CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 23, 2025

Gregg Berhalter

Press Conference

Q. When you have a group of guys who have not necessarily played on a basketball field, how does that affect anything in preparation, and what are expectations when you're going on a slightly different pitch?

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, I think it's important to communicate, to inform the players about the pitch. We talked about it today, the dimensions. I think some of the angles at Yankee Stadium can be tricky, and then finally the sod over the infield.

So certainly challenges. But it will be challenges for both teams. Both teams will have to deal with it, and you know, it's part of playing in NYC.

Q. I'm not going to ask you about the Chicago Fire, but I'm going to you ask about a duel net the U.S. Team just got from England, Sebastian Berhalter --

GREGG BERHALTER: From Ireland.

Q. From Ireland? Or in London.

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, but Irish passport.

Q. Duel net secured either way. What are your thoughts on that call-up and seeing him representing the U.S. Men's National Team?

GREGG BERHALTER: I think there's two sides of it. The first side is as a fair and just being incredibly proud of him and his journey and how he's worked for everything he's gotten.

And the second side of it is, you know, being in the position of National Team coach, understanding how special it is to call players in for the first time, and when you're building a group, how important it is to have guys that are hungry and have guys that want to wear the badge and want to compete. I think you see that in the roster that was chosen for the Gold Cup.

Q. Chris Brady and Guti were under consideration and didn't make the final roster. What are your thoughts on them not being there, and is it a relief that you'll have them for the next five games?

GREGG BERHALTER: I think that's bittersweet because we want all our players to progress and try to reach their highest levels. I think in both of those cases, two really talented players, and my conversations with them has been, you know, it just needs to be consistent. You need to be the best game-in and game-out, week-in and week-out, and you need to do that again and again and again, and then maybe you'll get an opportunity.

So it's not about instant gratification. It's really understanding for any player that wants to be involved at that level, the consistency of performance needed to get there.

Q. Switching focus back to NYC FC, the team had a very complete performance last week against Charlotte, got the win midweek, never won away in NYC FC in 12 games, four draws. What will it take to perform in a building where the team has never won?

GREGG BERHALTER: Is it four draws or complete? I want to confirm. I thought it was 3-8 -- oh, MLS? What was the other one, Open Cup? There was three ties and eight losses, right? Got to keep you honest, there.

I think it shows NYC's dominance against us, and potentially struggling on the pitch or whatever it is. But it's not our concern. Very few of us were around for that series, and we have confidence and I think most importantly, it's just about what we're willing to put into this game. We know it's going to be a difficult game. We know they are a good team, like a lot of their players, watching them can be fun.

So for us, it's going to be difficult and we're going to have to roll up our sleeves and put on a good performance if we want to get something out of the game.

Q. Also on that note, with taking on NYC, they have 15 scored, 14 conceded in MLS. They don't score much and don't concede much. As a coach how do you prepare your guys for a situation where you know your team wants to play at a much quicker and higher pace than the team you're taking on?

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, I think that we're comfortable with either. I think that's what I've seen from our team is that if we need to play slower and more methodical and bring the ball to their penalty box and then create chances from, there we are okay with that. If the game needs to speed up, we've been okay with that. In transition, we can be pretty good.

You know, so for me, it's really about us just focusing on how do we get a good performance on both sides of the ball, and then in the transition moments, if we can do that, we're a difficult team to beat.

We know their record in terms of goals but I still think that they have more goals in them. It is a dangerous team. They have some very, very talented attacking players, and we need to be aware of them.

Q. And then real quickly, just adding on with the conversation about Sebastian's call up, how strange will it be for him and you to have him home but not home on a break but being more home here to work?

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, I got that memo from the staff. No, it's business. Listen, we've learned our lesson from Copa America potentially being the training camp before Copa America, potentially being too lax.

I know what they are trying to achieve in this Gold Cup and it's all good. The coach is setting the standards and expectations from the beginning. Sebastian will have no problem with that. He's a worker. I know maybe we'll miss some dinners with him but that is what it is. We'll make that up in the future.

Q. We just spoke to Omari. I know a couple months ago, the big message to him was make those right decisions in the final third. It seems likes he's really turned the corner in that regard. Curious what you've seen from him over the last couple weeks, and what your expectations are from him in the summer, understanding not only does he want to build his role with Chicago but Guyana has a big summer as well.

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, he's called into their camp. Did we announce that? We'll be missing him for a little bit about two games. He'll be back in with us after the 10th. So he has two games.

