SPORTING DIRECTOR & HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
On dealing with the speed of Accam...
“Actually I think they did very well. There were two moments: the first he does a great job, a fantastic shot and great quality. The second goal wasn’t about his speed, it was about our positioning in the penalty box. So, in my eyes I think they did a pretty good job on him. He’s dangerous and you know he is going to get some opportunities and you try to limit that. Two goals, it looks like he had a great game, but in my eyes the guys did a decent job.”
On beating the Fire in Open Cup...
“No, we knew that, we addressed it and it was something that we wanted to eradicate. We wanted to get the first win, we wanted to be the first Crew [SC] team to beat the Chicago Fire in the Open Cup. We didn’t do it, we came up short. Give them credit, they defended well for a large part of the game and they scored at the right moments.”
On key changes that came at half...
“I think so, I think we have the ability to wear teams out and I think Chicago got a little bit tired towards the end of the game and you just don’t want to have a 2-0 deficit to have to deal with. The guys did a good job, the ones who came in.”
On Chicago bunkering in...
“I think we had momentum the whole game. The goals clearly came against the run of play. Chicago defended for 90 minutes. You guys saw the game. Listen, there is nothing wrong with that. It is not a negative, they won the game and they are in the next round, we are not. I think in the first half, although we controlled the ball, we did not create enough chances, we didn't put enough real pressure on them. In the second half that changed, we got unlucky to have that one goal that was offsides. I think potentially before that there could have been a penalty kick with a hand ball but that is the breaks of this game. I’m proud of the way the guys kept battling and kept the pressure up. I felt that was pretty good.”
On being out of the U.S. Open Cup and being 9th in the table...
“It leaves us without the ability to win an Open Cup title and I think that is about it. Our sights now are on the league and moving up in the table. We believe we have a good team but the table doesn’t lie. So we need to start climbing. We believe it and we need to show it. That is what these next 17 games are about.”
MIDFIELDER WIL TRAPP
On their slow start...
“It wasn’t a great start. I thought they were a team that we knew what they were going to do, they were going to defend, play on the counter. I mean, both their goals reflected that. It was disappointing to give up those two goals that quickly in the first half. We had the lion’s share of the possession, but possession doesn’t mean anything if you give up two goals. That was what was so disappointing about it. I felt the second half, we came out in the second half feeling pretty good. Tempo was higher, we were moving the ball much quicker and creating chances.”
On creating more chances in the second half...
“I think for our group, the takeaways we can have from this game are the relentless effort and never giving up. I thought that in that second half we came into what we wanted to do in terms of our game plan for the entire match. Granted you don’t want to take 75 minutes before you can really get to it, but they defended hard. We got the one goal off the penalty and had a number of other chances. At the end of the day, we have to put those chances away.”
On bowing out of the Open Cup at this stage...
“Yes, it’s never fun to be out of a tournament this early, especially since I feel like we lose to these guys almost every year, or every other year. I thought we were confident coming to this game. It’s just one of those starts we didn’t hope for, but we have a big game on Sunday to look forward to now.”
On starting Sunday’s game with more energy...
“That would be the plan not to start [the way we did today]. Nationally televised game, strong physical opponent; it will be about fast starts. And making sure we don’t give anything away.”
MIDFIELDER RODRIGO SARAVIA
On the match...
“I think the team did well, just in the first half we let in two goals. In the second half, I think we had a better effort to come back. Their defense was really compact so it was hard to get in.”
On breaking down the Fire’s defensive shell in the second half...
“Yes, that’s a good part about it. The effort was there, now we need to focus on the League.”
On not starting the next game like tonight...
“Like I said, two goals in the first half, it’s not good for any team. I think we need to be more compact in the first half, be more focused, and keep it going.”
On not starting the game like the team normally does...
“Yes, that’s another part we need to get better at. Play a little bit faster, quicker with the ball, change the field side-to-side and faster. I think it will come.”
