Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
I have to obviously watch the game again. For a long period of time, I believe that we had better chances than Austin had. It was an even game, but we had the better chances. I think we could have scored earlier than what we did. Until then as well, I think we defended pretty well. We were organized. We were compact. We didn't open up. We did a lot of things better than in the previous two games, which we worked on and which we spoke with the team. Â We didn't give up many big chances. And then there was a spell, which I have to watch, of 5-7 minutes where suddenly they had two or three chances and they come back. I have to see what was different there, but still, after that, we have enough chances to win this game. The creation of chances is obviously the positive thing, but in the end of the day, you have to kill these games. You have to become a team who doesn't need five or six chances to win a game. I think today, that was a game we should have won with the chances we've created. In the end, we did not and that's disappointing.
On the game-winning goal…
(Emir) is the end of the chain. He's devastated and he knows that he needs to do different there than making a backheel, right? Of course. But he's the end of the chain. How does the ball get there? That's what we have to look at. I have looked at it. There is a player who has to follow another player, which we don't do. That's how they create this chance. Emir knows he has to do better there and has to do different there, of course. It is obviously then, in that moment, a very easy gift of a goal again.
On losing control of matches for periods…
I have to look at that stretch and see how they created these chances and if we did anything different than what we did before. I don't have this in my mind right now, so I have to look at that and then see why did that happen and then analyze it and then see what the message is. But of course, it's a pity that when we're winning 1-0 and we're up, we have the energy and then suddenly they get back into the game and they create a few chances. Until then, you have really defended actually pretty well. We've had other games here where we did the same.
On making adjustments in game…
I didn't feel the need in that moment to. I don't know what you mean with change the plan. Again, I have to see how these chances are created. I'm not going to go into a back five suddenly because we're winning 1-0. What message is that going to give my team? I'm not going to tell them, you have to now open up more and press more. We have to keep doing our jobs and we have to keep following runners, tracking runners and defending as a team. Now it's also normal that teams create chances, right? They didn't have much until then. Then they start to create chances, but I have to obviously look in that moment why they created these chances.
On the substitution of Andre Luiz…
There were two or three actions where I felt his energy was not where we normally have it. I haven't spoken to him after the game. I think he gave a very good effort. He's dangerous. I think he has a good chance in the first half. But I then felt the two or three touches before were not the Andre I normally know. Why? Is it physical? We all know that he is obviously not yet where we want him. I made a decision to take him out. I think that the players who came in, for a good period of time, did actually a really good job and created really good chances and worked well together. Of course, our goal must be that when Andre has a real preseason that he's a player who hopefully can play 90 minutes every single game. That's what we expect, but we're not there.
On Stephen Afrifa…
He has done pretty well, since he started playing in that position. He has done really well for this team on the ball and off the ball. He finds himself pretty comfortable in certain pockets. He has assists and goals. Even in the last game, I felt like he actually had good moments, I subbed him out then. Today, he was in a good moment. We find him there, he was in good positions. He scored a goal. He had two or three other chances to score more goals. The only thing now, he knows he wants to do better in these situations, right? I think the one shot is a similar shot to the one he scored. Those are similar shots. The one was very quick, he was maybe surprised 2 yards in front of the goal, but those are big chances. The good thing is that he is in these positions and creates chances. The negative for us is that these are chances we should potentially score.
On Owen Wolff…
Owen did really well, I think he looked really good. No surprise, we all know the quality of Owen, what he can bring to the team, the attacking quality he has. He is a very intelligent player. He needs to become healthy. Today, he was on for 20 minutes. Hopefully, we can have him until the end of the season, getting him more and more minutes, and then he can have a good preseason. He will be very influential in the attacking side. The good thing is he can play a few different positions. Underneath a striker, he can be a winger coming inside there are different positions he can play. We have to see, then in the new season how it looks.
On the absence of Lasse Berg Johnsen…
I don't ask for something different when Lasse (Berg Johnsen) is not there, and Lasse is an important player for us, who brings us structure, who brings us calm in the build-up. The other players who are there, in between Zorhan (Bassong), Kwaku (Agyabeng), Jacob (Bartlett), and Jake Davis, who have played, are a bit different players. They have different profiles, and they add something different to the game. But we're still trying to play a similar football, a similar style, even when Lasse is not there. But yes, he helps us to keep the ball.
