One minute, what was once your dream season looks like it’s really going down the drain, the next, your back on top of the world. Such is life in the parody-ridden MLS.
After 90 minutes of complete superiority, the Chicago Fire still looked headed for another demoralizing tie – which would’ve been their sixth consecutive negative result – until John Thorrington’s stoppage time winner put the Chicago faithful into utter ecstasy, and very possibly changed the course of this year’s campaign.
On the one hand, three points is three points is three points no matter when or how they come. On the other hand, it really felt like the Fire needed last Saturday’s win more than ever, because after the way the last two months had played out, another bad result might’ve been too much to stomach.
Only a week after the Fire were lingering close to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, the side now holds the third best record in MLS and with a win Saturday can firmly plant itself back in the race for the Supporters Shield. More than that, the Fire still have one of the best teams in MLS and with this sudden change in momentum, once again look like one of the stronger candidates to hoist the MLS Cup this November.
The amazing thing is that without Justin Mapp’s blooped header or Thorrington’s right-place-right-time finish at the death, Saturday’s game would’ve gone down as just the latest edition to a long line of dropped points and missed opportunities. After completely dominating the entire match and leading for the majority- at home, and against another Eastern Conference playoff contender- sharing points after permitting another second half comeback would’ve been really hard for the Fire and its fans to take. Not only would the result have put the side lower in the standings, worse, it might’ve really damaged the side’s already vulnerable morale. Instead, thanks to Thorrington’s timely, albeit a bit fortunate, nutmeg, the Fire have ever reason to look positively on the rest of the season.
Sure the team still has its flaws, and the loss of Calen Carr for the season is a big hit, but Chicago is nevertheless one of the strongest all around teams in MLS. With a home win Saturday against Real Salt Lake, the Fire can move within a point of Columbus and within six of New England – with a game in hand on the Revs – which definitely puts the Fire in a position to compete for the Supporter’s Shield from here on out. It had appeared, with the Fire’s elimination from the U.S. Open Cup that the team would have to win MLS this season in order to secure a Champion’s League birth next fall. Now though, it’s definitely possible that the Fire could stamp its ticket to that competition by finishing with the best regular season record this October.
A few observations on the state of the Fire:
- Chris Rolfe’s absolute golazo 5 minutes into Saturday’s win was just further proof of the reality that he has to play forward for the Fire. Give the guy one half-chance and he usually buries it. I understand that playing him in a five man midfield gives Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Mapp, and Thorrington more freedom to create as they see fit, but football is about scoring goals – not creating chances – and nobody in MLS does it better than Rolfe.
I really think that if I were in charge I’d trot the guys out in a 4-4-2 and order Thorrington to spend more time on the right wing. Granted, the guy does a great job when he plays further inside, but I do think that the Fire’s lack of anyone playing the right side hurts Chicago at time. Thorrington should still have the freedom to be creative, but Rolfe needs to have the responsibility of a forward – not a midfielder - and to balance that change I think that Thorrington needs to be more responsible for the right side.
The way things are now, Thorrington, Rolfe, and Blanco all pop up on the right wing from time to time, but nobody has been playing like a true right midfielder. Maybe if Dasan Robinson, who likes to get forward, were available to play right back then things would be different. As things stand now, though, I think the Fire would be better off with Rolfe truly playing as a second forward rather than as a midfielder, and with Thorrington shouldering more of the responsibility on the right that he currently shares with Rolfe.
- The Fire and Toronto F.C. still haven’t worked out a deal to bring US National Team legend Brian McBride to Chicago. Reports have Toronto insisting on receiving either Justin Mapp or Chris Rolfe in any deal for McBride, and while McBride would be the premier forward in MLS, the Fire would be fools to give up either of their two best young stars. Furthermore, although the Fire have a lot of depth in the back, I think that giving up any of Gonzalo Segares, Bakary Soumare, or Wilman Conde would be a big mistake. It’s true that Conde could be headed to Europe in the off-season and that Segares’ deal with the Fire is up after next season, but all three players are young and among the absolute best defenders in MLS.
The fact is that McBride wants to come to Chicago and the Allocation order changes after this season. One way or another, McBride is going to wind up with the Fire, so it’s up to Toronto to decide whether or not they want to get anything for the Allocation they currently hold. I’m not saying that Chicago should fleece Toronto – other than the five players I just mentioned and Blanco, I’d give up any two other players on the team for McBride – but the Fire shouldn’t have to give up that much for a player who hasn’t signed with MLS and wants to Chicago.
