Sporting KC head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
We always try to first start with ourselves before we talk about the opponent. Today, especially in the first half, we were miles away from them. I think, in a lot of moments, we defended not at all like we did in the last two and a half or three months. Not at all. I think we defended like kids. We defended like a very immature team. The goals we conceded are crosses in the box where we have bodies around but no one touches the opposition. No one is in body contact with someone and that is just not good enough against a team who is flying, who has a very good roster, who has a very good style of play and who are in big confidence. We have to, in those moments, compete better. You can be less good than a team, but you have to compete better in these moments and that was not good enough. That's what we said at halftime. That's what I told the players right now. But I also feel like this game does not show who we have been in the last two or two and a half months with the progress we have made. Today, they were simply much better than we were. We were not on our best and then a first half like that happens. I'm happy that the second half. Did they play a little bit less or whatever? But the second half, if you don't concede that penalty at the end, felt much better. Of course, they also have some chances and we give away way too many easy balls today -- things we didn't do in the last two and a half or three months. Now I can talk about Nashville. Nashville is a team that's flying. They're a really deep roster. They're a very good roster. They're all healthy, quite often. Their team and their best players are always available, which makes a big difference in this league. And you can see the consistency BJ (Callaghan) does here over the last two seasons. I believe this roster has been built not from one month to the other. It probably has been built over a few periods. So congratulations to them.
On the defense…
I think there's not one reason today. Today I made five changes. That obviously changes the dynamic. That changes probably a little bit the relationships. We had players in who didn't play for a while, very young players and very inexperienced players. But it's also an opportunity for them. After conceding the first and the second, at one point we started, it was a little bit like back in March or April where we started losing our shape. We started trying to chase and we stopped actually sticking to the plan and being compact. And I think that has to do as well with a little bit of maturity, experience, leadership, all of that together. I'm actually happy that or pleased that in the second half I think we're way more disciplined and stuck more to the plan than in the first half. It's probably a mix of everything which comes there together.
On Andre Luiz exiting at halftime…
It's managing minutes. Look, we've mentioned that Andre's body gave us now in a few games signals that he's very tired. In the last game he had to come out. I think in previous games before he had also something, so multiple times now he gave us signals. So, for me, it was clear that I'm going to sub him at halftime whatever the result would have been. I wanted to have him on the field. I think it's still important for him to get minutes, but I always planned to take him out at halftime. Similar with Zorhan (Bassong). Zorhan is still on minutes restriction. He's coming back in a three-game week so I took these two out. The subs were planned.
On the roster rotation
Obviously, Justin Reynolds is out. That made me put Ian James as a right back. Emir (Karic’s) body has given us also signals in the recent weeks that it's a lot for him right now. So I gave him a rest. I think Stephen Afrifa and Taylor Calheira have done a great job. They have played a lot of minutes. I think they have rarely played that many minutes in MLS and we felt like we needed some fresh legs up front there because in the last game as well, Ruben (Ramos Jr.) and Seymour (Reid) came in and brought a lot of energy. That's also why you have these players to give them chances, opportunities and rotate. And with Calvin (Harris), it's the same. Calvin has played so many minutes this year. He always has a big output and he has a little problem with his knee sometimes, especially when there's congested games. So we said, ‘hey, let's rest some guys and give opportunities to other guys.’ That's how we had five changes, which is a lot I agree but certain changes were actually a must do. I think with Emir and Justin, I had to actually change them.
Sporting KC midfielder Jake Davis
Thoughts on the match…
They’re the number one team in the East for a reason. They have a lot of quality. They like to attack and they stick to their style the whole game. We definitely could have competed more and managed the game, but they were better than us today and we don't need to make more or any less of it. We lost. They were the better team today and now I think it's important that we move on and try to focus on our home game and getting a result against Salt Lake.
On Andre Luiz’s importance…
Being truthful, everyone's raving about him but, in the end, I think he truly does make a difference for our team. In the last 5-7 games, he has been the deciding factor to getting us a result and keeping us in the game along with a lot of other quality performances from our group. I think having Andre come in, he's also made our team better and bringing out the best in players that were already here. I think tonight, there's no excuses. Maybe it was fatigue. Maybe they out-competed us, but I'm not trying to compare this result to our performances from before. I think that we still need to be confident. I think we're still playing good soccer. Today, Nashville was better but I don't think that takes anything away from what we've done in the last month. It’s exciting to have a player like Andre, but it's even more exciting not just the quality he can bring on the attack, but he brings out a lot of good qualities in our team. I think going forward, we're going to have more of an identity with him and a strategy so I think only good things to come forward.
On the final five games of the season…
I think you're thinking way forward. Right now, I'm thinking about beating Salt Lake. I think we need to focus on everything we can give this weekend. Today's result stings a little. But I sit here and I see the quality the group has had in the last couple weeks and I'm excited for Saturday. I think we're going to go out, be strong, bring our quality and put on a good performance for our fans and beat Salt Lake. Your question was about the rest of the season, but right now I'm thinking about next week against Salt Lake.
