Toronto FC 3, Chicago 1
Q. Seems like more of the same, your team played well in the first half and didn't really get perhaps the rewards and then came out strong in the second. What did you see that you liked today?
JAVIER PEREZ: Yeah, I think it was, you mentioned and you're absolutely right. I think in the last game we played against Cincinnati, unfortunately we concede a goal they got once and they scored. But the team now as I mentioned before is in a good place, mentally is in a good place. I think offensively with the ball, we are good, feeling comfortable moving the ball. Ultimately finding the opportunities to score. I think we scored three and I think it could be even more.
The important part is that we are clicking, we are playing as a team and the collective effort takes us to three points and winning games.
Q. Yeferson having a rough first half with the yellow card and did you talk to him in the second half or was that him keeping his head in the game?
JAVIER PEREZ: I think it's no question -- I think everybody is checking on him, and that was the conversation that I have with the official where he got knee in his back but in the end because of the frustration, he complains and he gets a yellow card. These kind of situations happen, right, because he's the one who has been -- the pressure is on him and at the end gets a yellow card.
But I think at halftime, we switched his position with Achara, and I think that helped him a bit more to come in the game and made -- for Chicago. I think at this point I think everybody was expecting Yeferson to be at the top but him coming at the side and Achara being up top, it helped us a little bit more to find him and to find the right spaces and in between lines. So I think that was a conversation we had at halftime to be a bit more free and on the side and in between. That helped him to bring alive his game. I'm not in question about his quality.
Q. Now two wins in a row where you've kind of conceded first but come-from-behind whereas earlier in the season, whenever you conceded first, it was pretty much the death knell of the club. Aside from the mentality, why has it changed or is it a different mentality?
JAVIER PEREZ: No, it's not a different mentality. I think when you look at the numbers or the statistics, you have as well the answer. I think now we are more dangerous. We have more control of the game. We have more possession. We have more opportunities, and it's just a question of remaining calm when things are not going your way because you know if you are on the other side, at the end you are going to have the chances. You can tie, you can win the game but you know that if you are the dominant team and you have the better side, you are not likely going to lose the game and that has been the story the last two games.
Q. Two goals in as many games by Delgado. What have you seen over the stretch for him to get to those positions?
JAVIER PEREZ: Yeah, I think again, he has done a great job. Our midfield is getting stronger and our midfield has tempo of the game and now him getting to key positions, we have more opportunities to score. We have up to five or six players tied with three goals, so we know that every time we score a goal, it's going to be a collective effort, and I think he's a smart player, and he's taking advantage of the situation. He's finding himself in positions where he can score, and tonight it was another opportunity for him to come back and score that goal that brought us back into the game.
Q. You had Pozuelo on the bench, was he there in case of emergency? You didn't end up needing him.
JAVIER PEREZ: Yes, Alejandro is obviously a player of amazing quality. But we have to remember that he is auto been off the field for a very long time. Tonight he was not the time of game that we needed to push and maybe going to play for ten, 15 minutes and maybe he's going to have an injury he's going to come back. So there was no need, basically, to put him at the risk. He was there on the bench if he needed to help the team.
But thankfully it wasn't necessary to use him.
Q. With six games remaining plus the Canadian championship, do you have a sense of what the team's greatest growth opportunity is? The team has improved in recent form but where can it get better these last few games?
JAVIER PEREZ: I think we have to grow, again, we have to grow again one game at a time and keep playing the way we are doing for the past now five, six games, and from here now, we need to keep imposing our tempo and style of game, style of play and if we can win the games with more authority and score goals, keep a little bit more the control of the game, and in the end, it's what we are looking for, being more -- win the games with more authority. That's all.
Q. The team was a little bit late coming out to the second half. What was the delay there?
JAVIER PEREZ: No, you don't have to read in between lines. We just prepare. We just talk a little bit how we were going to adjust the team for the second half, which it was not many changes. As you can see the only change was Yeferson being more wide and Achara to be a little bit more up front because we felt like we needed a bit more bite inside the box and need a little bit more freedom to Yeferson to move in between lines, and then coming out -- coming out on the field is just, I don't know, getting ready. So it's nothing to read in between.
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