Fire - San Jose: final thoughts

The Fire escaped San Jose with a 1-0 win Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t pretty, but then again something should be said for winning the ones that aren’t. In soccer leagues all over the world, it’s the teams that get results even when they don’t deserve them that win championships. In MLS, given that the league has a postseason, the same principle doesn’t apply exactly. Even so, in a league with as much parody as MLS, getting three road points is always huge and this early in the season I would definitely prefer for the Fire to win ugly than look good in a loss. We can worry about our form come playoff time, but at this stage of the season it really is all about the points.

Here are a few storylines to consider in the aftermath of the match:

Fire attackers show promise, lack consistency
Going into Saturday’s match I praised the fine form of Cuautemoc Blanco, but said that it might be telling to see how midfielder Justin Mapp, and forwards Chad Barrett and Tomasz Frankowski performed in their first match since dismantling New England 4-0. Instead, the performances put forth by all four players left me with as many questions as I had before Saturday’s win.

Don’t get me wrong, each player that I mentioned looked brilliant at times against San Jose. Barrett scored the game’s only goal, showed a few flashes great skill on the ball, and combined really well at times with his other colleagues – especially Frankowski. Mapp, who was once again allowed a high degree of attacking freedom, contributed a number of mazy runs through the San Jose defense and a couple of passes from midfield that nearly unlocked the Earthquakes’ backline. Frankowski, in his third game with the side, played perhaps a bigger role in the Fire’s attack than we had previously seen. His most impressive moment from Saturday was probably his clever give and go with Barrett that could have put him in for an easy goal on 33 minutes. And finally Blanco, as expected, provided his usual array of backheels, deft passes, and cheeky flicks. He was the architect of the game’s only goal when he eluded a couple of San Jose defenders to play a perfectly weighted ball that set Frankowski in alone on Joe Cannon in the 19th minute (Frankowski’s effort was saved but Barrett swept in the rebound). Not only that, but Blanco also pulled his patented jump-between-two-guys-with-the-ball-stuck-between-his-ankles move and drew what should have been an obvious foul, only for the official to deny him a free kick. Suffice to say, Saturday’s performance included quality moments.

The problem, however, is that for every moment of genius contributed by one of these players, there were probably 4 or 5 inexplicable turnovers, horrible touches, shamefully poor dives (actually more by Mapp than by Blanco), or missed scoring chances. On one occasion, I remember Mapp taking on literally 4 or 5 San Jose defenders successfully and weaving all the way into the box. He was wheeling and dealing and looked more than at any other point this season like the guy who tormented Eastern Conference defenders on the way to an MLS Best XI selection in 2006. Obviously I was thrilled by Mapp’s run, and I leapt from my seat and yelled for him have a go. Just as I did, however, Justin tragically decided to end his foray with a flop that would’ve made Manu Ginobli look like an Academy Award winner. I, for one, could not believe my eyes.

Mapp’s dive at the end of such a scintillating run was perhaps the most disappointing moment of Saturday’s match, but he was no guiltier of inconstant play than any of the other three players I’ve been talking about. Frankowski shot straight at Cannon a couple of times when he had really good chances to score, and all of these guys were guilty of some bad giveaways and too many moments of wastefulness. From Blanco, a certain level of inconsistency is expected, and even on Saturday his one moment of brilliance won Chicago the match. For Barrett, Frankowski, and Mapp, however, we can only hope that improvement is in store. All three footballers showed on Saturday the type of great play that they are capable of. If they don’t remind everyone of that reality a little more often, though, they may not keep getting the chance.

Fire defense pitches shutout, still looks vulnerable
Well I had planned on writing a comprehensive analysis of head coach Denis Hamlett’s tactics following last Saturday’s win, but it’s exam time here at the University of Michigan, and that’s just not going to happen. The gist of what I was going to say, though, is that the Fire have to change something to find a better way of closing down their opponents’ attacks. By the end of Saturday’s match, San Jose, who has yet to score a goal yet in MLS this season by the way, was seemingly progressing at will to the Fire 18, but fortunately for the Fire, failing to convert their chances.

Granted, Hamlett’s hands were tied with C.J. Brown and Diego Gutierrez missing out on Saturday’s match due to injury. The starting XI that he put out was pretty similar to the one I would’ve picked to face the Earthquakes, and for most of the match his lineup did pretty well. However once Brown and Gutierrez return from injury, which could be as early as Sunday against Kansas City, I would look to slide someone into the defensive midfield slot currently occupied by Logan Pause. Pause is a solid all around player and certainly will play a significant role for the Fire this season. With that said, he’s never really been seen as a midfield destroyer, and considering the way that Blanco and Mapp have been defending lately, Chicago needs somebody to provide more cover in front of the back line.

My suggestion would be for either Gutierrez or Conde to play defensive mid, with Brown (once healthy), Conde/Gutierrez, Dasan Robinson, and Gonzalo Segares manning the back line. The other option would be to bench Mapp and insert Segares on the left wing, but in spite of Mapp’s erratic performances thus far in 2008, I still feel as though he has too much to offer offensively to start off as a substitute.

The other issue I was going to raise is that I really think Hamlett’s decision to leave Blanco and Mapp in for 90 minutes on Saturday played a significant part in the Fire struggling so much to hang on at the end. I would’ve benched one, if not both of Chicago’s playmakers with 15 or 20 minutes left because neither player offers the Fire much at all defensively. Again, Hamlett’s options were severely limited by the fact that Conde had to come off hurt with 11 minutes left in the match. Still, considering the fact that neither player even looked fit to go the full 90 (which is pretty disappointing from Mapp’s standpoint), I would’ve much rather benched one of these two players instead of Barrett who at least brings a lot of energy to the side. The last ten or so minutes of the match saw Blanco and Mapp essentially posting up as target forwards, a role both are extremely ill-suited for, because neither had the energy to track back and contribute to the side’s defensive effort. I would’ve much rather seen someone like Andy Herron in the place of either of these two to bring some energy and pace to the Fire lineup, especially with San Jose pushed up and looking for the equalizer.

One more issue to consider is the fact that Blanco is 35, un-athletic, and yet by far the Fire’s most valuable player. I truly think that the Fire are going to have to rest him more often this season to make sure he’s healthy come playoff time. Whether we are in the midst of a 4-0 blowout or hanging on to a 1-0 nail biter, I’d probably rather see someone spell Blanco for the end of the match.