Match Day 13: Chicago Fire at FC Dallas
June 13th, 2008 . 7:37 am . By: Jason BenfieldCHICAGO FORMATIONWhen Osorio came on board as the Chicago Fire head coach at the end of last season, he quickly installed a 4-5-1 formation that allowed Blanco to play a free role in the midfield and kept things tight at the back. It wasn’t the prettiest soccer to watch, but it was effective, getting Chicago into the playoffs and past the first round. Once Denis Hamlett took over at the start of the 2008 season, he tinkered with the formation a bit, bringing in some extra forwards and attempting to play a 4-4-2. However, he has now essentially resigned himself to play the same 4-5-1 that Osorio used last season, and that will most likely be the look shown to FCD this weekend. Defensively, Chicago use four at the back with two defensive midfielders clearing things out in the middle. Because of the presence of the defensive mids, the two center backs sit deeper, while the outside backs push forward and are allowed to join the attack. In fact, when they line up on the field, at times it will look like a 2-4-3-1. The Fire do not play an offside trap, and they compensate for their lack of speed by hanging deep centrally and relying on the outside backs and defensive mids to compress the midfield. Individually, the Fire do not have any great defenders. But they play play very well together and the overall team concept being more defensive helps them keep things tight in the back. In the attack, the Fire play with one target forward, two wings, and allow Blanco to roam wherever he wants. At times he will stay up top and give the team a 4-4-2 look; this is often how it seems to start the game as he conserves his energy. However, as each half progresses, Blanco will show up all over the field, making himself available and putting his stamp on the game. Part of the reason Hamlett had experimented with the 4-4-2 with Blanco in midfield is that although they are one of the leading scoring teams in the league, they do not create that many shots and are near the bottom in shots taken. The offense is overly reliant on the genius of Blanco to score; when he is off his game or is shut down, the entire team struggles to press forward. CHICAGO FIRE ROSTERJust a reminder of the rating system: 1 = Developmental player Chad Barrett - 3 - Starting forward plays as a target, but is really not that tall. Doesn’t quite have the speed or athleticism to be a top tier forward, and doesn’t pass that well either. Can finish chances well, and has the numbers to prove, but to me does not belong in the group of forwards a level higher. Cuauhtemoc Blanco - 6 - He can’t run, seems to have no athleticism, but so what? They guy can play. I was a critic prior to his arrival, but he has done everything to prove me wrong. Is very smart about his limitations with age and paces himself to make sure he can play 90 and finish out each half strong. Unbelievable competitor. Sublime touch on the ball, great vision and creativity, and has maybe the best shot from distance in the league. Everything runs through him. CJ Brown - 3 - Can play center back as well as right defense. Hasn’t seen any time this year because of injuries, but would probably push for a starting spot if healthy. Very physical player, but lacks some speed. Strong in the air. Smart defender positionally. Jon Busch - 4 - Starting keeper has had a really impressive season thus far. After a couple of knee injuries had lost some of his athleticism and jumping ability, which is very detrimental to an undersized keeper. This season, however, he has been fantastic. Very quick reactions an has shown outstanding coverage of the width of the goal. Reads plays well and is quick to come out. Vocal leadership is very important on a defense lacking any true stalwarts. Can struggle with crosses, but at this point it is the only limitation to his game. Calen Carr - 2 - Will come in off the bench at forward to stretch the field or outside mid for energy. Has great pace, but a poor first touch and lack of great finishing instincts probably means he is a winger in the long run. Wilman Conde - 3 - Can play left defense, central defense, or defensive midfield. Was fantastic last year - one of the best defenders in the league once he arrived with Osorio. Nice speed, great physical play, and a very nice passer out of the back. I had him rated as a 5 last season. This year, wanted to move to New York with Osorio and has pushed himself into the doghouse. Is either not putting effort into training or is being punished by the team; those are the only reasons he wouldn’t be seeing time on the field. Has been used as a sub, but hasn’t had the same effect on the field as he did last season. Tomasz Frankowski - 3 - Polish forward began the season has a starter in the 4-4-2, but took on an