There was a good deal of grumbling amongst supporters after the Chicago Fire lost handily to the Houston Dynamo last week. But after an appropriate cooling off period sense returned—beating Houston at home would have been a feat and the Fire is not the team to do that…yet. Predominately, the reaction was one of frustration, especially given that many thought the decisive victory against New York had the team turn a corner.
A bye week can be frustrating when your team is on a winning streak or starting to heat up. When your team is floundering, a bye week is relief; it’s a way to re-group and re-focus. A cynic would say that the Chicago Fire even messed up their bye week. Winger Patrick Nyarko picked up a hamstring injury in a friendly lost 1-0 against the NASL’s Minnesota United. It would seem unwise to play Nyarko this weekend against the New York Red Bulls given the beating he has been taking thus far this season. MLS even featured an article about Nyarko already being excessively fouled. Nyarko joins several players who are listed as questionable (i.e. very unlikely to play) for Sunday’s match: Dilly Duka, Alex, Michael Videira, and Steven Kinney. These losses are mitigated by the returns from injury of captain Logan Pause and Arne Friedrich and from international duty keeper Sean Johnson and midfielder Joel Lindpere. Pause may find himself starting at rightback, though Friedrich might only be a bench option as he’s still not match fit. However, these glimmers only deepen the darkness.
As we prepare for MLS’s astro-turf ‘rivalry week’ and eagerly await the victor of storied competitions like Philadelphia v New England or Columbus v San Jose, many Chicago supporters are still licking their wounds having lost at home for the first time in ages to their truly hated foe New England. I shouldn’t be snarky about rivalry week but I can’t help it. The promotion feels like part of a larger MLS plan to create a college football bowl game-like atmosphere, that is a circus of meaningless or inappropriate sponsorships, out of supporter cups. But rather than impotently whine, I’ll just focus on supporting my club.
Trades are fun. I love trades. I was essentially frozen out of fantasy baseball in college because I was too much of a wheeler and dealer—and not in a savvy way, in a sloppy QPR kind of way—annoying everyone via email. Point is, I like to see movement, to see teams actively improving themselves. In a league that doesn’t present the pressure of relegation, it’s too easy for a club to rest on its laurels (real or imagined) or get bogged down in a vicious cycle of second guessing itself. Over the past two seasons, the Chicago Fire have pursued a steady agenda of player acquisition—players who are affordable, talented, and committed to proving themselves. But perhaps most importantly, the players brought into Chicago have fit a niche.
Every MLS team this season has seen a significant change in personal on the pitch, on the bench, or in the front office. Such is the beauty of the off-season. Soccer, more than any other sport, is constant changing; its mutability and fluidity is one of the great attractions of the sport. The Chicago Fire had a solid season in 2012 even though they bowed out of the playoffs without much of a fight, the team grew by leaps and bounds over 2011 and the horrendous 2010 seasons. Heading into 2013, Chicago is poised to maintain if not improve its level of play.
The Chicago Fire look to solidify their place near the top of the Eastern Conference with week by earning victories against two-thirds of the MLS’s Canadian teams. Part one of Chicago’s Canadian gauntlet is over. Wednesday night saw the Fire easily dismiss should-be relegated Toronto FC 2-1. The win isn’t a surprise. Unfortunately, playing Toronto this season is lose/lose—if you lose to Toronto, then you’ve just lost to the worst team in the league; if you win against Toronto, then so what? They’re the worst team in the league. Given Chicago’s year long dismissal by MLS pundits via their ‘power rankings,’ it wouldn’t be surprising that by winning, moving up to second place in the Eastern Conference, and being the fourth best team in all of MLS that the Fire find themselves a solid eighth or ninth in the upcoming rankings. Saturday’s match against Montreal at Toyota Park will be significant because it will provide an opportunity to wake up the analysts.
There’s something inherently infuriating about MLS’s Power Rankings. The entirely arbitrary ‘rankings,’ which seem to be designed to appeal to the inchoate and quixotic logic used by college football fanatics, come out weekly and only serve to provide a premise to berate the league. This last week’s rankings put San Jose, Kansas City, Houston, New York, and Salt Lake City in that order as the top five teams in the league. The next five rankings of would-be playoff teams have Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago, Los Angeles, and DC in that order. What’s funny about this is that it places Chicago eighth, only ahead of the Galaxy and DC United yet the Fire are the sixth best team in all of MLS. The idea that a team given up more goals, played more games, and has less points than Chicago should be placed ahead of them is, at best, debatable (Vancouver) as is the notion that a team that has won fewer games, lost more games, and has a goal differential more than twice that of Chicago’s (Seattle).
These past few weeks for the Chicago Fire have been unpleasant. Not necessarily a roller-coaster, more like a constant sea-sickness. Performance-wise, July has been nothing but a headache. A draw in Houston was a positive but then a decisive loss to Los Angeles in Chicago erased any success, they team then bounced back with a win over Vancouver but a midweek loss in disgusting heat at New York just gave the team in the impression of wilting. Coming back home the Fire prepped for a friendly against the EPL’s Aston Villa. The match between England’s second city and the United States’ second city wasn’t a wild affair but was adequate entertainment nonetheless. This week while the rest of MLS was getting worked up over the non-consequential All-Star game, Chicago took the time to set its house in order. Two under-performing players were shipped out, a designated player was signed, and there are rumors of other moves to happen before the close of the transfer window.
Chicago is one of the most in-form team in MLS right now having won their last three matches. Each win has been a unique performance showing the mental toughness of the squad. Friday’s 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City demonstrated that Chicago could put on a bunkering, defensive display on the road. Given the fact that most MLS fans want to the see shambling defensive displays that lead to obscenely high scores like what went on in the California Classico between LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes, it’s no surprise that few took serious note of Chicago’s victory. To beat Sporting at home is a feat and to shut them out even more of one, which speaks to Chicago’s form and Kansas City’s quality of play at home.
A Friday Night Lights football match-up is an event, at least when it’s real football. There is no rivalry between Kansas City and Chicago, but every time these two meet you are guaranteed an excellent match. Form-wise, the advantage is in Chicago’s favor. Sporting Kansas City have drawn and lost their last two league games, although they were able to regain their footing somewhat with a win in the Quarterfinals of the US Open Cup. Granted, that win in the US Open Cup was against USL (Division III) side Dayton Dutch Lions, a team that has only one win in their league and has scored a total of 9 goals this season. Still, a win is a win and gives confidence and by this logic Chicago have to be slight favorites. For the first time this season, Chicago is riding back-to-back wins. Not ordinary wins either, but strength of character wins.
