CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 22, 2026

Gregg Berhalter

Press Conference

Inter Miami 3, Chicago 2

Q. Curious, what was the message after the match where it's three pretty preventable goals given up but a lot of resilience shown by the team?

GREGG BERHALTER: I agree with that. We worked hard to get back into the game. But you know overall I think that was exactly the point is we weren't happy with the defending. We weren't happy with the goals we conceded, and you know, in the end, to give up three goals away from home is going to be hard to win it. It was for us, a disappointing result and a disappointing performance.

Q. We talked a lot when Robert first came in and he signed, after chasing him for a year, you've had him for training a couple weeks now. Why is he the right guy to reignite the Fire?

GREGG BERHALTER: He has a ton of quality and very, very high standards, and I think that work ethic and the standards that he has and his quality is going to help the team. It was a priority for us to get him on the field today. He's only trained for now, eight days or seven days. So you know, we expect him, as he continues to get fit to make a big impact.

Q. We spoke with him yesterday and he particularly highlighted the chemistry that you and him have in such a short period of time. How did that chemistry develop so quickly?

GREGG BERHALTER: When you see someone and you meet someone, you can feel right away, I think, if there's any type of connection and with Robert when I saw him and his eyes, I started to understand his journey and what he's been through and how he's worked to get to this point, and I think we connected. I think that connections is strong.

It's new. You want to keep building it, but like all the players, you want to have a strong connection and you want them to know that you care about them.

Q. Can you take me through the changes in the 60th minute? Why do you think they worked initially, and why do you think things tailed off in the last 15 minutes or so?

GREGG BERHALTER: It was going to be a game where, you know, it's hot and it's hard to get the ball back and you have to keep the ball when you have it. I thought we did that okay at times. But at times we lost the ball too quickly and we're forced to defend and we get backed up a little bit into our own end.

We knew they were going to play inside. We knew they were going to combine with their two forwards and that was going to be dangerous and we didn't do well with that at the end of the day. The changes, Robert was obviously playing sub, and I thought the changes came in and made some impact and gave us some power.

Q. What do you think about his performance? We could see that he wasn't in the box as many times as we are used to see him in the box. Is it part of the tactics or because of the game?

GREGG BERHALTER: No, I think we need to do a better job as a team of getting him the ball in the penalty box. When he has the confidence that the ball is going to get delivered, he'll be in good position.

Q. But have you seen that there was not confidence enough in his performance? He wasn't ready to be on the pitch?

GREGG BERHALTER: No, not at all. No.

Q. Such a short week, how do you make improvements in such a short span of time?

GREGG BERHALTER: No, I think that's it. Today you could see there was rust. We weren't at our best. We lacked some sharpness, physical sharpness, as well. We lost too many easy passes. And all that's going to come, I know we all want things to be perfect right away. But it's a work-in-progress and as we start to get the guys in more rhythm, as Robert starts to get more fit, I think you're going to start to see some nice things.

Q. You mentioned that you're not happy with the goals that were conceded, all results of Miami being able to charge in a zone 14 right in front of the center backs. How do you think the team can do better in that space and preventing teams from working in that zone like Miami were able to tonight?

GREGG BERHALTER: It's a tactic of theirs. They do it. We saw it in the video, in the pregame scouting meeting, and they do a good job of that. For us, it's about how do you prevent the first ball in and how do you block access to the strikers and if they get to the strikers. It's how do you deal with their movement, and that's something we didn't do a great job of today.

Q. Are there other players picking up and on his mentality, the way he approaches the game?

GREGG BERHALTER: I think something to keep in mind, is, again, he's had something like four or five training sessions with us. All that is going to come. I know we want it to be like snap your fingers and it's there but it takes time. I think that, you know, we are going to see more, and you know, it's already been a good impact, and we're going to see more as we go.

Q. So do you know when he will be a hundred percent ready? August or October or how many training sessions he needs to be like fully ready?

GREGG BERHALTER: I think like any player, you build up and get strong and get your power and any good. Like any player, the time is different. We are not in preseason right now. We are in the middle of the season, and that's something to consider.

Q. So on Monday you were talking to us about the possibility that you were looking forward to playing a 4-4-2 with Hugo and Robert together. The team still played a 4-4-2. Was that because of how quickly the move with Hugo was made or tactics?

GREGG BERHALTER: We just continued on what we've been doing and we changed in the game to a 5-4-1. We moved back to a 4-4-2. There was a number of different formations changes based on how we thought we could be most successful, and we knew a 4-4-2 would give us some problems with how they pushed the fullbacks high and how they load the line.

We moved to a 5-4-1 and moved back to wingback and that nullified them a little bit. It's fluid, even if it looks like a 4-4-2 defending, like many times this year, offense should be in interchanging positions and there should be a lot more movement to open up spaces.

Q. I just wanted to ask about Novo getting his first goal in MLS and what that means for him?

GREGG BERHALTER: He's been the star of this new preseason that we've had. He scored against Minnesota. He scored against Columbus and now he scores against Miami. He's coming on and pushing for minutes. You can see how dangerous he is, and he has a bright future.