Tomorrow’s game, with the MLS transfer window having re-opened July 15, marks the first game in which McBride could have played had a deal been worked out by now. Instead, he’s off to the Olympics with the US team – a competition he said he would’ve considered skipping if he had been able to join Chicago, which means even if a deal is worked out by the time the Olympic games end, he’ll only be available for eight games plus the playoffs this season. Granted I would love to see him and Chris Rolfe paired together when we face D.C. United and New England this offseason, but it’s not worth giving up one of our best players for someone that we can pickup in the off-season anyway.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber also conceded this week that it’s possible the league will intervene if neither side budges on its demands. This type of thing has actually happened numerous times in MLS history, such as when MLS arranged for DC United to be able to draft Freddy Adu and when MLS forced the Galaxy to trade Carlos Ruiz to FC Dallas so that Landon Donovan could come home to Los Angeles. My feeling is that if MLS intervenes it will probably be a good thing for the Fire. I wouldn’t want Chicago to have to give up anybody as good as Carlos Ruiz was at the time of the Landon Donovan incident, but at the same time the value of a 35 year-old McBride is much lower than that of a 22 year-old Donovan. What will probably happen if MLS intervenes is that Toronto will get less talent from Chicago than it’s demanding, but with the reassurance of the league that they’ll receive similar considerations in the future. Afterall, if Dwayne DeRosario or Julian D’Guzman stated a desire to play for Toronto FC, the Canadians would be pretty perturbed to see it not happen. So here’s hoping that something happens and soon – before the end of the Olympics. If no deal is reached, though, I’m pretty confident that McBride will still be sporting the Fire’s red jerseys before the start of next season.
- Cuauhtemoc Blanco was selected as one of the starting XI for this month’s MLS All-Star game, but Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares, and Jon Busch all just missed the cut. In my opinion all three have been the best player at their position in MLS this season – that’s not even debatable in the case of Segares, so I’m disappointed for them that they didn’t make it. On the other hand, it is kind of nice for the Fire that those guys get a week rest and don’t have to risk injury. There are still end of season awards, and the occasional post-emptive All-Star nod, so as long as those players are recognized in some way later this season all will be forgiven. It was only two years ago, actually, that Justin Mapp didn’t make the All-Star game but was named MLS Best XI at season’s end.
Soumare and Segares did finish 4th and 5th in the league’s All-Star voting (only the top three make it as starters) which is actually really impressive at a position where reputation means everything, considering that neither player had much of a reputation around the league heading into this season. Revolution coach Steve Nicol and MLS commissioner Don Garber selected the seven bench players, however, and both overlooked the Fire’s two defenders. Busch finished second in the voting for goalkeepers but also wasn’t selected for the team – a surprise to some considering he’s been statistically the best keeper in the league this season.
I also feel as though Justin Mapp is one of the eighteen most deserving players so far in MLS, but I never really expected him to get the All-Star nod. My pick’s for the most deserving players to make the All-Star game (players who didn’t make it in bold):
Jon Busch
Frankie Hejduk
Bakary Soumare
Gonzalo Segares
Steve Ralston
Guillermo Barros Schelloto
Cuauhtemoc Blanco
David Beckham
Robbie Rogers
Kenny Cooper
Landon Donovan
Bench:
Matt Reis
Justin Mapp
Edson Buddle
Luciano Emilio
Michael Parkhurst
Jimmy Conrad
Dwayne DeRosario
- Calen Carr’s season ending knee injury is really a disappointment considering that, in my estimation, he was in his all-time best form and becoming a very important player for the Fire. I wrote last week that I thought Carr was our best option on the right wing, and his absence means that Chicago now has even fewer options on the right flank. I do think that Thorrington can do an adequate job if he’s given the responsibility of truly playing as a right mid, but recently we’ve seen him and Rolfe all over the field with nobody truly playing as a right midfielder. I still think that Thorrington can do the job, but I also wouldn’t mind seeing someone like Patrick Nyarko – a forward with pace who actually reminds me a bit of Carr – given a chance. The Fire are also said to be pursing a (Guatemalan?) midfielder capable of playing on the right, so that could be another option for Chicago down the road.
- With Bakary Soumare suspended last weekend, Daniel Woolard got his first MLS start against Toronto and did very well I thought. The guy made me nervous at times with all his dribbling out of the back, but he clearly has great feet and good composure on the ball – two traits that are rare amongst MLS defenders. It looks as though the rookie should have a bright future with the Fire.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
A season on the brink: Fire desperate heading into home tie with Toronto
Two months, no wins, one elimination from the Cup. Suffice to say that what once looked like the most promising season in the history of the Chicago Fire hasn’t gone according to plan as of late.
