CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 19, 2025

Gregg Berhalter

Press Conference

Chicago Fire FC 2, Montréal 0

Q. A complete performance; what does it say about the group?

GREGG BERHALTER: To me the most important thing was the effort based on what we've been going through lately in terms of match load. We asked the guys to dig deep and push, and they did a great job, and to get the win, to be undefeated in Canada this year is good. But most importantly -- (inaudible.)

Q. What did you think of particularly in the first half and Leo Barroso?

GREGG BERHALTER: He's a player that we believe in and a player that we want to continue to develop, very good young player. And he want him to be aggressive attacking third and going forward with speed, and has very good technical ability; and for him, a game like today is, I think the benchmark of what we expect from him.

Q. What does it mean for the team, the captain, Jack Elliott, getting his first goal the year?

GREGG BERHALTER: It was big. He took the free kick that led to the goal and got the goal himself. It's always big, and he got coach's man of the match. He was tremendous on the back line as well. So really happy for him.

Q. ( Indiscernible.)

GREGG BERHALTER: It's a great accomplishment. It's not easy to do that, and sometimes you skew towards scoring goals or assisting goals, and he's a perfect balance. I thought he was good tonight. And he makes plays for us. Happy to him in the group.

Q. Also, this means 32 points for the Chicago Fire this season, passing the total from 2024. Do you think doing that already in July is a good step in the right direction given where the team was?

GREGG BERHALTER: I mean, I think for us, we're focused on making a playoff push, and we're not there yet. It's not time to celebrate things like that.

To me, it's important that we can win, we can win away from home, and that's what we're focused on.

Q. Three wins in Canada, nine points, three tough stadiums to play in; is there a secret to that?

GREGG BERHALTER: No. We prepare for every game like it's a game we can win, and we know every game is difficult in Major League Soccer. You'll get things like that when you prepare to win, and the mindset is you want to go win.

Q. The team's second clean sheet of the season. Can you talk about what that means for Chris Brady's partner, facing four shots on target and active with the other plays, and what that means for the team as you look to get more defensive stability in the last games of the regular season?

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, I think it means we've been giving up too many goals if that's only the third clean sheet.

I think in general, the guys are working hard. Omar came in, Deano came in and did a good job, Leo and Sam and Andrew in there did a good job. But I say it's a collective effort defending, and we need the team with the staple mindset; which they want to get a shutout. I heard the guys talking on the bench at the end of the game, we can get a clean sheet, and that's the mentality you want, get the shutout.

Q. First start we saw from Maren in a little while after making a number of goal contributions off the bench and making the most of his minutes, can you talk about his performance?

GREGG BERHALTER: I like him. He's a smart soccer player and got himself in good positions and unfortunately wasn't able to get on the score sheet. When we think about our attacking group, Maren is right in there, whether he's starting or coming in often bench, he's a player we're counting on.