CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 25, 2026

Gregg Berhalter

Press Conference

NYCFC - 3, Chicago Fire - 1

GREGG BERHALTER: A well-contested game. We had 35 balls won in the attacking half today. When you talk about midfield dominance, I think we did establish it.

But unfortunately there's little moments. And the goal, we have two opportunities to clear the ball or defend the ball. The first goal we didn't do that. And then (indiscernible) hits an amazing goal, wonder goal.

And second goal also we're in duals and we don't come at the right end of it and maybe there's a little bit of position thing, and then all of a sudden they're up 2-1.

So for me it was like the effort, I think, was there. The guys are running like crazy. The guys are working like crazy. And it was a little bit of an unlucky match where I think New York capitalize odd the opportunities they had, and we didn't.

Q. Just a question about (indiscernible) Angelique (phonetic) (indiscernible). Obviously we know that it's difficult to incorporate (indiscernible) with the travel. Miami away, 60 minutes here. Flying. World Cup final. How do you incorporate what you need to work on into the training into such a short time. Because, to us, it looks like a natural break where there's not a lot of time to practice. You just need to figure things out on the fly.

GREGG BERHALTER: Yeah, unfortunately, that's the case, but we have a week between games this week, so we'll get the opportunity. It's really just figuring everything out, figuring how he can make the biggest impact, how we can be defensively solid with him, how we're going to press.

We purposely didn't play him in the first half today because we wanted to limit his minutes because of the 60 minutes on Wednesday. So we were holding back his minutes, but we're getting used to it. He's a quality player. We have to figure it out, and we will.

Q. Obviously you're using the (indiscernible) say and therefore the same attack. From a defensive point of view, obviously it's an old trick but in the fold up as well somebody who naturally covers the left back and progresses the ball (indiscernible), how much of the (indiscernible) has it been your overall game going forward as well as defending? Secondly, I think there's about eight games in August for the club. How concerned are you of potential slump and how to avoid that?

GREGG BERHALTER: Well, it's really about one day at a time. Really focus on what we can control today. As I mentioned I thought the effort from the group today was outstanding. We didn't give up. We kept pushing till the end. And we played them hard.

They got three chances and they scored three goals. And that wasn't the case for us.

Regarding Mbokazi, you know, it is a miss. We feel like we have good center backs there anyway. And Mbokazi is a top center back and we'll be missing him for a while. So we've got to get used to new normal.

Q. Mbokazi was listed as questionable on Wednesday and now it's listed as out. What we noticed that he was replaced with the all star game. Can you tell us a little bit about his status and what happened to him?

GREGG BERHALTER: It's not good. It's not good. He's gonna be out a lot. He took a shot in training and hit the ground a little bit, scuffed the ground and ended up tearing his thigh. It's serious. He won't be back for a good amount of time. We're actually putting him on the IR.

Q. We saw Robert in the second half trying to direct traffic a little bit. After the game he engaged in a couple of conversations with Philip. Just from your perspective, who does he need to link up to? Who does he need to develop the most chemistry, the best chemistry on the field in order for him and the club to be successful? Is it Philip? Is it Jonathan? Who else?

GREGG BERHALTER: I think we have a dangerous attacking team. I think our XG today was 2.13 compared to their 1.7. So we create chances. I think it's gonna come. I think that as the chemistry builds, as they get used to each other, where they're gonna be, the spaces, where we can serve Robert the ball, it's gonna come.

It's very, very early into this. And we have high expectations for him just like you do, just like everybody does. But we just need a little bit of patience and understanding where he's at. He was off for seven weeks and now he's working his way back. And we have full confidence he can get there.

Q. How much does Mbo's injury affect the transfer strategy now, just hearing that? Just curious how that affects the next month for you guys.

GREGG BERHALTER: That's the question, right? We don't have an answer for it right now, but it is something that we're considering. We have a busy schedule. We need everyone on deck. There's Cups, who's away at international duty. So maybe we bring him back. But it's something we're considering, for sure.

Q. I'm curious if you think there's anything that you could have done better to get Lewandowski into better positions to be dangerous in these first two games, given that in over 100 minutes he hasn't had a shot on goal yet? And in general do you think that it's gonna take time for him to be at his best?

GREGG BERHALTER: The header didn't count as a shot on goal? I thought we also had something in the 50th minute, we got a pretty high HD, you know?

I think it's time. I really do. I know it sounds crazy, but it's time and it's chemistry. We had the game on Wednesday. I told you he had five training sessions between when he arrived and the game on Wednesday. And we didn't train at all between the last two games that we could work on anything.

So it's still a work in progress. I'm with you in terms of really making a priority figuring out how to get him goal-scoring opportunities.