CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 3, 2023

Frank Klopas

Press Conference

Cincinnati 1, Chicago Fire FC 0

Q. It was a difficult game against a top-of-the-league-team right now. What are your thoughts on the overall performance, especially given some of the challenges the team is facing with congested fixtures and injuries?

FRANK KLOPAS: Yeah, I felt like we deserved more out of the game, definitely. I was proud of the way the team played. We had to rotate certain guys because they had some issues from the amount of games that they have played and we didn't want to take any risk with them. So I felt we managed that game really well. I felt the guys that came, in guys that haven't played in a while really stepped up in the last couple games, and the way the game turned out, I felt that we deserved more.

It was a play we should have handled better and could have and we didn't, and we paid the price at the end. I'm proud of the effort of the team, and now we just have to look forward. We have to regroup, big match on Tuesday and then we have a home game Saturday.

So our next two are at home, and our big focus right now is on Tuesday.

Q. Curious about the post-match message after one moment of brilliance from Cincinnati breaks down what was a near perfect defensive effort from you guys, obviously going into Tuesday's match is one thing but it seemed like Wyatt and Kendall really stepped upcoming off and playing 90 tonight.

FRANK KLOPAS: Yeah, this he did great. I just felt overall, the whole team, I think Jairo we pushed him as much as we could. He played 90. Alonso came in and he did a great job.

We had a plan going in and obviously things like that can change a little bit but I felt the team performed really well, and we talked about the long diagonal balls, especially when Acosta drifts out wide.

You know, it's like I said, within every game, there's situations that you can look and correct and become better, and we will. But the mentality, the effort and the way the team competed, that was, for me, I'm upset because I know that we deserved more out of this game, at least one point for sure.

But that's the game. You know, and now we just have to move on, and move forward and regroup and really be hungry and have a great attitude and mentality for Tuesday.

Q. With the biggest game of the season for many people coming up on Tuesday, just three days away, how is the team going to prepare for that in such a short time and how important is that competition for this group?

FRANK KLOPAS: I mean, we enter every game and every competition to win. That's our mentality. We've talked about it from the beginning. Doesn't change. We move forward.

Tomorrow is another day and then we are going to prepare the team and they will be ready to come out Tuesday flying and leave everything on the field to take the next step.

Q. One last question about set pieces and dead ball opportunities. Seemed like there were a lot of them tonight and a couple in Toronto as well. What can the team do better on those offensively to get the goals, because it's almost there, it seems like.

FRANK KLOPAS: Yeah, it's just we have to spend a lot of time on the field practicing both phases, defensive and obviously the offensive one, the amount of congestion with the amount of games, you're limited with what we can do because sometimes you're playing every three days, and you know, the focus is on recovery. You know, if you go live and do a lot of stuff like that, it takes a lot out of the players. A lot of it is walk-through but now after the Columbus match, I think that we will spend a lot more time throughout the week because that's an area that's crucial. That's an area that we need to improve, and you know, we have quality players on the attacking side, guys that can deliver the ball. So we need to be way more effective with those.

And obviously defensively, it's an area that we have given up goals in the past and we need to tighten things up because those are key moments in game that can decide outcome of the matches.

Right now, it's been limited the amount of time we have been able to do live reps on the field. A lot of walk-through and a lot of video stuff, but we need to do -- definitely do; that's going to be a big emphasis when we get to some kind of normal schedule, you know, Saturday to Saturday matches.