Gameday: Chicago Fire at San Jose Earthquakes

The Fire play their second road contest of the season today and this time they make their first visit to the expansion San Jose Earthquakes. Of course the Quakes were also an MLS franchise from the league’s first season until 2005 (when they moved to Houston and became the Dynamo), and it was that outfit that knocked off the Fire 4-2 in the 2003 MLS Cup final.

The Fire hold a 9-6-7 record against that side, but this year’s edition looks even less dangerous. Given the Fire’s 4-0 demolition of the Revs last week and San Jose’s 2-0 loss to the Galaxy, the Fire and their faithful will be extremely disappointed with anything less than a win. Here are a few things to think about come game time:

-The Fire have eight players on their injury report, but none of them are Wilman Conde, who played 90 minutes in last week’s reserve match. Conde, of course, told the media back in February that he wanted out of Chicago but supposedly missed this season’s first two games due to injury concerns. It looks like he’s fit to play, so whether or not he does today will shed some light on what his status with the team is.

- It will also be interesting to see if C.J. Brown and Dasan Robinson make their season debuts (Brown is listed as questionable, Robinson as probable). Brown was appointed team captain heading into this season, but has yet to wear the armband because of a left hip injury.

- Cuauhtemoc Blanco has been in fantastic form over this season’s first two games. He has scored two goals and played a big part in the buildup of the Fire’s other three tallies this season. It will be interesting to see what the Fire get out of Justin Mapp today, however. He only saw 60 minutes or so in the Fire’s opener against RSL, but flourished last week against a ten man New England side. It was his great ball that Chad Barrett slotted home to open the scoring, and he later drew a (soft) penalty after getting behind the Revolution back line. Mapp looked the best that he has since the beginning of last season, and I thought he benefited from the attacking freedom that head coach Denis Hamlett allowed him after Jeff Larentowicz’s sending off. With Gonzalo Segares frequently getting up the wing from his position at left back – and doing so with great effect – Mapp was free to roam wherever he pleased in attack. We’ve seen over the last few seasons what a dangerous passer Mapp is when he’s located in a more central position and with him and Blanco in midfield our forwards should get great service. Two weeks ago, on the road against Real Salt Lake, Hamlett pulled Mapp after 60 minutes to give the team a more defensive look and probably regretted his decision after Salt Lake went ahead late. We’re on the road again today, so it will be interesting to see how Hamlett employs Mapp, and what type of form the former MLS Best XI selection is in. By the way, Mapp is the only player on either team who appeared in the 2003 MLS final – he came on as a late substitute in that match.

- Chad Barrett and Tomasz Frankowski figure to start today after the way they played in last week’s drubbing of New England. Both players' forms seemed to be at an all time high (okay Frankowski has only been here for a few weeks, but still) so it will be interesting to see whether the good performances continue today. Fire fans are certainly all hoping that these two don’t revert to their old ways. They should have plenty of chances against a mediocre San Jose back line, but Earthquakes keeper Joe Cannon has been known to frustrate attackers so it could be an interesting afternoon.

- The Fire and general manager John Guppy have parted ways. Guppy hasn’t been very popular with fans over the last couple of years but he has also been responsible for bringing in a number of great players – most notably Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Still, fans have complained about a number of bad signings made while Guppy was in charge (does Pascal Bedrossian ring a bell?), the fact that we’ve gone since Andy Williams' departure a couple years ago without a true right midfielder, and the fact that Guppy lost head coach Juan Carlos Osorio to the New York Red Bulls this off-season. All in all, I don’t think that any fans are going to be too disappointed by Guppy’s departure.