CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 5, 2025

Jonathan Bamba

Press Conference

NY Red Bull 2, Chicago Fire 1

Q. What are your thoughts overall on the match?

JONATHAN BAMBA: I'm unhappy, a little unhappy. We really came to New York to win the game and we lost. So we're going to continue to work and continue to work hard so that we can go ahead and continue to win matches.

Q. You got your first goal in MLS. Can you tell me about it?

JONATHAN BAMBA: I saw Felipe had the ball. Coach had been telling me to go deeper, and so I saw that he had the ball. He sent a great ball to me. It was my first goal in MLS and so I'm really happy but I really would have preferred the victory.

Q. Can you compare playing in MLS to other leagues around the world?

JONATHAN BAMBA: Well, they are different leagues. Every league is different whether it's France, whether it's Spain, whether it's MLS, so I'm really happy here. It's a league that has a lot of goals scored, and it's very dynamic and very active, and so I'm a little bit unhappy with the result but we're going to keep working hard.

Q. What does the team need to do to get to its maximum potential in the next few weeks?

JONATHAN BAMBA: We're in a process. It's a new process with new staff and new players. Everyone is still learning from each other. It's still a little bit of time before we can make our habits more automatic but everyone is working really hard and we're progressing forward on each game, each day, to be better.

Q. Coach mentioned that you played better in the second half. Do you agree with that and what changed at halftime?

JONATHAN BAMBA: Yes, I agree. I think we went up and it was a much better second half. I think there are still things that we need to work on and things that we need to work together so that we can give a better defensive performance and get our first clean sheet.

Q. You've been a player that no defender wants to see in the League right now, just with your speed and your dribbling. Today we saw more a aggressive side with you taking shots on goal. Is that something we can expect more of you sort of being comfortable because the first few games you were passing a lot and setting guys up, but going forward can we expect you to be taking more shots on goal?

JONATHAN BAMBA: Today I was in a better position. I found myself in a lot of positions where I was able to shoot. I was closer to the goal, closer to service so I could attack the spaces and I could shoot more.

I think if I can continue to find the space and work harder and keep going to the second post and the last past, especially inside the box, I think that will help. And we're continuing to work on finding each other automatically so that I can continue to work with Hugo and Felipe to be able to score more goals and help the team.