Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky
Thoughts on the match…
I'm not pleased with the result, but I'm very pleased with the performance of the team tonight. I feel like I've seen a lot of things I want to see from my team in terms of defending together and in terms of pressing well. We stole a lot of balls against a team who, in this league right now, is in a very good position and outplays other teams. We've stolen a lot of balls from them. We didn't give up many chances. It has also been very good in the past games that we didn't give up many big chances. I think we're doing better there. I felt today, also with the ball, the team played very confident and played some very, very good football. It's obviously then, in the end, a shame that we didn't score that second goal. And it's a shame that, out of nothing you suddenly are 1-0 back at halftime. But I felt the team reacted great and came back with good energy. I think tonight we would have deserved more, but it is what it is. The performance tonight was really good.
On the team’s confidence…
I don't think anything changed. We gave our team also a game plan with the ball in Colorado but we just didn't really execute it with calmness or really well. And then when after three minutes -- I'm going back to Colorado now -- you have a big chance because you lose the ball in your own five yards, that may not give the best confidence to a lot of the players, right? But, we gave them a game plan tonight. They executed that really well. They showed for the ball, even though St. Louis pressed us man-to-man. We found solutions. We got free kicks out, which we thought against man-to-man can break the rhythm for them. I think that's it. I don't think we have changed anything. I felt they played free with the concept we wanted. We told them where the spaces are and they found them and they did really well. I wish that we could have this every single weekend, because if you play more games like we did tonight, I believe that we can win games. I'm absolutely 100% convinced.
On the team’s formation…
We did really well. I think our front line defended really well and built really good pressure and in the right moment stepped. I feel like Lasse (Berg Johnsen) and Zorhan (Bassong) did a really good job of helping with the overloads on the side. Of course, then there is always other solutions for the team because then the middle is maybe open but I felt like Jansen (Miller) and Wyatt (Meyer) as well did a good job most of the game winning these balls. I think the team did well with the strengths from St. Louis, because we know that they're doing a good job right now in this moment of the season. I'm happy with the way the team worked together.
On Emir Karic and Jake Davis...
I think both of them did really well. It was part of our game plan to have maybe a different positioning for them, because that's where the spaces are against the system St. Louis plays, but they executed that well. I think we found them well, and we could then get out of the pressure side and always find either Emir or Jake on the other side, and then keep trying to move the ball up the field. I think they did really well, but they also did defensively pretty well.
On Taylor Calheira…
He did really well again today. I think he helps us a lot. He helps Dejan (Joveljic) a lot as well. He gives another big body next to Dejan, so that Dejan is not alone in occupying two centerbacks or three centerbacks sometimes. They actually play and work really well together. Taylor was on a minutes restriction, so I had to take him out. He's still coming back from that injury. He kept doing tonight what he did before the World Cup break, and I think that's very positive. He can help our team. Now, I hope that he can also be dangerous in front of the goal, and maybe get his first MLS goal.
On Or Blorian…
He had a back problem up in Colorado. Obviously, it's a short turnaround. He trained yesterday. He felt well, and he did the full session yesterday. He didn't have any pain, and then he went out to the warm-up today, and I think his back spasmed again, so he said he cannot play. Now it's a short turnaround again to Atlanta so I have to see how he feels probably not tomorrow, probably more like Friday and Saturday and then make a decision.
On the intensity of the game…Â
It was a really nice atmosphere. I think it's important that we come out with very good energy. That is always something we would like to do. The fans show up then it's up to us to get out with energy, right? And with energy, I mean playing football forward, but also defending, going at them, and immediately win some tackles, win a corner, win a duel, and I felt we did that. We started really well. Then the energy from us goes even more to the fans, and that makes a game a game and the atmosphere really nice.
Sporting Kansas City forward Calvin Harris
On the game-tying goal…
Yeah, a lot of emotions up and down. I mean I scored a goal. It was a great play from everyone involved. And Taylor (Calheira) puts it on a plate just like he did a few days ago as well in Colorado and this time it finds the other side of the post. So that's just football. It’s a big high and a sense of relief and emotion and then I see the offside flag and I'm thinking there's no chance I’m offside because I ran onto the ball and I never felt like I was offside. Once I saw it went through to VAR, I knew.
On his runs in behind…
They played with three at the back so centerbacks were coming out wide to defend us a lot at times so there was space to be exploited in the gaps between either the centerback and the fullback or both centerbacks in transition.
On the team’s formation…
I don't want to share too much, you know what I mean? My role is to press and to put the defenders under pressure once they get the ball. It’s as simple as that.
On the game’s intensity…
I think we've done that in quite a few games, especially recent ones, being against it with different kind of issues and adversity. So today to actually get a result out of it and to see it in full effect with 11 players on the pitch as well, it was a good feeling. I thought we played really well tonight as a team.
On the rivalry…
The stadium has always got that extra little bit of energy, when we were away and today at home. It's definitely different when you're step into these kind of games.
On the support from the home crowd…
You can feel the energy just heightened in these kind of games…You could feel that energy and it helped us today…They're always here, but when it's rivalries and whatnot, everything is just amplified. It doesn't matter where you are playing in the world. Every game we give 100, but when you have the noise and you feel the crowd, it just gives even that little bit more.
