September 20th, 2007 . 9:03 am . By: Jason Benfield

In their last match, Chicago deviated from their standard 3-5-2 and fielded a 4-4-2 formation that is similar to the one Dallas will show on Thursday night.  Contrary to the lineup broadcast by Fox Soccer Channel, they played with four in the back, two holding midfielders, and allowed Blanco and Rolfe to roam around from the middle out behind the forward pairing.  Dallas is expected to use a similar alignment on Thursday, for perhaps the first time this season, following the disastrous showing of the 4-3-1-2 this past weekend.  I believe that Chicago will stay with their new formation, because Osorio said in the press that he was happy with the work that Blanco and Rolfe did together.

As much as New England presented an opponent with a very different style, Thursday’s game will showcase two teams that play very similarly.  Beyond using the same formation, both teams rely on playing with a lot of energy.  Neither team passes the ball well, utilizes width, or keeps organization and spacing in the midfield.  Both teams have a veteran creator (Blanco, Denilson) playing besides a youngster in the midfield (Rolfe, Alvarez), and one good veteran striker (Ruiz, Wanchope) paired with an energy guy (Barrett, Thompson).  Because the teams don’t pass well, goals tend to come through counter attacks, individual brilliance, or set pieces, rather than combination play or sustained possession.

THE GOALIES

Pickens starts in goal for the Fire and is a solid MLS keeper.  He is not great, but occasionally makes a fantastic save, as he did last week against Van Den Bergh of New York.  He doesn’t let in a lot of horrible goals, but doesn’t fill up a highlight reel either.  Props to Section 8 for the “Slim Pickens” chant when he does come up with a big save.

Sala, it has to be said, is still struggling to find his form.  The last two goals for New England last weekend weren’t horrible, but they were probably preventable.  He should have come up with the original cross on the third, and the forth was yet another goal this season from outside the box.  Additionally, some responsibility has to fall on the keeper to organize the defense.  When defenders are sagging into the box while not marking anyone, leaving midfielders acres of space, the keeper is often responsible for telling them who to mark and getting them back out of the box.

Advantage: Pickens.  He came up with the big save last weekend to preserve a draw, and Sala didn’t.

THE DEFENSE

Last weekend, for one of the first times this season, Chicago fielded a back four with Conde on the left, Robinson on the right, and Segares and Brown in the middle.  Conde’s suspension is huge.  He has been their best defensive player since his arrival two games ago, and will be missed.  Segares will slide out wide left to replace Conde.  He had a very good game last week, scoring the tying goal after earning his first cap for Costa Rica.  Brown will stay in the middle, where he can hide his lack of speed and better use his physical style.  He will probably be paired with Gutierrez, who will slide back from the midfield.  The MLS veteran gives them cover speed in the back and also is excellent with his distribution.  Robinson will play on the right again.  He is prone to making some mistakes, but has the athleticism and physical traits to develop into an extremely good defender in the long term.  Both Segares and Robinson will be asked to get forward on the wings and provide width.

Dallas are really having problems organizing the backline.  Go back and watch the replay of the second goal last weekend.  Goodson gives McCarty all kinds of grief for giving the ball away, but the fact is that there are three defenders standing on the 6, not marking anyone, while NE players are alone at the top of the 18.  The defense cannot sag into the deep box, not mark players, and expect midfielders to come back and do the job.  They have to press up and take a man.  Dallas do not have problems with the number of players getting back defensively, they have problem with multiple players going to the ball, not challenging players on the ball, and not marking anyone off the ball.  Hopefully, things will change this weekend with the return of their first choice lineup, Gbandi, Goodson, Serioux, and Moor.

Advantage: Push.  The loss of Conde hurts Chicago.  Dallas has better players, but are not playing well at all as a unit recently.