For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention this season, the Fire’s campaign up until now has been more or less a dichotomy in which the side opportunistically parlayed a string of relatively un-noteworthy performances into the best statistical start in the history of the club; then after two and a half actually great performances, commenced it’s current string of five games without a win. At the present time, the team that once looked like favorites to win both of this summer’s major competitions has fallen out of the race for the Supporter’s Shield and exited this year’s U.S. Open Cup.
And our last win came on May 10 when we thrashed the Red Bulls 5-1.
So what’s changed? What’s caused the team that dominated New York and D.C. to slide so badly over the course of two months?
Here are a few factors, in my opinion:
1. Luck.
I hate to say it, but I really think that a mere change in fortune has had a lot to do with the Fire’s current slide, just as I felt that the Fire weren’t as good as their record showed heading into the month of May.
Granted, the Fire were extremely deserving of their victories at D.C. United and New York at the start of that month, but in the games that preceded those wins, the Fire did little more than hit their chances and consistently grind out results from matches in which they didn’t really outplay their opponents. The Fire did do a workmanlike job in that part of the campaign, but as the saying goes, it’s better to be lucky than good, and I felt that they were luckier than they were good.
Since the Fire’s last win in May, they haven’t played consistently well, but they’ve also been, at times, the victims of poor fortune. Missed chances at inopportune times, poor refereeing decisions, and the consistent concession of late goals have plagued the Fire more over the last two months than has an inability to compete. Luck tends to even out over the course of a season, and so far it more or less has. So here’s hoping that we’re still saving some of our best luck for October and November.
2. Tactics.
I like Dennis Hamlett; I’m not blown away by the guy, but I think he’s done a solid job so far. The guys work hard, team chemistry seems pretty good, and let’s be honest, how many MLS coaches are really that impressive? The jury is obviously still out on Chicago’s first-time gaffer, but so far he’s done relatively well. With all that said, however, there are a lot of decisions that I’d be making differently. After all, I think we all feel as though we have one of the three or four best rosters in MLS, so to be lingering in the middle of the table this far into the season isn’t perfect.
A few things I’d do differently:
- Chris Rolfe has to play closer to goal. In general, the 4-5-1 with Chad Barrett or Calen Carr as a lone striker has allowed us to take the game to opponents at times, but even when that’s happened, we haven’t been able to consistently capitalize on our chances.
I don’t think that those guys are bad finishers, and I am actually very impressed with the way both of them have played this season. Barrett is a hard worker who contributes to the team in numerous ways. He makes great runs, he works hard, his composure on the ball has improved astronomically from last season, and he’s pretty good at getting in dangerous spots.
Carr, likewise, is a valuable infusion of energy whenever he’s in the squad and his pace and work rate seems to bother opponents.
Still, it makes absolutely no sense for the arguably best finishing forward in MLS to be playing nothing but midfield. Anyone who’s seen the catalog of goals that Rolfe has put together in a relatively small amount of starts at forward the past two seasons can easily recognize his immense quality. The guy is an out and out gamer and a fantastic forward, but as a midfielder he’s merely one cut above average.
I understand the philosophy of finding a strategy that lets you use your eleven best players, but at some point Hamlett needs to just let his best forward actually play forward and watch what happens.
After all, it’s goal-scorers who win games, and the fact that our only true goals-scorer isn’t playing a forward is absolutely killing us. It’s nothing against Chad Barrett, but in this year’s playoffs when were playing against Taylor Twellman or Luciano Emilio, it has to be Rolfe’s responsibility to take care of our business. It’s time for Hamlett to facilitate the best players on the team.
- A different midfield. Once again, I feel like Hamlett is trying too hard to run out his best eleven guys, and not hard enough to employ a strategy that will actually works. Of late we’ve been almost exclusively using a 4-5-1 with Justin Mapp on the left, Cuauhtemoc Blanco in attack, either Logan Pause or Diego Gutierrez in behind, and both Rolfe and John Thorrington more or less responsible for the right side.
The problem is that Rolfe is a striker and Thorrington is a center mid, and neither of them ever end up staying out wide. As a result we never have any width on that side of our midfield, a problem compounded by the fact that our right back, Brandon Prideaux, doesn’t venture forward often – or with much affect.
If I were in charge, I would probably play Calen Carr on the right side of midfield – a position that I feel suits him better than striker anyway. The guys has loads of pace, but neither touch or finishing are really his forte, so why he’s always been primarily a striker is beyond me.
