Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
On the team’s mentality for the match…
I feel like they had the right headspace in the last game against St. Louis at home and also in this game. They actually have reacted really, really well. They prepared for the game very professionally. So yes, their head is in the right space so I don't think this had an influence in their mindset. I can say this with belief because I feel like we started the game well. Before Atlanta scores, we have two or three really good moments where we just have to be more clinical in the final pass and in the decision. Are we shooting? Are we crossing? We had a lot of box entries. We had our moments before they actually then opened the first goal. So, yes, I believe that they were in the right space. You asked about how I felt they grew in the game. I believe that this performance, again, is so much better than three or four months ago, but it's very, very frustrating because we give the game away again with a set piece, which is concentration and responsibility. We have to man up there. We have to become better in set pieces. Last week in St. Louis, it was a free kick where we turned our bodies around. Here is a free guy and this is not the first time this year. In these moments, we have to man up and take our responsibilities more because those are very, very important moments in games where if you don't concede, you're in this game. We told the team in halftime, ‘hey, we have our chances.’ Even when we were 2-0 down, we had chances. We had Capita (Capemba). We had Calvin (Harris). We had entries in the box. We moved the ball up, so we knew that we can come back. We need not to concede a third one and to score a goal, and we're back in. And I feel that's what I've seen the whole second half. It's just very frustrating that when the little moments are there for us, we're just not clinical enough to then get a point because I believe that we would have deserved a point tonight.
On the second half performance…
We showed two or three clips to a few guys in terms of positioning our press. We didn't really change. We just tried to adjust our positioning. I believe that our rest defense was way better in the second half, because what Atlanta did is they tried to cheat a little bit with (Miguel) Almiron and (Alexey) Miranchuk. They're not really going back to defend, so if our rest defense is not good or not great, which in certain moments in the first half it wasn't, then when we lose a ball they find these guys and then it's very difficult because they're really good players. So we tweaked that a bit around and I felt like that's probably also why we were able to regain the ball quicker. When we lost it, they couldn't really easily find their guys to go into counterattacks. We told the team, ‘hey, we have our chances. We can move the ball up and we just have to be more clinical in the final third or in and around the box, actually.’
On playing without the team’s top scorer…
Dejan (Joveljic) scored half of our goals. Does it help not to have Dejan tonight? But if he has an injury or a yellow card or something or he's sick, he's also not there. It's an opportunity for the other players. It's an opportunity for Taylor (Calheria), who is now back. It's an opportunity for Shapi (Suleymanov), for Stephen Afrifra, Capita and Calvin anyway play a lot, so it's an opportunity for those guys. That's how I see it. Is it easier when you have your top goal scorer there? Of course. I try then to work with the players I have. I see it and I tell them it's an opportunity for you guys. That's how I have to approach it. Everything else, I don't think it helps me.
On being more clinical in the final third…
If he makes this pass and that pass goes into the center and whoever was there can put it in the empty goal, it was fantastic. If he shoots and it goes in, it's fantastic. It's more about being 100% convinced in what you do in the final third. Either shoot or pass or cross or take an extra touch and be calm and be relaxed. We had an action before that. I think we stole a ball in the opponent's half and we have so much space then to go and to attack them. Their fullbacks were high up. That's what I mean with being more clinical, with being more calm in the decision-making and in the right decision of the pass we're choosing. Because those are moments where you can then punish teams. We ourselves in this season have been punished a lot in these moments. That's just what we have to do better. We are putting so much effort in in defending and we're doing this so much better. We're stealing balls and when we then win the ball, can we not rush but make clear decisions? For me, it's more that.
Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa
On his second half goal…
First of all, it’s a good opportunity coming off the bench. I got a little run and tried to make the most of it. Coach wanted us to come in there and bring energy, understand that guys are tired so use that to our advantage. With the goal, I feel like it was a little fortunate dropping back to me the way it did. The finish, I didn't really think much of it. It's a finish we work on a lot with Dom (Kinnear) in training so just more muscle memory. I’m just glad that it went in.
On playing as a striker…
It’s not much different. I feel like anywhere I'm on the field, speed is a big factor for me so I can say maybe that's still one difference. Coming in as striker, I haven't played there in a while but we play football every day. We rotate around. Guys get to be in different spots so it's not much different. I feel like there's more physicality and contact with the center backs than being out wide. But again, that's just something that we work through. It wasn't much different. I just want to come in and be helpful so wherever I'm asked to play, I'm more than happy to.
On the team’s second half performance…
Props to the guys for the second half. The energy was definitely raised from the first. We understand how we play as a team. Our coaches have been harping on us for our repress in situations where we lose the ball and just working as hard as we can to get it back. We showed that in the second half. Every time they tried to get out, we took the ball right back and kept the attack on. This is what we look for 90 minutes of the game, but it's good to see that we had it in the second half so hopefully it’s something that we can improve on.
On playing without the team’s top scorer…
I'll say it's a difference, but not too major for us. We all play. We all understand what it takes to be in the attacking positions. We definitely could say that we missed him but it’s just next man up. We just try to move on from there.
On finding momentum…
Obviously, results haven't been what we wanted but with the performances -- second half and the whole St. Louis game -- it shows that we can do it and we have the ability to which gives us a lot of motivation just because we understand that it is possible to do it. That's just little details that we have to focus on (to fix) little mistakes that we're making that are putting us out of these zones that we can get into. It's just something unfortunate. It hurts, obviously, losing and not getting the result, but just seeing that we can be this team that can push and be on top of games is really good.
