the bears can complained about the field which was a bit funny to me because they don't really need the surface as much as we do. Obviously the playing surface is a huge factor for the quality of the play. You see when you watch Premier League in the morning on Saturdays or something, you know, when they have good pitches, you see the qualities, it's way higher and if you have a bumpy field, it affects the quality of the play. You know, the speed of play and the technical ability of the players can't really show as much if you have a clean surface. I don't know what to expect. I just know that there's been a couple concerts and again, that social media thing where the bears complained about the field conditions, and I think we just have to overcome that. I just have to deal with what's given to us because I feel like that's the beauty of MLS as well; that you don't always can expect these things because you go in other stadiums, like New England, you play on turf and you go to Houston and you play in the heat. You know, there's certain things in MLS that are different than in other leagues which makes it hard to play. But that's also the beauty of it. As players, we have to deal with it the best we can and just have a positive attitude about it and yeah, go about it and hopefully maybe it plays to our advantage, who knows.