SPORTING DIRECTOR AND HEAD COACH GREGG BERHALTER
On the team's response after allowing the goal:
"I think it's one of those games where you didn't do much wrong during the game and you present yourself in a good way. I think we created a good number of chances. We limited the opponent to very few chances and unfortunately we don't get a point or three points out of the game. I told the guys after the game we are proud of the effort, but disappointed with the result."
On their plan of attack after the Fire made it tougher to score in the second half:
"Well, we wanted a couple things. First we wanted width, to be able to stretch them out vertically. We knew vertically they were going to be very compact. So we wanted to stretch them horizontally and get width, which would then open some spaces in the middle. When you see some of our chances, it came through some nice combinations in the middle of the field. And we wanted to get behind their line. If you look at it, a number of chances, Zardes had a couple, Niko Hansen and the offside call that was really close to being onside. We wanted to get behind them as well, picking the right moments."
On the pass that led to the Chicago goal:
"I'm not worried about that. Zack makes that pass in his sleep. He always makes that and I think he will make it again another 100 times this season. We aren't worried about it. I think Zack is a quality goalkeeper and things like that happen."
On this game as a response to the Vancouver loss last week:
"Listen, I think this is one of those games that you end up losing and getting nothing from but you're only disappointed with the result. The effort I think was excellent. A lot of the execution was excellent. When I'm looking at some of these numbers, these numbers are really good. What's missing is the finishing touch. It says two shots on target which is a little bit misleading because they don't count post or crossbars as shots on target. How many did we have, like three or four? We had enough chances. It's unfortunate. That is soccer, guys. There will be more games like that."
MIDFIELDER WIL TRAPP
Thoughts on the match:
"I mean, it's a difficult one to swallow just because of the chances we had and the lack of chances they had. I think we performed well. We hit the post two or three times, and created chances for Zardes, for Pipa and Niko. Mo had a strike. There are all those chances where on a different day maybe they go in. Yes, you can be kind of buoyed by that but at the same time you're disappointed, it's a team that we think we should beat. Felt like only one team was playing today. That's frustrating for us."
On playing a faster speed of game than last week:
"The tempo we moved the ball and the urgency we played with was excellent. We have to do that every game. We can't just do that when we are losing games or when we are away from home. It's a mentality that has to persist in every single game and every single minute of every game."
On facing D.C. United next week:
"We have to instill that urgency in training all week. We have to be able to take the positives and take the lumps as well from this game. D.C. is going to be jazzed up for the game of course because we beat them 3-1 at home. We just have to train well and prepare and carry over some of the urgency of this game."
On the pass that lead to the goal:
"They were baiting that pass and we take it with a grain of salt because that's what we do. We don't blame Zack for it, we don't blame anybody for it. It's just the nature of our style of play. Sometimes you're going to take some losses. He is a fantastic goalkeeper and it doesn't change anything. It just happens and we have to move on."
GOALKEEPER ZACK STEFFEN
Thoughts on the match:
"It's disappointing, for sure. It's disappointing. We wanted to get the three points especially against Chicago. I don't think we started out too hot. And then I give the ball away and they score and they punished us. I thought we turned it around in the second half. We came out and had a response. We just got unlucky with a couple of chances. Just wasn't our day I guess.
On the backpass:
"That's the style we want to play and it's risky. You hope that it doesn't happen but mistakes happen, we are human and that's life. We have to get on from it and learn from it."
On the team's response after the goal:
"That's what a team is about. I believe in every one of these guys and they believe in me. I was proud of how the game could have easily been 4-1. The ball just didn't bounce our way."
On responding from the Vancouver loss:
"I thought it was better. I thought the compactness and the connection was there. I thought we moved the ball pretty well. That's all you can ask."