injury and has been relegated to coming off the bench since. Doesn’t have pace, and isn’t big enough to be a target, so he is kind of the same situation as Barrett. Nice finisher, kind of a poacher, can pass a little better than Barrett. Will be interesting to see if he sends Barrett to the bench once fit. Diego Gutierrez - 4 - Long time MLS player has been moved to the backline this season. Has played sweeper, center back, left back, left mid and defensive mid in his playing career. Is a very hard player and hard tackler. Good passer out of the back. Directs the defense and basically covers for other players’ mistakes (namely Soumare). Don’t really notice him much over the course of a game, but that is a good thing for a defender. Is the best defensive player on a backline that has given up the fewest goals in the league. Andy Herron - 2 - Strange how things have changed for the Costa Rican forward. Started off his MLS career with a bang when he first joined the Fire several years ago, but hurt his knee and never really regained his form. Doesn’t quite have the burst of acceleration he once had, so can’t put himself in positions to finish chances. Not a great passer, but had an outstanding long range shot. Thirty can be old to a striker, and it seems to have relegated him to the bench at this point in his career. Stephen King - 2 - Will sub in up top and at right midfield. Good work rate, decent athleticism, decent speed. Has shown himself to be an adequate player off the bench as a late game sub. Justin Mapp - 3 - Left winger took a step forward a couple of years ago and saw time with the national team, but has not progressed further. Nifty on the ball and shows a good work rate, but just doesn’t seem to get very involved in large stretches of a game. Is at his best when a game opens up and he can move the ball in space, as he showed in a US friendly against Denmark a couple of years ago, but struggles to make an impact in a tight game where the ball pings around in close quarters. Part of his lack of impact could be due to a focus on Blanco getting the ball, but is just very inconsistently involved, similar to Convey through most of his years in MLS. Logan Pause - 2 - Hard working defensive midfield doesn’t have a lot of skill, but positions himself well and is a decent defensive player. Struggles with athleticism if isolated. Is an adequate passer out of the back, but not great. Has struggled to link the back to the attack this year, often either forcing the ball to Blanco or up to the target forward. Doesn’t settle the game down by playing the ball wide a lot. Limited physically and would not be starting for most teams in the league. Brian Plotkin - 2 - Looked promising his first year in MLS, but has fizzled since. Can play either wide position, attacking mid or defensive mid. Good on the ball and has good vision. Has failed to make an impact when coming into the match the past few seasons and is buried pretty deep in the depth chart. Brandon Prideaux - 3 - Can play either side of the field, but starts at right back for Chicago. Solid, experienced defender. Can get caught up field defensively and leaves too much space down the wing behind him at times. Not great positionally. Will miss the Dallas game because of his red card in the last match. Dasan Robinson - 3 - Can play in the middle or on the right. Backs up Prideaux at right back and may play there against Dallas on Sunday. Really looked like an up and coming defender the past two seasons, but lost his place when Soumare and Gutierrez were pushed back from defensive midfield roles. Physical, nice size, good athleticism and decent speed give him a lot of upside. Chris Rolfe - 3 - A fantastic goals corer when healthy, Rolfe has been forced to play out of position in the current scheme at right mid instead of forward. When up top, is extremely dangerous, nice finisher, terrific shot from distance. Usually gets off to a great start, then gets hurt. Is quick on the ball, good imagination, everything you want as a second forward up top. However, in the Fire system, he has to play right midfield. Doesn’t have the constant work rate to be effective, and really just doesn’t find the ball enough. Is not as comfortable on the outside, and the rating shown is based on him playing this position. At forward, he is a 4. Now that I think about it, he is opposite in that respect from Alvarez. Gonzalo Segares - 4 - Certainly one of the better left backs in the league. Very good going forward, can serve in a quality cross as well as finish. Gives players a little too much space when defending away from the ball, and that cushion while he is ball watching costs his team on a switch. Will miss the Dallas game on international duty. Bakary Soumare - 3 - Starting central defender who played defensive mid last season. Very