He actually has done really well, though, in his few appearances on the right flank, normally giving opposing defenses fits with his pace and energy. Furthermore, I feel like his better suited for playing facing goal, like normally is when employed on the right, than for playing with his back to it like he normally has to when used as a striker.
Perhaps the Fire’s most impressive half this season, for me, was the first half of our 2-1 loss to Houston Dyamo – a game that we dominated for long stretches but lost due to a crazy deflection and a last minute goal. In that contest, Carr started the match on the right wing, and with Mapp and Gonzalo Segares dominating from our left side as always, we used the entire width of the field to great affect for one of the only times all season.
I think that if we were to try a 4-4-2 with Rolfe and either Barrett, Andy Herron, or Tomas Frankowski up top, Carr on the right, Mapp on the left, and Blanco partnered with someone more defensive for cover, we’d find ourselves winning a lot more games. Depending on the opponent, I’d probably use Logan Pause behind Blanco against teams – such as San Jose - who try to impose a cramped style on the game, and against more attacking teams like D.C. United, employ a more physical defender like Diego Gutierrez, Lider Marmol, or Wilman Conde. Pause, in my opinion, is an excellent facilitator of our more creative players and a composed player on the ball, but in a midfield that includes no other above average defenders (and Blanco), I do think it’s necessary at times to use someone more adept at winning the ball back from our opponents.
Anyway, I have so much more to say, but it’s less than a half hour until kickoff of tonight’s match against Toronto which I have to go to the bar to watch, so I guess I’m gonna half to wrap this blog session up. The good news is that I do like our chances of finally turning things around in tonight’s match, and I think that once we get this one win to put ourselves back on track, things are going to be fine. Plus, there’s still the possibility we’ll be signing Brian McBride, an acquisition that I feel would probably make us favorites to win the MLS Cup – depending on what we have to give up to get him.
Anyway, Fire Til I Die, and in the shorter term, I’m also Fire until the next blog entry. I’m thinking Rolfe, Mapp, and Blanco for a 3-0 win tonight.
*Note: The internet sucks in Mexico and I couldn't get this piece actually posted before Saturday's game. Still a good read though, hopefully, for anyone interested.
Anyway fantastic win Saturday, and I hopefully will have another post up shortly.
For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention this season, the Fire’s campaign up until now has been more or less a dichotomy in which the side opportunistically parlayed a string of relatively un-noteworthy performances into the best statistical start in the history of the club; then after two and a half actually great performances, commenced it’s current string of five games without a win. At the present time, the team that once looked like favorites to win both of this summer’s major competitions has fallen out of the race for the Supporter’s Shield and exited this year’s U.S. Open Cup.
And our last win came on May 10 when we thrashed the Red Bulls 5-1.
So what’s changed? What’s caused the team that dominated New York and D.C. to slide so badly over the course of two months?
Here are a few factors, in my opinion:
1. Luck.
I hate to say it, but I really think that a mere change in fortune has had a lot to do with the Fire’s current slide, just as I felt that the Fire weren’t as good as their record showed heading into the month of May.
Granted, the Fire were extremely deserving of their victories at D.C. United and New York at the start of that month, but in the games that preceded those wins, the Fire did little more than hit their chances and consistently grind out results from matches in which they didn’t really outplay their opponents. The Fire did do a workmanlike job in that part of the campaign, but as the saying goes, it’s better to be lucky than good, and I felt that they were luckier than they were good.
Since the Fire’s last win in May, they haven’t played consistently well, but they’ve also been, at times, the victims of poor fortune. Missed chances at inopportune times, poor refereeing decisions, and the consistent concession of late goals have plagued the Fire more over the last two months than has an inability to compete. Luck tends to even out over the course of a season, and so far it more or less has. So here’s hoping that we’re still saving some of our best luck for October and November.
2. Tactics.
I like Dennis Hamlett; I’m not blown away by the guy, but I think he’s done a solid job so far. The guys work hard, team chemistry seems pretty good, and let’s be honest, how many MLS coaches are really that impressive? The jury is obviously still out on Chicago’s first-time gaffer, but so far he’s done relatively well. With all that said, however, there are a lot of decisions that I’d be making differently. After all, I think we all feel as though we have one of the three or four best rosters in MLS, so to be lingering in the middle of the table this far into the season isn’t perfect.