THE MIDFIELD

Chicago will get its starting defensive midfield combination back as both Soumare and Armas missed the last game.  Soumare is a tall, lanky player with a lot of upside, but doesn’t pass that well yet.  Armas is a hard worker who knows when to commit the professional foul and is extremely good passing in tight spaces.  In front of them will be Blanco and Rolfe.  When the ball is on the right, Rolfe will slide out to the wing and Blanco in the middle; the opposite is true when the ball goes to the left.  This is a modification of the “box” midfield.  Blanco has been fantastic since joining the Fire and is all over the field.  He work rate has been a pleasant surprise.  He hits a great shot, and has created numerous opportunities for other players.  One gets the feeling that if he and Wanchope ever start getting on the same page, Chicago could explode offensively.  Rolfe had a great start to the season, but has struggled recovering from a foot injury.  After a couple of games not connecting well at forward with Wanchope, Osario is trying him out in the midfield to get him a few more touches.  He seemed lost at times in the last match, hiding out on the right side of the field and disappearing, but was much more active and involved int he second.  He is a nice finisher, but we will see how his creativity is coming out of the midfield.

Dallas will once again tweak the look of the midfield.  They will revert back to playing with two holding midfielders.  Ricchetti is a lock in one of the positions.  The second position we are unsure about.  Dax was expected to get the start, but Toja appears to be making a late recovery and could be available.  With Thursday’s contest on national television, against a possible playoff opponent, and a Brimstone Cup affair, expect Toja out there if possible.  Toja is an important cog in the machine.  Ricchetti is a nice organizer in the midfield, and provides a calming influence.  But he is not an overly physical player and doesn’t join the attack at all.  Toja provides the bite with his hard tackling as well as the link going forward.  In front of them are Denilson and Alvarez, playing the same roles as Blanco and Rolfe, respectively.    Denilson spent a lot of time drifting wide left against New England, even though he was supposed to play more centrally, so expect Alvarez to spend a good amount of time playing in the middle.

Advantage: FCD if Toja plays.  Armas and Ricchetti are in the same mold.  Alvarez is better than Rolfe right now, but Blanco has had a bigger impact than Denilson.  If Toja plays, he is better than Soumare; if not, the midfield is a push.

THE ATTACK

Barrett has forced his inclusion into the starting lineup for the Fire through a vast improvement in training.  But he has yet to show well on the pitch.  He drew a penalty this past weekend, but when he gets the ball is too slow to decide whether to shoot or pass and has not caught up to the improved speed of the league this year.  Wanchope has also struggled to find his rhythm.  He was always a bit of an individual performer in the EPL, and will never be great at setting other players up.  He is a clinical finisher.  If he and Blanco ever get rolling, the league could be in trouble, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Ruiz had perhaps his best game of the season Saturday, and the second goal was a cracker.  He seemed to combine well with Thompson last season, and if the two can get on a roll it could push Dallas up in the standings.  He is much better player in a two forward alignment than he is when isolated in the middle in the 4-3-3.  With the energy of Abe disrupting the defense, if Denilson gets used to his aerial ability it could be quite a combination.  But as with Blanco and Wanchope, it hasn’t happened yet.

Advantage: Dallas.  Ruiz over Wanchope right now, and Abe is better than Barrett.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

FC Dallas

Chicago Fire

WHEN DALLAS ATTACKS

Ruiz and Thompson will give Gutierrez and Brown some issues at forward.  With Armas and Soumare both hanging back, there will not be much room for Alvarez or Denilson to operate in the middle of the field.  In order to provide service to the forwards, both attacking midfielders are going to have to get wide, where they will have space with Rolfe and Blanco pushing forward.  Denilson will give Robinson some problems if he isolates him on the left.  Chicago is set up to defend attacks straight down the middle extremely well.

WHEN CHICAGO ATTACKS

Ditto for Chicago.  Wanchope and Barrett provide and interesting combination in the middle, and both are solid targets.  Chicago have struggled with effective wide play as much as Dallas have this season, but they will need to get outside and avoid Toja and Ricchetti.  Moor should be able to handle Blanco if isolated, and the same with Gbandi on Rolfe, so Dallas should not have as many problems defensively on the wing as Chicago.  But the danger will come from crosses into the forward pairing if Chicago can get the ball wide.

FINAL ANALYSIS

This has the potential to be a pretty ugly game if both teams struggle to get the ball wide.  As long as Toja plays, I think Dallas have enough of an advantage in the midfield and at forward to pull out a goal and get the win.  Chicago have a killer stretch of games to end the season, as they play DC twice, Chivas, and New England after Dallas.  They need points in this game, probably three, if they are going to make the playoffs with that set of games coming up.  An ugly first half opens up in the second, and Dallas are able to counter Chicago and score the winning goal.

FCD 1, Chicago 0.

Categories: Match Preview.

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