CHICAGO FIRE 3, NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 0
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the game:
"We were consistent, but consistently bad. We were second tonight. Every way you look at it, we were second. We didn't move the ball quickly. Give them credit; they've outdone us tonight. They kept good spots defensively, and waited until we break down and hit us. We were second in every department: passing the ball, reading the game, challenging for the ball, finishing. You name it and we were second tonight.
On what went wrong:
"You need to move the ball quickly. If you don't, teams are going to be able to keep tight against you. They get the goal, which makes it easier to run forward when you're one-nil up. Which is why you end up getting guys in the box (defensively). We tried to push the game, but above the neck, we were pretty dead tonight."
On the 4-0 loss in Chicago in April:
"We're coming off losing 4-0 to them at their place. I certainly expected us to be up for it and ready to go. Certainly, all the talk before, I thought we were (ready). But talking is easy-peasy; it's what you do on the field that counts. And you have to be prepared mentally. We have to sit down and look at what we did this week, and try to figure out why we were so dead in the brain tonight, because that's really what we were: we were dead above the neck. So we have to figure out why."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER CHRIS ALBRIGHT
On the game:
"We didn't hold the ball that well. That being said, I think it comes down to those three plays we didn't make. Maybe we walk out 0-0 then. They thumped us again and they deserved the win."
On the Fire attack:
"They're tough because the forwards playing -- Justin Mapp is a great offensive player; Chris Rolfe is a great offensive player; Chad Barrett is certainly coming into his own and then they have (Cuauhtémoc) Blanco. When they go forward, they have guys that can play and are dangerous and can create chances and they punish you if you make mistakes. I don't think it's any big secret. We'll see them later in the year and certainly give them a better game than that."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER STEVE RALSTON
On the game:
"They got a lot of numbers behind the ball. I thought (our) final pass wasn't there. I feel like we could have gotten the ball wide, gotten more crosses and stretched them out a bit more. (Chicago) did a good job. I thought the first half, each team had one shot - it was just so compact, so many numbers behind the ball. They had the one chance to score and put us behind the eight ball. We have to do a better job and make the final pass. We have to figure out a way to break teams down."
On his health:
"I'm not 100 percent, but I felt good. It was nice to be back and be part of it and play. It's disappointing and not the result we were looking for. Playing at home, losing 3-0, is not acceptable. We pride ourselves on doing well at home and tonight, just wasn't good."
CHICAGO FIRE HEAD COACH DENIS HAMLETT
On the shutout:
"That is what you want to strive for, to keep zeros in the back. It will help you win the game."
On the Fire attack:
"I think when you have guys on the field that are mobile and can handle the ball and break in tight spots I think it makes it hard for teams to stay with us. Between John (Thorrington), Justin (Mapp), (Chris) Rolfe, (Cuauhtémoc) Blanco -- these guys are always active, they are moving and they can get into different spots and receive the ball so that gives teams problems because of our mobility."
On unheralded players stepping up and scoring:
"I think it is no different than what (John Thorrington's) been playing. He is a guy who does a lot of dirty work in the middle and tonight he did with Logan (Pause). They broke up a lot of plays and made some good passes and connected with guys in front of them. I am just very proud of the group in terms of their commitment from the beginning of the game to the end of the game."
On the Fire passing:
"When the ball gets moving and you can find the open guy, that is the nice part of it. With the guys moving and moving the ball around, you're going to get looks and tonight on the first goal I think we put 10 or 15 passes together for that."
CHICAGO FIRE MIDFIELDER JOHN THORRINGTON
On his goal:
"I just think it was a good win for us. It is my second week scoring, but the goals are a bonus. It's really about working hard and getting the results."
On the game:
"We came here and changed the formation a little bit, but all week we worked on it so I knew exactly what I had to do tonight. Thankfully, we got (Chris) Rolfe back from injury and he showed with his first goal why he is playing. I can play a number of different positions and when I'm on the field I'm just happy to be there and I'll do whatever they ask."
On the Fire attack:
"We have a great attacking squad of guys going forward like (Cuauhtémoc) Blanco, Chad (Barrett), (Chris) Rolfe, Justin (Mapp) -- we can come at you from different angles and then it's up to me and Logan (Pause) to kind of organize with movement with and without the ball."
On the results against New England:
"I think we've been pleased with how we match up against them [Revolution], every time you come to New England you're expecting a battle and you just need to match that which we did tonight. We're by no means expecting to beat them 4-0, 3-0 again, they are a good team, a tough team and they'll be there at the end of the season. But it feels good for us to get the victory here and we look forward to the next game."
