Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the game…
It's difficult right after the game. We were all very emotional, of course. You have to take five or six minutes to define if it's actually a foul inside the box. It's 3-3 in minute 90 and the game is open and both teams are playing to win. And then you make it about the decision which you're not even sure. I think that is sad. That is not the first time that it happens to us. But I don't really want to say more, because in the end of the day, I don't want to feel pity for ourselves and blame the referee. We conceded three goals before without the referee’s fault, to be honest. So I think that's where we have to start and that's where I will start. But of course, it's very frustrating and it's very emotional. But in general, there's a part of me who is today really content with what I have seen. We have played, in the majority of the game away from home, really well. We created a lot of chances. In big parts of the game, I think we were even if not better. But we lose the game. Obviously, you score three goals, you have many other chances and opportunities, but you concede four. It's so difficult to win games when you concede four goals, so that's the other side which I'm really frustrated with. I will have to watch the game again. My feeling was that after the 2-0 that we kept playing, but we didn't play anymore with a purpose to go forward and to actually create and to go behind them. We kept playing to have the ball and to basically have a bit of possession. And we stopped applying pressure and when you stop applying pressure, we knew that they were going to play diagonal balls, long balls and crosses. They're strong in that and that is also something we will have to then look at again. That's my feeling about the game.
On the start to the game…
It was 95 degrees out here. We know it is very difficult to go and apply pressure and press every time. You have seen that even Dallas, who are from here, lives here, in the second half they couldn't apply pressure anymore. They were sitting very, very deep. Obviously, we also made them go deep because we played well. So we started strong with the ball. I think the team had a good structure and knew what to do and where to go and knew where the teammate is. With that, we created immediately. We applied good pressure a few times and put them into immediate danger. So I really like that and that would have been the plan as well after but, for whatever reason, we then started dropping when we were 2-0 up and then we conceded. We know that Dallas is a good team. They're not just randomly up where they are in the standings. They have good combinations and good runs. They have strong players. I think with not applying pressure for that spell, we allowed them to play their game. After that, I think we corrected it and I think we applied better pressure again in the second half and we were again pretty good with the ball. We dominated that. We were able to create so there was a lot of positive but, again, you concede four goals.
On Taylor Calheira…
I think with the front four, we were dangerous over 90 minutes. Andre, obviously, you can see his quality. We knew, and I've mentioned that at the starting press conference, he needs time. He's not 90 minutes fit. He was on a 55-minute limit. I took him out then. But you can see his quality. You can see his quality when he accelerates, when he can go 1v1. He's a very, very good player. But I think the four up top -- Taylor (Calheira), Stephen (Afrifa) did a good job and Capita (Capemba) -- they were all dangerous. I think Seymour (Reid) coming in was dangerous and Shapi (Suleymanov) had chances. Shapi knows his role when he comes in. So I think, as a team, I think we were attacking-wise pretty dangerous today and that is something we need to try to keep doing.
On Ruben Ramos Jr. and Seymour Reid…
To be honest, I haven't seen much from them. They arrived yesterday. I met them for the first time yesterday before our matchday minus one training. We trained half an hour or 45 minutes. I obviously know them a little bit and I can also watch some videos of them. I think Seymour showed that. Seymour showed that he can be a threat. He's a very young striker. He's 18 years old, but he was dangerous. He was dangerous going in behind, going into these pockets. He has some capacity to run in behind so I think that is promising. Now, we’re going to give them time. They're 18- and 19-year-old kids who probably moved the first time away from home in their lives. Now it's up to us to help them get settled in Kansas City as fast as possible and integrate them in the team. And then they will have their opportunities. They will have their opportunities to get minutes and play.
On Capita Capemba playing on the left…
Capita can play both sides but back in Europe he played a lot of times on the left side. We knew that. But I think with Calvin (Harris) in a very good form, we had him on the left side so we still want to have the speed and the verticality of Capita on the field so I put him on the right where he can play. But I believe he's more dangerous when he's on the left side. He can cut inside. He can still go vertical. He had very good actions so it was good to see. I think also in the combination play, it's easier for him to be on the left side because he can then turn into his right foot. On the left side, it's a bit difficult. So, we're going to see who is available, who is fit. Calvin wasn't here today. And then there's competition and even if someone starts, you always have a very good option to bring in in the second half when you need. Capita had an interesting game with chances and with assists so that's something to build, definitely.
Sporting Kansas City forward Taylor Calheira
Thoughts on the match…
I am super grateful to get my first MLS goals. I am proud of that, but not proud of the result. I think if we’re being critical, we had even more chances to score. At the end of the day, we need to win games so it's very disappointing that we lose this game. I think we had a lot of chances and were good going forward, but maybe when we're up 2-0 we kind of fall back a little bit. We have just got to be better. We have got to finish out games better and that's a collective group from the top to the bottom.
On his two goals…
The first one, Capita is, as you guys know, one of the fastest players in the league. He had his guy 1v1 so I was just staying central and kind of letting him do his thing. It was kind of just like a striker's finish, just being there for the rebound and just being ready for it. The second one, Emir (Karic) can put in a very good ball. He's very good at crossing and passing. I felt like I was pretty free in the second goal and it was a very good ball from him so it made it easier.
On partnering with Stephen Afrifa and Seymour Reid up top…
I thought we combined very well. Both Stephen and Seymour, they're very good players. I played with Stephen all season long and even though we haven't played together much, we just had a good connection. We played close to each other. We gave each other a lot of chances. Seymour's a very good young player. He’s going to be outstanding. I mean, he already is. I've trained one time with him. That just shows his quality. I'm looking forward to working with both of them in the future.