Sporting Kansas City forward Stephen Afrifa
Thoughts on the match…
I'd say disappointed. I can rewatch back that game but I think we should have come away with the result. Myself, I got a goal, but I feel like I let down the team with the big opportunity I missed. I had another one with Owen (Wolff) that I think I should have done better with. So again, I think I feel like I have to apologize a little bit. I could have given us the comfort that we needed to seal up the game and wasn't able to deliver. It’s something I have got to work on. I’ll just keep my head up and move past it. But again, I’m disappointed with the result. I don't think any of us came in here thinking we should have got anything less.
On his confidence…
I don't think it's anything special other than just learning to play with these guys and just finding the positions that I need to be in for these guys to be the most effective and to help me get those chances. I can't do anything without the rest of the team. Like today with Owen coming in, he sees the game totally different and puts you in great positions which he was able to do very easily. I just have to be mindful to know who I'm playing around and knowing what they do best and just trying to support. It's been working. It's been getting me the chances and I just need to finish them.
On relinquishing the lead…
Our energy went down after we scored the goal. They had three or four good chances right after we scored. They hadn't had anything up until we got our goal so just I felt like we kind of fell asleep and this is what has been kicking us in the ass the whole season when we take leads. We just let teams get back in and give them a little carrot on the stick and they seem to always take advantage of it. We can sit here and talk about how we need to grow from it but, at the end of the day, we have just got to take ownership. We've let this happen way too many times so it's kind of time to stop with the we'll do better next time. Again, it’s something we have got to look at and see what's wrong. You score a goal, in the next 5-10 minutes, kick the ball if you have to. Just keep the aggression up and just push on through there. We still can't figure that out and we see how it goes.
On players carrying yellow cards in matches…
It is very difficult. Speaking from my experience, there were things that I had to kind of back out of with 50/50’s I didn't want to get into. And I can tell it was the same thing, especially with guys like Kwaku (Agyabeng) and Zorhan (Bassong) as midfielders. It's very important positions that we can't lose and they're the ones mostly involved in duels so it was kind of hindering. You kind of have to learn to play with it. It's just a part of the game. Could it have changed the game? Maybe, but again we don't want to look for excuses. It’s something that we are mindful of in the moment. Obviously, we can look at it and say we're the only ones getting the cards. Every time we touch one of their guys, they’re going on the ground for 5-10 seconds. It was annoying. I had a little spat about it with one of their guys and literally had no excuse for it. He was just like, ‘you know what, you're right.’ They've been doing it since preseason so it’s something that's reoccurring with them. We have to know that that's how they're going to come and play the game. We kind of have to work around it. Obviously, we wanted to show that we're an aggressive side. We're going to put the pressure on them. We were able to do that. The referee’s calls didn’t go our way today, so it is what it is.
On playing as a center forward…
Nothing too crazy of a difference. I'm the higher guy. Taylor (Calheira) normally takes the role of dealing with the centerbacks. Now it's just me. And for me, at the end of the game, spaces are opened up so it's not much of a challenge for me. Guys have got tired legs, so I can run away. I can keep my distance and I was able to turn a couple guys to get a couple chances from there. It's good. Again, I’m learning and just seeing a guy like Owen underneath, I can just make runs. He’s going to find you somewhere. So it was good. I enjoy it. I'm closer to the goal and getting the chances.
On his missed chance…
It’s a chance that I just have to score. It’s probably the easiest chance I've seen as a pro player. It’s something I’m going to be mad about. I see Calvin (Harris) and we've been talking about this since the preseason. He likes the cut back ball and just smashes it across the box. He knows guys are going to be there. I was a little bit behind the defender. I jumped in front of him because I'm expecting the ball to come here and I just couldn't wrap my foot around it. It came off my toe more than anything and it’s just the only finish you don't want in that situation. I’m disappointed about it but I move on from it.
