CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 19, 2026

Gregg Berhalter

Press Conference

Nashville 3, Chicago Fire FC 0

Q. What do you want the team to take away from this frustrating week or so where the results just haven't gone your way?

GREGG BERHALTER: You know, I don't see it as results not going our way. We were beat by the better team, really simple.

I think the big lesson for us tonight is that's the benchmark. That's the team we want to get to, we want to be able to compete with. Today I think we were a little bit timid to start. We held on. You know, we gave up the goal. We got back into it. We gave up another goal.

For us, the lesson is, you know, we need to improve as a group.

Q. So from these three games, you were playing the other top three, top four teams in the East. So does it feel like a reality check that you're coming away from that stretch with just one point from a possible nine, or do you take more positives than that?

GREGG BERHALTER: No, I think each game is different, right. Each game is a different complexity. I don't like to group the games.

What I would say about today is we were beat by the better team, and that's where we need to get to. We need to get to a spot where we can come to a place like this and put on a performance that can win the game, and I didn't think we did that tonight.

Q. And with the goals that were conceded, the first two, especially, something similar we saw against New England, is that a concern for you that so many goals are being conceded in a similar way?

GREGG BERHALTER: What do you mean, similar?

Q. Falling behind the defense with a ball across the box.

GREGG BERHALTER: No, I think you're talking about transition goals in New England, and these weren't transition goals. These were build-up. You know, we opened up space behind our fullbacks, and we got caught for it.

But I'm concerned about how we gave up those goals for sure.

Q. It was a tale of two halves in that you guys didn't really have much possession in the first half and weren't really able to get much going forward. What do you think was causing that in the first half, and what did you guys adjust in the second half?

GREGG BERHALTER: We were low on purpose. We wanted to have a preventative shape. We wanted to limit what they can do on the wings. We dropped Maren on purpose lower.

The result was we got too low at times. We needed our midfielders to step up and step out, and we didn't do that. Then we got more aggressive our pressing. We moved higher with our midfielders, and that enabled us to get some control of the game.

Q. This is the first game since March 7th where you guys haven't scored in MLS. That was the longest streak in the history of the club. Is it frustrating that there was so little output, especially for the first 60 minutes, going forward for 50 minutes?

GREGG BERHALTER: No, I think when you look at it, it was always going to be a difficult game, right. So for us, the idea is you hang in there as long as possible. You keep the score manageable, and you try to keep growing into the game. And we did that.

I think the problem was we also gave up a second goal, and that was a killer. We had momentum before that, and the second goal really, you know, really hurt our efforts and hurt the ability to get back into the game.

But you know, this group has done a lot of good things, and we just need to keep getting better. If we do that, we'll be fine.