A few things I’d do differently:
- Chris Rolfe has to play closer to goal. In general, the 4-5-1 with Chad Barrett or Calen Carr as a lone striker has allowed us to take the game to opponents at times, but even when that’s happened, we haven’t been able to consistently capitalize on our chances.
I don’t think that those guys are bad finishers, and I am actually very impressed with the way both of them have played this season. Barrett is a hard worker who contributes to the team in numerous ways. He makes great runs, he works hard, his composure on the ball has improved astronomically from last season, and he’s pretty good at getting in dangerous spots.
Carr, likewise, is a valuable infusion of energy whenever he’s in the squad and his pace and work rate seems to bother opponents.
Still, it makes absolutely no sense for the arguably best finishing forward in MLS to be playing nothing but midfield. Anyone who’s seen the catalog of goals that Rolfe has put together in a relatively small amount of starts at forward the past two seasons can easily recognize his immense quality. The guy is an out and out gamer and a fantastic forward, but as a midfielder he’s merely one cut above average.
I understand the philosophy of finding a strategy that lets you use your eleven best players, but at some point Hamlett needs to just let his best forward actually play forward and watch what happens.
After all, it’s goal-scorers who win games, and the fact that our only true goals-scorer isn’t playing a forward is absolutely killing us. It’s nothing against Chad Barrett, but in this year’s playoffs when were playing against Taylor Twellman or Luciano Emilio, it has to be Rolfe’s responsibility to take care of our business. It’s time for Hamlett to facilitate the best players on the team.
- A different midfield. Once again, I feel like Hamlett is trying too hard to run out his best eleven guys, and not hard enough to employ a strategy that will actually works. Of late we’ve been almost exclusively using a 4-5-1 with Justin Mapp on the left, Cuauhtemoc Blanco in attack, either Logan Pause or Diego Gutierrez in behind, and both Rolfe and John Thorrington more or less responsible for the right side.
The problem is that Rolfe is a striker and Thorrington is a center mid, and neither of them ever end up staying out wide. As a result we never have any width on that side of our midfield, a problem compounded by the fact that our right back, Brandon Prideaux, doesn’t venture forward often – or with much affect.
If I were in charge, I would probably play Calen Carr on the right side of midfield – a position that I feel suits him better than striker anyway. The guys has loads of pace, but neither touch or finishing are really his forte, so why he’s always been primarily a striker is beyond me.
He actually has done really well, though, in his few appearances on the right flank, normally giving opposing defenses fits with his pace and energy. Furthermore, I feel like his better suited for playing facing goal, like normally is when employed on the right, than for playing with his back to it like he normally has to when used as a striker.
Perhaps the Fire’s most impressive half this season, for me, was the first half of our 2-1 loss to Houston Dyamo – a game that we dominated for long stretches but lost due to a crazy deflection and a last minute goal. In that contest, Carr started the match on the right wing, and with Mapp and Gonzalo Segares dominating from our left side as always, we used the entire width of the field to great affect for one of the only times all season.
I think that if we were to try a 4-4-2 with Rolfe and either Barrett, Andy Herron, or Tomas Frankowski up top, Carr on the right, Mapp on the left, and Blanco partnered with someone more defensive for cover, we’d find ourselves winning a lot more games. Depending on the opponent, I’d probably use Logan Pause behind Blanco against teams – such as San Jose - who try to impose a cramped style on the game, and against more attacking teams like D.C. United, employ a more physical defender like Diego Gutierrez, Lider Marmol, or Wilman Conde. Pause, in my opinion, is an excellent facilitator of our more creative players and a composed player on the ball, but in a midfield that includes no other above average defenders (and Blanco), I do think it’s necessary at times to use someone more adept at winning the ball back from our opponents.
Anyway, I have so much more to say, but it’s less than a half hour until kickoff of tonight’s match against Toronto which I have to go to the bar to watch, so I guess I’m gonna half to wrap this blog session up. The good news is that I do like our chances of finally turning things around in tonight’s match, and I think that once we get this one win to put ourselves back on track, things are going to be fine. Plus, there’s still the possibility we’ll be signing Brian McBride, an acquisition that I feel would probably make us favorites to win the MLS Cup – depending on what we have to give up to get him.
Anyway, Fire Til I Die, and in the shorter term, I’m also Fire until the next blog entry. I’m thinking Rolfe, Mapp, and Blanco for a 3-0 win tonight.
*Note: The internet sucks in Mexico and I couldn't get this piece actually posted before Saturday's game. Still a good read though, hopefully, for anyone interested.
Anyway fantastic win Saturday, and I hopefully will have another post up shortly.
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