But for him, I've been really pleased with him and his development. What Omari does is find a way to get on the field. That's what we know. Started out as a winger. Converted into a fullback, and he just does his job. He needs to improve. I think he knows he needs to improve but he works at it. You know, he's a delight to coach. I'm really happy with his progress so far.

Q. Now I want to get to a couple availability questions. First and foremost, I want to ask if there's an update on Chris Mueller. We know he's off the injured list. Any potential information you can share with us regarding that? And then also if there's an update on Leo and Chase coming back to availability.

GREGG BERHALTER: Both of those players are out. And Chris Mueller is out, also.

Q. Do you have any other information that you can share right now on a timeline for when we might be able to see them back on the field?

GREGG BERHALTER: All three of them?

Q. Chris Mueller.

GREGG BERHALTER: We're hoping as soon as possible. He joined training last week. And you know had a little bit of a setback this week and we just have to reassess and see where we're at.

Q. We've mentioned some of the call-ups. Matt will be here in a couple days. But this is also a time of year where it seems like some MLS teams sometimes lose a little bit of focus as there's National Team call-ups, and it seems middle of the season, sometimes the team is more locked in that wins. You talked about building through the course of the year. Is there an extra challenge right now to keep everyone focused on the same page and keeping at the progress at a time where other teams may not be doing that as much?

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, I think you always want that, right. You always want that focus and you always want to keep improving, particularly in Major League Soccer where I know firsthand how important it is to get better as the season draws to an end, and then you're ready for the playoffs and you have a lot of confidence going into it the playoffs.

So I think that's extremely important. For us, it's about not getting ahead of ourselves and really just trying to take it day-by-day, one training session at a time and one game at a time. I know that's a really boring answer for you guys to hear, and I know I say it all the time but it's the truth.

You know, we just want to keep improving.

Q. Christopher Cupps had a nice performance midweek; gets another call up to U-17. What are the messages for him about understanding what he needs to do not only with his age group to improve but with an entirely different product in MLS?

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, that's a great question. I'm not sure that a player, a 16-year-old that's playing first team football is actually going to benefit from playing youth 17 soccer, and that's just my opinion. I know other people don't share that opinion.

But he's already playing adult soccer and he's with men, and he's with men that are making money and competing and some of the top players we have in this league. So he's getting a ton of experience, and I'm not sure playing two friendly games at the U-17 level is going to keep developing him.

Q. One of the narratives that we've heard around the U.S. National Team pool, as well as some others, is that it's leadership that youth soccer can help develop. So being a leader even if you're not really learning as much on the pitch, you're learning those skills in maybe a different way than you're just kind of seeing them when you're the youngest one in the locker room. Do you think there's any merit to that?

GREGG BERHALTER: You know, I think that, again, when a player has -- I think the original intention of World Cups at the U-17 level, U-20 level, were to showcase young talents that need exposure and want to get them international experience.

When you're already playing professional soccer, you've had that exposure. And teams can watch him every week on live scout and watch him play for the first team.

I guess there could be some thread that you can draw that when he's a leader of that team he really gains confidence and come back confident and deal with other styles of play in international soccer which are all valid.

I think that we're happy to release him in this case, and it is what it is. We'll miss him against D.C. You know, we'll obviously be without him and some other players but we'll deal with it.

Q. As we know and we've discussed multiple times, the Chicago Fire are involved in one of the big stories right now in world soccer on the transfer market. How has it been for you when you're balancing dealing with that, dealing with big players on the transfer market, contract stuff like that, and managing the team week-in and week-out since you're in both roles?

GREGG BERHALTER: It's pretty easy to separate, especially with the time difference. Early mornings, doing a lot of work.

But it's all good. All we're trying to do is get better as a team, as a club, and you know, trying to -- we talked all along about trying to add a prayer or players that are going to help the squad.

Q. How comfortable do you feel now that the team is playing well and winning games, and also there's not too many injuries that affect the team in midfield or defense. How is the feeling right now?

GREGG BERHALTER: I wouldn't say I'm comfortable. Never get comfortable, right. It's always about what's next.

I think we're still missing Carlos. Still missing Leo. Still missing Chris Mueller, Chase. We are trying to get bodies back that gives us options.

For us, I think we need to be hungry, not comfortable. I think when we're hungry and we have this chip on our shoulder is when we're at our best, and we need to keep proving ourselves. We are not there yet. It's 13 games into the season. We've got a lot of soccer left to play, and we've got a tough game against New York on Sunday.