New England Revolution Head Coach Jay Heaps
I’m really excited with the way we played. It was tough to go down a goal, but I thought our reaction was really good and two games in a row we’ve given up the first goal, but our reactions have been really good.

Well, I think you have to react after giving up a goal, and I think the game was all us at that point – when you give up a goal the way we did. They had one shot on goal and it went in. So when that happens, there is a double hit, because you feel like you’re pressing for the goal and you give something up. But in terms of the reaction and the positive nature, I think we sensed that we’ve got some real leaders out there and some players like Jose (Goncalves), like Jermaine (Jones), like A.J. (Soares), whose reactions have been really good and the players around them are feeding off of that.

I think we have a pretty deep team. I look at it that way. You want to have as many players as you can and different weapons. I think tonight the idea was, we knew it would be physical early, we knew that (Patrick) Mullins was chomping a little bit to get in there, so we went with Mullins. We thought that Jermaine (Jones) was starting to get his fitness back and we wanted to release him a little bit, so that’s why we brought Scotty (Caldwell) in as more of a cover spot. Also, Daigo (Kobayashi) had played a lot of minutes the past two games. Diego (Fagundez), I feel like he’s a player; anytime you get the lights on and get a home game, he seems to find a way. It wasn’t his best game, but he scored a great goal.

You know what you’re going to play usually when you go into it. So we knew we were going to have a lot of the ball tonight just in terms of the film we’ve been going over, so you prepare the guys for outlet passes and the kind of possession we were going to have. We thought that it would be a game like this, but we also knew that giving up a goal, it would be harder to break a team down. A team that is already compact and going to give up possession, it’s harder to break down. So when you do give up a goal, it makes it even harder because you’re pressing a little bit more. 

Charlie (Davies) has been great for us; he’s been awesome. Quite frankly, I think he’s been one of our inspirational guys. When you have an eight-game set back like we did, no one stopped fighting. Guys like Charlie in the locker room are really good and then when he got his opportunity, he took it. I think he wanted to start tonight, there’s no question about it. My staff and I just felt tonight was going to be one of those games where later in the game, his speed was going to make a difference. When you have two tired center backs, that’s when we felt like that was a good time to put Charlie in. We went to him earlier than we thought and he went in and changed the game within two minutes. But Charlie has put in a lot of minutes as well – he played 90 minutes last Saturday, his first 90, then he started the next game and went 60, so we were as managing that, as well. With all of the factors, we thought it was a good time to bring him in.

You’re going to give up chances and you have to credit teams for taking chances. I thought (Sanna) Nyassi did an excellent job on that goal and so did (Quincy) Amarikwa, it was a really good play. They took a mistake and made it a goal. The reaction is always the next play; I think that’s the most important thing. I think guys like A.J. (Soares), guys like Jose (Goncalves), (Andrew) Farrell, Darrius (Barnes) – they react really well. I think at halftime when it was 1-1, when we were in the locker room, we knew that if we came out and continued to play the way the way we know how to play, that we were going to get something.

Well I credit (Jermaine Jones) for the way he has gone into that locker room – right away, he’s gone in. I think that’s the most surprising thing when you bring in a player like that, is that he’s a team guy. He walks in the locker room, and within minutes, he’s got four, five, six guys around him – they’re talking about football, they’re talking about the game, they’re talking about the opponent coming up. Right away he’s fit in. I think that’s one thing that I’m so proud of him, is that he’s come in to be a part of the team. You can’t say that about every DP player in the league, and think that it shows. You saw his celebration with Charlie (Davies) – he’s in it. I think that’s the most important thing when you bring in a player like Jermaine, is that they buy in all the way with the team. He walked in and he had the credibility, and right away, he was an instant leader.

New England Revolution forward Charlie Davies
That was my job, to come on to the field and change the game. Obviously, I wanted to make an immediate impact and I was fortunate enough to have Jermaine (Jones) play a great ball in. As a striker, you’ve got to put away those chances and I made sure I took full advantage of it.
I know how they play. My job wasn’t going to change, my job was to come on and make an impact and do what I do best, which is stretch defenses, get in behind, make good runs, and bring energy to the pitch, which I was able to do today. Kudos to the team, because this wasn’t an easy game. Some people might think, ‘Chicago, they’re not really in the running for the playoffs,’ might take their foot off the gas, but we were able to make sure, not only did we keep possession, but we didn’t fall asleep. We made one mistake with that goal that we gave up, not really defending a throw-in properly, but we were able to come back and fight and that’s what makes good teams. And we’re going to need that come playoff time. I think we’re starting to hit full stride at the right time. I think the best part about it is we’re still going to get better. I think we haven’t hit our ceiling yet, Jermaine (Jones) is still getting used to the way we play and we’re getting used to Jermaine. He’s such a presence in the midfield, so it’s going to be great when we’re running on full stride.