tall with a lot of physical skill. Chicago made the same decision with him as Dallas made with Pitch - too slow with the ball at his feet, so move him back out of the midfield. More physical tools than Pitch, though. Goes down on the tackle way, way too often for a big guy, and is slow when doing so, so he misses tackles. Can also be beaten on the dribble my a tricky ball handler, although his long strides allow him to catch up. Tons of upside, but isn’t a clean defender quite yet. John Thorrington - 3 - Has played right midfield most of his career, but has slid inside to play defensive mid recently. That is where he should play Sunday; he was absolutely fantastic last weekend there. Showed great work rate, lots of hustle. Was all over the place, and force Gallardo to push out of the center of the field. Nice tackler, nothing clumsy. Very smooth on the ball, and was a very, very good distributor from the back, pushing the ball quickly with minimal touches. Showed a lot of class last weekend, and will be interesting to watch to see if he can keep those performances going. Banner, Kasiguran, Kettering, Lowry, Marmol, Noble, Nyarko, Washington, and Woolard I haven’t seen and have no report to give. Marmol is supposed to be a very strong defensive midfielder, but I have not seen him play. EXPECTED CHICAGO LINEUP
EXPECTED DALLAS LINEUPSerioux is out with Canada. Even though I would love to see us play the lineup that closed out the New England game, I think we will see Dallas stick with the same strategy until the new coach gets hired:
KEY TO THE GAMEAll of Chicago’s offense goes through Blanco. Stop him and don’t give Mapp or Rolfe space on the wings, and Dallas can get a result. Chicago is much better on the road than at home, because the opposing team pushes the attack when at home. This allows the wings and Blanco space to work in and counter for goals, while the defense is good enough to absorb pressure. If the defensive mids stay back and deny Blanco, Dallas would go a long way towards a positive result. PredictionChicago have a better record in a tougher conference, and play very well on the road. That said, they are missing a couple of players defensively, which has been the best part of their team. I think this game will play out pretty even. FCD 1 - Chicago 1 11 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I’m expecting a very good game out of this one. FCD players need a big win at home badly. The Fire are coming off a horrible last-second loss. Certain Chicago players are trying to prove their worth so they don’t get sent to TFC (conclusion may be forgone at this point, though). Blanco had a horrible game here last year, and I wouldn’t mind if it happens again Sunday. My sincere hope is that Hoops fans can get louder than Blanco fans, we get ahead early, and hopefully get some Mexican converts in the process.
FCD is horrible when playing at home
I don’t know if this will actually be a good game. Chicago tends to counter a lot on the road; it could end up being a boring game where both teams clog the midfield and wait for the other to attack…
I fully expect another 5-1 LA style embarrassment. In fact, I think I will role with my CA jersey so as not to be punked in my home stadium while wearing my teams shirt by a visiting teams supporters again.
Since the new coach is supposed to be back in town, I would think that the team would try their hardest and play like they are all on trial (which, I would suppose, with a new coach, they are kind of). So I expect either a surprise good showing by FCD and maybe a even a win — or the complete opposite because they try so hard that nothing clicks (or something like that) and thus another LA-type game . . . since hasn’t Chicago already defeated someone 5-1 (DCU, I think?).
Thus, I’m hoping for the beat but won’t be surprised by (much) less.
GO, FCD!!!!!!!!!
I mean — “hoping for the best”
Chicago dusted Red Bull 5 - 1 in New York, the Sunday after our catastrophic moment. Does anyone remember last years Fathers Day Classic? TFC 4 FCD 0. I fear the stage is set for another bloody Sunday.
I think this match will be sluggish on both sides, due to the kickoff being at 2PM in the sweltering heat.
Chicago has alot of defenders hurting for this game. maybe they wont have much back there. Hey….at least I’m trying to be optimistic about something….
Optimism is the only way to survive right now, I think . . . (with the acceptance that reality might be different). Hey, FCD has been training in this heat. So maybe they’ll be able to tolerate it a bit longer than Chicago. Current forecast . . . sunny and 97F. Should be “lovely” weather at 2pm.
Until FCD finds a couple of m/f players who actually know how to pass the ball IN A TIMELY fashion to someone wearing the same colored shirt this will continue to be a very long season.