CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 19, 2021

Raphael Wicky

Press Conference

Q. Good afternoon, hope you're doing okay. Hope all is well with you.

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, hi guys. Hi, everyone.

Q. Just looking for an update or clarification on the situation with David, what is his status with the club right now?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Well, the status that I decided what is it now, ten days ago, that we are not working together any more and for some different reasons, and that the club is still figuring out his future position but for now he's not in my first team staff anymore. That's the situation and that's where we are today.

Q. What led to that decision on your part?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Just the simple fact that we have different visions, different approaches to the game, different visions and I decided it the best to not work together to anymore. It's simple as that. That's why I decided to do, and again, it has nothing to do with the results and David worked very hard for us and appreciate everything you have done but there was just different visions and different approaches and that's it, and I took a decision and yeah, that's where we are today and we keep working.

Q. Who is coming in as assistant coach on?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, right now that's where we are with Frank and Aiden and the rest of the staff which was there before, as well. Right now we haven't had discussed to replace David.

Q. On the injury front, how are we looking, specifically guys like Carlos and Nacho that have these muscle injuries, how are they doing?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, they are coming slowly back, so Nacho -- Carlos a little bit ahead of Nacho but if everything goes well, Carlos could be available for this weekend. He trains fully with the team. Nacho is reintegrated with the team. Every day a little bit more. It will be day-by-day for this weekend. But yeah, I'm happy that all these guys are slowly coming back and also Fabi Herbers is back, Elliot is back, Navarro, and obviously that is very positive and that helps the team obviously to become stronger and to grow again.

I think that was one of the points, as well, which I said last weekend or after the D.C. game that there is hope. I think once these guys are back, the competition is more, the level of training is higher again and hopefully these two results, as well. Yeah, that's where we are.

Q. Just like to ask you about this weekend's matchup, Miami comes in with a few high-profile names on their roster and their team has played well on the road in particular. How are you assessing the matchup?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, I agree. I've obviously seen those games. I've seen the results. They have quality players like every team and I say that and I repeat myself; every team in the MLS has quality players. The league is very, very balanced. They obviously have some very famous names, champions in there and players who played in the highest level.

But again, a team is not made out of two or three individuals. Obviously these individuals have high quality and can decide games but it's not only about two or three players. It's about the team and Miami is gelling as a team with a new coach, and as usual we respect them and the work they do and we see what they do but it's not about two or three individuals.

Q. What have you seen from him in training since and will he continue to be in the starting lineup on Saturday?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, I agree with you guys. I think Guti had a good game. He was dangerous. He created. He didn't hide. Look, it's the first stop for a very young kid away from home in a different situation, but the team obviously hasn't won for a while, and didn't have a good start into the season. So he showed character. He showed good talent and I was very happy with that.

So now I mention it after the game, he has to keep working hard and that's what he did. I saw -- he had a good -- good week of training. We will see how on Friday how we assess everyone and then what team will decide, but he definitely showed very good moments and obviously was dangerous in front of the goal defensively. Has to keep doing that.

I think the most important thing that you could see, he wasn't scared. He wasn't hiding in difficult moments, and that's very good.

Q. The team is on a scoreless streak of more than 300 minutes. What's behind that drought and what are you doing to correct that?

RAPHAEL WICKY: What's behind, it's always difficult to find the reasons why suddenly you score again or then you don't score. I mean, look, the difference for me after the D.C. game is we created chances again. We played more dominant football than the two games before, and also being very dominant going into the final third. I had a different feel against D.C. United. That's a positive, and with that, we create and with that goals will come, as well.

Now, what we are doing is we are working obviously in front of the goal but we are working on different aspects, and it's about the players's confidence, as well, the players in that situation needs to be calm and believe that he will put the ball in the back of the net. I believe that if you stay strong mentally and if you believe in what you do, that good results and good things will come, and that next what we do in training, I think that's a very important factor that the player keeps believing in himself.

The positive was we created way more chances and way more moments than in the games previous.

Q. How much of your job as a head coach these days is dealing with the technical and tactical stuff and how much is dealing with the players's mental state now, keeping them focused and energized, how much do you deal with both of those things as a head coach?

RAPHAEL WICKY: Yeah, that's a good question. It's everything, as a head coach, you are -- I mean, I am responsible for things happening here, so I take that responsibility, and when players -- when players don't score or are not in the right positions, obviously it's up to me to show them what the right positions are or where we want them. Obviously we try to work in training on passing and defending a position on crossing, on finishing. That we can work on the training. But the other point, I think it's very, very important and that's also my job and job of the staff that we -- that we keep the spirits high, the moods high, that we keep the positivity. Even of course, when you come back after a loss, I mean, we are not dancing on the tables. We are not happy, of course. But then I believe after a day or two are sleeping over it and analyzing it, you have to -- you have to be -- you have to be positive again. You have to bring the moods up and the spirits up, and try to enjoy what you do because that's the only way out, and the only way back to winning is -- is when you -- when you are somehow relaxed and somehow -- somehow enjoy what you do, and that's part of my job to do that. That's what we try to do in coming here, not to be miserable the whole week. Of course we are not happy, don't get me wrong. We are not happy but we also cannot walk around miserable all day and be down. I don't think that that helps.

Q. What you said in the beginning of the season, that this is roster and the players that you have, but scouting are always looking for two positions, two players. I know Chicago Fire has a scouting team, but you didn't close the door to looking for more players. I want to know your opinion about that. It has nothing to do with the results, but if you're still looking for those two players, positions.

RAPHAEL WICKY: Well, I don't know if I mentioned two positions or where we would get the two positions or the two players from, but that's not the information that I have that we are actually looking for just two positions.

Look, we are always looking. A club is always looking. A club is always scouting for players. Again, I repeat myself. We have all the players are -- we believe in on this roster. That's something we have spoken to the players again. We decided eight weeks ago or ten weeks ago to go with this roster. We decided not to immediately buy new players because we believe these players and we trust these players.

But of course a club is always scouting. It's always having their eyes open. It will be a big mistake if a club is not doing that. But right now, we work with what we have with these players. We believe in them. We need to get the injured guys healthy again and then with that said, I believe that there is competition in -- in this -- in this team and competition makes a team better.

Now, of course, Stanislav's injury, which is a three to four months injury, obviously hurts because he was a guy which we brought in. We were thinking highly of him and thought he will have a big impact offensively and now he's not there and we need to find different solutions offensively. Unfortunately the six guys who were injured, a lot of them were offensive players, and now they are coming slowly back, which will give me more options again.

And again, I believe in this team and these players but it doesn't mean that we are not looking for other players but right now we are not actively negotiating with players and trying to buy players, but we are always looking.