CHICAGO FIRE 3, D.C. UNITED 2
D.C. UNITED HEAD COACH PETER NOWAK
On recent struggles of the team:
"I don't remember when we lost three games in a row - it's reality. We just cannot feel sorry for ourselves. We made mistakes that cost us two goals, and we had to chase the game. As I said, even considering last game against New England we had enough chances to tie the game and win the game. We just make too many mistakes defensively, and that is why we are where we are. We cannot feel sorry for ourselves, and we are not. We will find a way to fix these things, and I'm sure it's going to be a completely different team playing in New York next week."
On whether the offense is struggling:
"We create a lot of chances during the last game and even tonight. The soccer gods are maybe not on our side right now. If you consider missing the chances like Josh [Gros] did or the last minute chance from Benny [Olsen], you just shake your head. But as I said, the point is still that we give up the goals like a U-12 team. We cannot do that because in the playoffs it's going to cost us the game. It's going to cost us the series, and we're all going fishing."
On the game:
""I think after it was 2-0, we picked up the game. We picked up the intensity. It's moments when we are too cute with the ball. Instead of having a shot from a distance, we tried to play a one-two or try to break the defense with a short pass. Esky tried in the second half. He definitely brought us something special, so we have to look how he's going to feel during the week and make a decision on that. Benny's Benny - he's always going to play like that. We have to pick up the intensity. I think the second half was much, much better, but from the beginning it wasn't something that I was looking for. It's the whole package. I think if the intensity is there, if the focus is there, you're not going to make mistakes as we did tonight."
On recent play and playoffs:
"From the other side, we're all disappointed to have three games like that. There's no question about it, and that's unacceptable for this team. There's another season coming up. Let's play, and the soccer god's going to be on our side. We'll finish the chances we have because, as I said, we can create the chances, but we have to stay compact. We have to be very disciplined in defensive play and make sure we're not going to make such mistakes because this team deserves to be in the MLS Cup Final and win the Cup. [With] the potential they have, they just need to believe. The most important thing is, I always believed, in how you trained and you play. Your game translates what you're going to do in the practice. We have to stick together and make sure that we understand each other, and we will have one goal during next week, which is to advance to MLS Cup Final and win this thing."
On whether early season success was a fluke or is team playing worse now:
"It's very important what you guys [the media] think and what the fans think. If you think that playing 32 games was a fluke or up to the All-Star Game there was a fluke, we're on two different pages because I feel like we play pretty good soccer, and you guys enjoy it. Even sometimes we won the games 1-0, and you complained and you know it wasn't pretty. But, we didn't get the goals [scored] against us, and we scored the goals because we have enough creativity in this team. This is the balance, and we need to keep it. It's important to keep it 0-0, and we have enough guys to score a goal. Right now it's defensive play: making sure that we will avoid the situations like that, you see the Dempsey goal, you see these two goals plus the PK tonight. Normally it shouldn't happen. It didn't happen in that time you mentioned. There was the whole package there, and now we're missing a couple of points. [If we] just rely on Jaime [Moreno] and Christian [Gomez] that they're going to provide this thing, then of course they will. The rest of the team must know what their roles are and must know the jobs they have to do."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER CHRISTIAN GOMEZ
On his feelings after the game:
"Individually any time you score a goal to help your team, you're happy, but overall I'm very upset that we lost. It's not the way that we wanted to end the season, but everything is new now. This whole season is behind us, and now we just have to focus on the playoffs next weekend."
On Chicago's success against United:
"Every team has different defensive schemes. We have our own schemes. We just have to counter-attack as a team when they're marking me one-on-one, so I'm not really worried about that because I think as a team we can overcome whatever kind of scheme Chicago is putting on the field, especially when they're marking one-on-one."
On his combinations with Freddy Adu:
"I have good chemistry with Freddy. You have seen it throughout the season. Tonight he gave me both assists on both goals, so I think that we understand each other really well."
D.C. UNITED MIDFIELDER FREDDY ADU
On the reason for the team's struggles:
"I don't know. We're just not finishing our chances. We're creating chances. We're just not finishing all of them. We don't have to finish all of them. We just need to finish three or four of them. No we shouldn't [have to finish three or four to win a game], but you know what sometimes you make mistakes and sometimes you don't, and today we made mistakes and they scored goals. We just need to find a way to get back to our first half of the season form."
