CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 13, 2024

Tom Barlow

Press Conference

New York Red Bulls 0, Chicago Fire FC 0

Q. A point on the road, what are initial thoughts oncoming to a difficult place to play?

TOM BARLOW: Yeah, obviously played a great team tonight, and in a tough environment. So yeah, I think like Coach said, we'll take the point on the road against a good team like the Red Bulls. A little disappointed yeah we couldn't find the back of the net, especially being up a man for the majority of the game.

But it's just, you know, time to regroup and then we'll get back, watch some film, see what we can do better and move on to the next game. I think we've got three home games in a row, so it's a good opportunity to get some points on the board. Yeah, we'll just reevaluate the game and move from there.

Q. And before the game, you got that recognition, this is your first time back at Red Bull Arena. What was that like for you?

TOM BARLOW: Yeah, it was neat. I was here for six years, and you know, really had a good experience here. Yeah, it was really cool of them to do that for me. I wasn't expecting that. But yeah, it was nice to come back and see a lot of familiar faces and so yeah, I'm very appreciative and it was pretty cool.

Q. Can you speak to the difficulty emotionally to separate that from the emotion coming back here?

TOM BARLOW: Yeah, it was a cool moment for me, and getting to see everybody again was really awesome. Just emphasize on the game and focus on trying to help my team and trying to win. Obviously, you know, we didn't do that but we took the point. But yeah, like I said, it's nice to come back here and see all these guys. But yeah, bummed we didn't get the win but we'll take the point and move on.

Q. I know it's extenuating circumstances, 45 minutes played against ten men, but how different did this Red Bulls team look from the one you played on last year?

TOM BARLOW: Obviously Lewis is back. He's having a heck of a start to the year. Adding Forsberg this year who is a top player. They look good. They are dangerous. They were good on the transition today. They did obviously the normal press and stuff. Yeah, they are a good team and look forward to playing them again later this year.

Q. At the beginning of this year, you had that striking group of Cuypers, yourself and Koutsi, what's that relationship been like between the three of you looking to compete for that spot but also pushing you guys as well?

TOM BARLOW: Yeah, it's been good. Two great guys, really good players. Koutsi obviously has been here for a little bit. Hugo is new like me. We've just been developing those relationships and competing on the training ground, which has been a lot of fun.

But it's been good for us. We're pushing each other and able to take some things from those two guys and work on my game with it. So yeah, it's been really good.

Q. And last one from me, over the last couple weeks, we've seen some ups and downs. How do you think the team is progressing and how close do you think you are to where you want to be going into this summer?

TOM BARLOW: Yeah, we've had some good moments. We've had some moments that, you know, we need to work on. But yeah, I think now is a good opportunity for us to really come together as a team with the three home games coming up.

Yeah, we've had some good performances. Obviously, yeah, still fairly early is the within. We do, like most teams, have a lot to work on. Yeah, we are looking forward to it.

It's a good group, it's a hungry group and we enjoy playing with each other. And I think we can be really, you know, really competitive this season and we are looking to go far. Now it's just getting back to training and looking forward to the next game.