Frank Yallop refused to single out goalkeeper Sean Johnson for criticism following the Chicago Fire’s 2-1 defeat at the San Jose Earthquakes Sunday, urging his squad to persevere despite a winless start to 2015.
Johnson returned to the starting lineup after missing last week’s defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps because of an infection in his arm, but the USA international was helpless as the hosts stormed into a 2-0 lead by the 21st minute.
“I’ll have to look at the goals again, but I think he came for the first one and got blocked, but I don’t want to comment on whether he played well or not,” Yallop said postgame when pressed by reporters for his opinion on Johnson’s performance.
“Two goals go in, you’ve got to look at what’s going on, and other than that he didn’t have much to do. Set plays are part of the game and we struggled as a unit to deal with them, not just Sean.”
Despite the double early setback, the Fire rallied and pulled one back through a typically composed finish from Harry Shipp in the 29th minute following a superbly weighted through ball from Joevin Jones.
The halftime introduction of Ghana international David Accam breathed fresh life into the Fire’s cause and they went on to dominate possession (58 to 42 percent) without managing to find the breakthrough.
“I thought we played well enough to get a point out of the game,” Yallop added. “I thought our football was decent, we created enough chances to at least get a tie, but if you go 2-0 down away from home it’s always a tough one. I was proud of my team, the way they kept going and fighting and playing and doing the right things and we were unlucky not to get something out of the game.”
Captain Jeff Larentowicz echoed his coach’s thoughts and chose to look at the positives despite slipping to 0-3-0 for the season.
“We beat ourselves early and put ourselves in too deep a hole to come back,” the center back admitted. “The good part is we played well on the whole. Goals aside, we were the better team, but unfortunately goals are what count. It’s a tough start, but we have to continue to fight.”
Despite the obvious frustration of a third straight defeat in a campaign that began with significant optimism on the back of a busy offseason in the transfer market, Yallop is hoping that this run is something they can put behind them soon – perhaps starting at home to the Philadelphia Union next Sunday.
“You can’t click your fingers and it’s going to happen,” he conceded. “You’re going to have some bad results, you’re going to come up with some adversity, you’re going to lose a bunch of games. Hopefully this is our spell to do them early, and get our team going and move forward.
“We’re still a team that’s gelling, but we’re moving in the right direction,” he added. “We’re 0-3, which is never great, but you can’t just worry about three games, you’ve got to build something and keep going and see where it ends up at the end. It’s a long season. We’ve still got 31 games left, so we’ve got to make sure we start picking up some points.”