(Jermaine Jones) is a tremendous player. He’s got so much experience and he’s a player that can create opportunities for me, so it was awesome to get my goal off his assist. Hopefully there’s many more to come.
You could probably see my eyes get real big. It was basically going to be a one-on-one, me versus Sean Johnson and I know he’s a big keeper, so basically you got to put it low and in the corner and you’ve got to hit it with good pace to beat him, which fortunately I was fortunate enough to do.

For me, it’s been a lot of minutes in a short amount of time. Especially battling through injuries throughout this whole season and finally feeling fit again, playing my first 90 minute game last weekend versus Toronto, then playing right away, a quick turnaround against Kansas City. I’m starting to feel it a little bit. I probably shouldn’t have started that Wednesday game, but I felt good today and I knew that it was probably for the best that I get a rest today, as well as Teal (Bunbury) and Daigo (Kobayashi). Teal has scored in two consecutive games, so obviously we’re hungry and want to play but it’s probably for the best. It’s one of those things where you have to respect the coach’s decision and be ready for when your name is called. 

New England Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez
It’s great (to score again). I remember the feeling and just coming back and doing everything I could to help out the team and with a goal, it’s perfect.

We knew they were a good team. We knew we needed to step it up and we knew that it was going to be a competition. And I just went out there trying to do everything I could to prove to the coaches and the players that I’m good enough to be there. So, at the end of the day we came for the results and that’s three big points that we won.

I don’t remember how it started. But, I remember when the ball got cleared, Lee (Nguyen) took a touch and then when he chipped it across to the [far] post, I just saw the ball coming straight to my head and it was just a goal.

It’s not frustration. I was just getting mad that I wasn’t playing to probably my best ability. But, I kept doing what I could and try to help out the team and finally, it paid off.

I think it was huge. Especially, when we were down one nothing and coming back in the 45th minute it’s big. When you get a goal and then come into the second half and you want to start again where you were and I think that’s what we did.

I think our work rate. I think everyone knows that we need to win and we need these points, especially at home. We can’t lose at home. It’s our home field and we have to make sure that we let other teams know that this is where we play.

I think now I just keep working hard at practices, keep doing everything I can and when I get those chances I need to finish them.

Chicago Fire head coach Frank Yallop
I think (Jermaine Jones) influenced the game a ton tonight. If you look at the game, especially the second half, he was the driving force for them. He makes the difference for any team, so obviously it would be nice if he was on our team. We’ve moved on since then and that’s all we can do.

I wouldn’t use the word deceived, the league has its rules and we have to abide by them. We talked to him for quite a bit, but the Revolution had a chance to come into the picture and they took advantage. We were disappointed because he could have really helped us for sure and I think he’s really helped the New England Revolution.

We’re a weird team. We do everything right tactically in the first half, shutting down their main players, dangerous counter attacks, but we gave up a silly goal before half time and we let them right back in the match. That’s the frustrating part right now; we don’t play the complete 90 minutes right now.  We have to find a way to be consistent for 90 minutes every match and we’re not quite there yet.  It’s a bit frustrating but the guys give me everything they have and I can’t ask for anything else.

Absolutely, Sean (Johnson)’s been good all season for us and tonight was no different. He did it last week when Dallas had a break away and he came up with a great save and we ended up winning the game.

Chicago Fire forward Sanna Nyassi
I think it’s something that I want to keep going: scoring against my brother’s former team. I think all in all, it was a good game all around.

I think we did everything right. It was just a breakaway that we thought it was offside but the guy was on. But other than that, I think we had a good game. Defensively, we were organized, and offensively.

It feels good (to have scored), but we still got to finish all our chances that we create.  It would have been 2-2 if I would have scored all the chances that hit the post, so we have to be clinical up front.

Chicago Fire midfielder Razvan Cocis
First of all, (the transition from Europe) was everything I wanted. I might not be that happy right now because we just lost, but I am really happy in general. I really like Chicago, the team, and all the conditions provided. Right now, the most important thing is to focus on the rest of the season and make sure we make the playoffs.

I thought we played well the first half. If things played our way we could have scored again and made it 2-0. We were winning the whole half, and then the goal got scored on us at the end of the half. We left Diego (Fagundez) open at the far post and he put it away cleanly. It could have easily been prevented if we marked him better. At halftime, we thought that we could go back out there the second half and continue the same game plan that we had, but we were thrown off our game by that goal.

Our main priority was to end the first half on a positive note. Although we sat back quite a bit and we didn’t have possession, I thought that we went up with numbers and were able to have a few good counter-attacks.

It was the same system we played the last few games. I thought it worked well in Toronto and at home in Dallas. I think we have to take the positives from the first half and keep building on that. If we fix the problems that we saw in the second half and stick to our game plan, I think we can be really effective in this formation.