CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 21, 2026

Anton Salétros

Press Conference

Houston Dynamo 2, Chicago Fire FC 1

Q. Anton, your MLS debut, you were given the captaincy armband by Coach. Can you walk me through that process and what your first impressions of the league were?

ANTON SALÉTROS: Yeah, Gregg told me after pregame, a couple hours before the game, if I was comfortable in captain, even was my first game. I said I'm comfortable with the guys since the start of the season, and I was happy to that get that position from him.

For MLS, yeah, I think I'll have some more games to learn about the league's different teams but regarding the game, we were very happy with the first half and then second half is not up to our standards. We are very disappointed about that. So that is something we need to look to.

Overall, we want to win every game, so we are disappointed. But the first half is something we need to bring with us, work on, keep the positives but overall we wanted to go away from here with a win.

Q. Seemed like some frustration building, especially with the number of challenges called on you guys and some other potential -- talking to the referees, especially late in the game, frustration was building. Do you think the team did a good job moderating those emotions as the game wore on?

ANTON SALÉTROS: Yeah, I think obviously sometimes the referees are human as well. Sometimes they make the right calls. Sometimes they make the wrong calls. It's not something we were focusing on. We were trying to win the game and keep pushing but unfortunately we weren't able to do that today.

Q. So was there frustration with the number of set pieces you were able to have and not really get balls into the most dangerous areas? 15 was one of the most productive off corners and free kicks, and a lot in the first half, and none really resulted in good chances at the win?

ANTON SALÉTROS: Yeah, I think he had two corners danced on the goal line. So I would say that's pretty close. But overall, of course we want to be more dangerous and we want to create more chances on the set pieces but yeah, something we need to look into but in the end we have two balls on the goal line first half, so that could be an opportunity to score a goal.

Q. In the second half, it felt like there was a little bit of almost surprise with how much they were able to change their intensity coming into the half. What was -- why do you think it was difficult to adapt to that change in pace from the home team?

ANTON SALÉTROS: I don't think they changed the pace too much. I think they changed their organization a bit. They went up a little bit more man and pressed a bit higher than they did in the first half, and we weren't able to cope with that, and we need to read that better and we need to take a response on the team, and unfortunately we didn't do as well today.

We should have gone longer when they tried to press us and that's something we have to learn. Unfortunately we weren't good enough.

Q. How are you describing your relationship in midfield with Jay Davilat at this point? Seemed last week you guys had some nice moments but it's obviously something that's going to take some time.

ANTON SALÉTROS: Yeah, of course we have been playing some training games and training together. Of course it's early in the season. We need to develop and get to know each other better. In some phases in the game, we looked like a good pair today.

But unfortunately we didn't get the win but yeah, we need to keep working and to keep developing. He's a young guy and I'd like to help him get better.

Q. Coach mentioned this being a lesson and take away and a hard lesson to learn, and you mentioned it yourself. What is the lesson and the takeaway from this game that you think you can apply and the rest of the team from what happened?

ANTON SALÉTROS: I think it's game management. We need to realize soccer is a grown-up game. When we're not controlling the game, we need to realize the games can change quick, especially in this league in the MLS. We need to be ready for that, and game management, if it requires we need to go up longer or take time on the ball or whatever. Because yeah, you can be good on the ball and everything can be good when it's nice.

But in those difficult times, you need to be a bit stronger and read the game better.

Q. The two-man midfield, curious your thoughts on your role in that where a lot of the game was running through and you had a hundred touches. What are your thoughts on playing in a two-man midfield today?

ANTON SALÉTROS: Of course we've been training, and unfortunately we had some injuries in the preseason. So we've been working on a different system, as you can tell from other games.

Two-man midfield, yeah, it's just numbers all over the field we have to be better. First half went well but second half not so well. So that's something we need to look into and get better at.

Q. You mentioned a couple times the second half was below your guys' standard. Why do you think there wasn't a bigger response from the team on the field after either of Houston's two goals?

ANTON SALÉTROS: I think it's difficult to say right now in the moment. But first of all, we need top handle the game better. Like first half we did a freight first half, and I think in the second half, we weren't able to recognize what Houston changed in the halftime and we need to read that better and of course we need to create more chances and control the ball betterment I think we let Houston back in the game a little bit too easy in my opinion.