D.C. UNITED DEFENDER BOBBY BOSWELL
On United's play:
"I think we had everything going. It was just the start, a slow start giving up two goals. We've never given up two goals to start a game. I think that hurt us, but I think overall it wasn't the worse performance. It's over, done with. The season's over. We're just looking forward to getting into some playoff soccer."
On the team's defensive organization:
"It could be a little better. Any time you give up three goals, it's not the best. We have to have more effort as individuals to win the ball. Overall it just goes down to can we get the job done next weekend when it matters."
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH DAVE SARACHAN
On his team's performance:
"Tonight was really a good night for us in the attacking part of the field. When we get the ball moving and passing, we can be pretty good. I thought the goals tonight were terrific, all three goals. It's a nice way to finish the first season of 32 games, and if we can carry this over, we are going to make some noise - we hope."
On the MLS debut of Pascal Bedrossian:
"That's been an important piece of what we think has been a successful season - not being afraid to use players if they are young, or in this case, Pascal [Bedrossian] with his first taste. We need to see if he's a guy we can count on over the next few weeks, so tonight was an opportunity to do that. I thought he did pretty well. He's a vey good possession player, and given the fact that it's his first game, I thought he did fairly well."
On Tony Sanneh:
"Tony has so much experience, obviously. The key for Tony over these years has been his health, and he's not going to have been in his peak form since he's been back in MLS. At the back for us, he just organizes, he's calm, he uses his experience to keep things in order. He's been a real valuable piece to our last month and a half, for sure."
CHICAGO FIRE DEFENDER TONY SANNEH
On his move back to playing center back:
"I don't want to hammer you guys or call you guys incompetent, but I've been playing center back five years now. I played the last three years in Germany, and the last five years in the national team, I was always center back. It's a surprise for some people, but for me, the surprise was when I came back from Germany and got moved to a position other than where I've been playing. Where I am playing now is where I'm most comfortable. They are paying me a lot of money to do a lot. I think you get your value down the center of the field where you can have a bigger effect on the team. I think my age and my experience, that's what they are paying for. I've been a little healthier, and it has been paying dividends for everybody."
On his fitness:
"I'm fully healthy. I'm not in peak shape. Nobody's still going to run by me. I could lose six or seven pounds, and I'm going to dedicate this offseason to getting back to where I was. But, I think what I can do with my head makes up for a couple extra pounds that I'm pulling. People think you get older, but you can still run, and theoretically I should be a better player. I am better on the ball than I used to be, more composed."
On his return to MLS:
"I gave up a lot of money to come back, and I had a lot of promises from a lot of people. It didn't go the way I thought, but I wouldn't have given that up if I didn't think I could come back, give back to the game and give my leadership ability to help lead some of these teams."
On the team:
"We've played a lot more games together. I've been able to show consistency. I think that brings a calmness in the back. Chris [Armas] is a great leader, and our forwards - like Andy [Herron] - is in great shape and started to do well. Chad Barrett was in great shape before he got hurt. We had a really deep team, but I think we just lacked a little help in organizing the team and the killer instinct. We would give a lot of games away late. Now, not only are we winning, but we are playing attractive soccer. We have players now that want the ball, that are comfortable with the ball - it rubs off on you. If you see somebody moving that wants it, you aren't just going to boot it, you are going to pass it to them. Everyone's working off the ball to make each other better."
CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER CHRIS ARMAS
On going against former teammate Peter Nowak:
"I know Peter enough: he uses terms like 'relentless' and 'dominate'. It's a fight - it's always a fight. He knows nothing else. He set the tone year one when he got here. He's won [MLS Cup] as a player and a coach, and for him, holding it up at the end of the year is what its all about. He left a little of that in Chicago, and some of us try to carry that on."
On the MLS playoff system:
"Personally, I think it's a really poor system. I am not afraid to say it because I know I am not the only one that believes that. D.C. United runs away with it all year, dominates the league, and look: they go on the road in game one to play on turf. It does not seem fair. In any other sport in our country, it would not hold up. What do you do in NFL? You play one game. Maybe you could have a table, and the winner at the end takes it all. Maybe you could have some type of cup with the top eight teams. I don't think teams get rewarded for doing well. It's hard to complain too much about it, but I think there should be more of an advantage. In year one, they did three games. But what I think makes the most sense is one game. If D.C. United hosts Game 1 against New York, it's a clear advantage. I think it needs to be changed. I don't think the fourth-placed team should have the same chance as the first-placed team. I just don't agree with it."
