Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
I think it was a great team effort. I just told them, great team effort and great work from everyone. I think this is something to build. You concede after two minutes. After what we've been through and where we are right now, it's not easy. And the team reacted. The team didn't crumble. The team reacted and stayed in the game and then came back. I think I saw some good football, some good actions, some playing up from the back, some accelerations. Now can we have that more? Can we build confidence to have the ball then more and then to finish these actions more? But a great defensive effort from everyone. We knew we needed that and I think that was a really good reaction from the team. I’m proud of the effort and proud of the reaction after that early goal, not to crumble and concede more. It’s something to build from, definitely.
On the team’s defensive tactics…
The downside from defending deep is that possibly the opponent has then a lot of crosses and has then a lot of shots. If you defend way higher up, the opponent may have more space in behind, which Seattle, when they have space, are very, very good. So we wanted to not give them so much space for their game. But of course, it could be good to defend 10 yards higher. I will have to watch the game again. Depending on where the shots are from, if it's an 18-yard shot or from a difficult angle, then that's what you have to take when you defend a bit deeper, right? You have to choose what you want. I will have to watch the game again and see where all these shots come from, but again I saw some positives. I saw also that we had more chances than usual that we created. We had some good actions with the ball, so that is very positive to build.
On the team’s possession…
That was the goal today. Whenever possible, we try to play. Now we have also seen that when a team is not in great confidence, we gave up, again, some easy balls but I think they kept trying it because when we then found the spots, we actually had some really good spells where we then attack better. So that's something I want. It always depends on what your opposition does as well, right? If an opposition comes man-to-man marking, it’s a little bit more difficult to play out of the back all the time. Then you may have to look a little bit more direct. But I believe that when we try and when we're confident and when we have some good movements that we can play. We just have to build on that and choose the right moments when maybe we play a long ball, which is totally part of football. We don't have to think that we all have to play just like - I don't want to name a team here – but like certain teams who are in the Champions League that are very high up the field, but they also play long. I think it's just when you choose to do what that is important.
On Stefan Cleveland’s debut…
He did well. I think Stefan brought what I wanted him to bring which is what he brings every day in training. His experience, his calmness, his decision making was good. I think he had a few good saves. That's what I wanted from him.
On the team’s confidence…
When you not only defend well, but when you also have good spells with the ball and when you see, hey, actually, we have good spells with the ball, we go from one side to the other, we accelerate, we go in the final third, we create a chance or two. That, of course, gives you confidence, right? Because when you only defend well, but you never have the ball, that is tough. So I think defending well, being organized, knowing that you're not alone, there are teammates there, there is coverage there and then also having good spells with the ball gives you confidence. I think there were some good moments with that and we can build with that.
On the play of Wyatt Meyer…
Wyatt did well. I think Wyatt has been very good for us in preseason and then also the first games. It's always good first of all, in my opinion, to have a left-footer center-back there who has done a different opening of the game. I'm happy with what Wyatt brings and hopefully he can stay healthy.
Sporting Kansas City forward Dejan Joveljic
Thoughts on the match…
What a way to come back. Seattle is one of the best teams on the west side in the last five years maybe. I'm very happy and very proud of the boys because we bounced back and we took one well-deserved point even though we could maybe take all three points. If we continue to play well at home and if you win the games at home, we could be in the playoffs. So that's very, very important. We look forward for the next games.
On his goal…
I just started early running and hoping that he's going to assist me and I was right. So I'm very happy. Unlucky for him, but I'm so happy because of it.
On conceding early…
It was frustrating of course, but the body language of the all players was different and we bounced back. It wasn't easy, but we showed that we can play against the best teams and hopefully we are going to show good performances in the next couple of games.
On what changed today…
Nothing special. We are trying to apply the same ideas. We just need to be more brave and to be proud with the ball and take the ball and take the chances because no one will gift us anything. We need to work for everything and that's how it needs to be done.
On staying motivated…
It's not hard. Most of the players, they are dreaming to be in this club and to play for this. So we cannot let anyone take our positions. We need to stay motivated and hungry every day.
On trying to keep the ball more…
Yes, that's right. And I mean we should. We didn't play against Chicago in the first half with the ball. It's so hard to defend. Maybe you can defend like that one game, but in the long run it's not going to help us. So we need to play with the ball more. If you play with the ball more, we have more chances. More chances, more goals. It's simple. We just need to be more brave and to take the chances.
