On the decision to let go of head coach Raphael Wicky…
“Look, ultimately this is what I always say, it’s professional sports and we all depend on results in the end and we didn’t deliver the results that we all wanted to deliver. Why now? Because we had decided to not pick up Rapha’s option for the ‘22 season and as you all are familiar with his family medical situation, we wanted to release him with immediate effect in order to allow him to travel to his family.”
On when Wicky became aware of the decision…
“He became aware of the decision yesterday.”
On if there was a breaking point or result that led to the decision…
“No, I wouldn’t say (that). Look, in the end, we said we wanted to make the playoffs. We still have a small chance, but no, there was no specific event or game.”
On when he knew he was not going to pick up Wicky’s option for next season…
“Well, we hoped until the end. We hoped that he would make the turnaround with his staff. This is also why we waited until these three home games were played, but it didn’t work out.”
On how much of the failure is on Georg Heitz and his staff…
“Well, ultimately this is my responsibility. That’s clear. On the other hand, I also have to tell you, this is not a one-man show. We have processes. It’s not that I sit in my office and I say we sign this player or that player. All my coaches in my career always had a say when it came to signings. But, it is my responsibility in the end. I’ll also be accountable.”
On what he has learned over the last two years…
“We always have to question all our decisions. I think it would be an excuse to say we didn’t have enough time. We simply, if we look back now, we obviously took some wrong decisions. We made some wrong decisions in the end and we tried to do better. I am still confident that we can be successful with this Club.”
On how much of an issue discipline was within the team…
“Fair question. I mean something that we do not like to see, obviously, but I would not blame this on Rapha or anybody else from the coaching staff. In the end, it is a question of culture in the locker room and again this is ultimately my responsibility.”
On what went wrong for Wicky in Chicago…
“Well, as you all know, we missed the playoffs in the 2020 season, in a very special season, in the last game. I don’t have to mention this or to emphasize this, which was definitely a setback for us and a setback also for Rapha as a head coach. Afterward, we had a good preseason, but we also suffered from many injuries during preseason and also into the regular season afterwards. Also, we have to be careful, we are all accountable and we are all responsible for this. We also have to question whether we did everything wrong when it comes to injuries.”
On the type of person and qualities he is looking for in the next head coach…
“Look, I won’t share publically a profile because this limits our opportunities in the end. But clearly, there are certain points that must be fulfilled.”
On why he deserves the chance to pick another head coach…
“It’s a good question, but we really worked hard, all of us. We had many discussions with the coaching staff and in the end, if you ask about my future, I’m the wrong person to ask. I can assure you that I am still confident, that I will not step down, because I am still confident that we can be successful with this team.”
On whether the timing of the decision was influenced by the amount of head coach openings around the league…
“Look, we have a couple of events upcoming, the waiver draft, free agency, the MLS SuperDraft and of course we’d like the new head coach to also have his say. As I mentioned before, this is not a one-man show. We have to build a roster that the head coach is happy with. So, always as soon as possible but on the other hand, we have to make the right move now and not the fastest move.”
On when Raphael Wicky was informed of the decision…
“I won’t go into details. Sorry, I won’t go into details because I think this is something that is between the parties involved.”
On what he learned from his first coaching search and how that will impact this search, and what he has learned from other clubs in MLS regarding coaching decisions…
“In the end, you have to find the perfect fit for your club, which is an individual thing, and this is our ambition for the upcoming weeks, and we should not look too much to other clubs. Every club is different. We have to find the perfect fit for our roster and for the staff that we will keep.”
On how the process will be different this time than the previous one…
“Obviously we have more time but time, as I mentioned before, time is not an excuse. In the end, you are successful or not.”
On how much value he is placing on MLS experience when searching for a coach…
“It could be a thing that is important for us but not necessarily because I think the game that we play is the same, globally. Worldwide, it’s the same game that we play. And there are also other examples, Tata Martino, who was very successful without having MLS knowledge. But, it could be something that we want to have with the next coach.”
On what mistakes he made when building the roster the first time, and what he learned from those mistakes…
“I won’t talk about individual players now in public. My availability today is to speak about the head coach position and not about the roster. We will speak about the roster later on this year, for sure, and we might answer these questions.”
On how many open Designated Player spots he expects to have open next season…
“No answer at this moment. As I said, this is still an on-going season, gentlemen, and we want to finish this season being a competitive team. It’s not the moment to speak about players and, as always, we try to speak with the players first and afterwards we will comment on our decisions.”