Coming into Thursday night’s matchup of Chicago Fire vs. Sporting KC, both teams felt as if they needed a game to break their way in order to thwart the seemingly never-ending cycle both teams are currently stuck in. While the outcome could definitely be called more of a win for Chicago than Kansas City, what is certain is that both walked away Thursday night with a point each, while simultaneously continuing their frustrating streak of winless games in MLS play.
Play in the first half fell Sporting KC’s way for most of the frame. A sell-out crowd of just over 19,000 cheered on their home team in its first match in a new home, but even home-field advantage, an energetic crowd, and dominant possession could yield anything for Sporting. That was a trend that would be true of both teams as the 90+ minute game unfolded.
There have been issues that have plagued Chicago throughout its first 11 games. Errant defending, poor midfield possession and attack, and a lack of finishing are all things Frank Klopas has begun chipping away at in his brief tenure as interim head coach of the Fire. While the Fire defensive line has strengthened recently, shutting out opponents the last two games, and midfield possession seems to be improving, thanks in large part to center midfield stalwart Daniel Paladini, Chicago is still struggling to finish scoring chances.
The biggest issue that kept Chicago from completely spoiling Sporting KC’s homecoming Thursday night though was passing. Chicago had difficulty all night against SKC in the passing department, sometimes delivering intended volleys directly to the home side. Throughout the night, passes were telegraphed, making it easy for Sporting to pick off and retain possession. Kansas City played far from a good game Thursday, but the Fire didn’t do themselves any favors either.
One of the classic examples of this evening came in the 9th minute, when a counter attack led by Dominic Oduro was disrupted by a poor open wing feed to Gaston Puerari. Puerari had to dish the ball to Daniel Paladini, who cued his strike from distance off the side of his foot, only to fall to the feet of Corben Bone. Bone took a few touches before taking a strike at goal that was handled by Jimmy Nielsen. The buildup still resulted in a solid chance by Bone; a buildup that instead should have resulted in a wide open strike by Puerari to the left of Nielsen.
That would end up being one of the few chances Chicago had at in the game. The best one came again off a Paladini strike, this time offering a rebound that fell to Orr Barouch, who put his shot off the crossbar. It seems this season that Chicago has found the crossbar more than the net, and it’s unsure why Barouch wasn’t able to finish, as he had a sprawled out Eric Kronberg unable to defend the rebound shot. Still, the blast off the crossbar, one of the best chances that could’ve sealed the game for the Fire, did not find the back of the net.
Simply put, Chicago is a team that fans love, but the mounting frustration that was temporarily stayed by the departure of Carlos de los Cobos, and subsequent arrival of Frank Klopas as interim, has again begun to rear its head in Fire nation. There are a few key areas where Chicago MUST improve if it holds any hope of turning its season around.
Forwards/Wingers
Many for weeks now have pointed towards the midfield as a problem area for the Fire. The more pressing issue, in my estimation is that Chicago needs to find a formula up top and stick with it. Klopas, in his two games at the helm, has exhibited substitution changes involving the same group of players. The game against SKC saw Cristian Nazarit up top with Gaston Puerari. Last week’s game against Seattle showcased Diego Chaves and Cristian Nazarit, with Puerari coming on later in the game, but in midfield instead. We haven’t seen the pairing of Puerari and Chaves up top since the beginning of the season, when this team looked far more dangerous offensively.
Cristian Nazarit, who seemed to be the answer to all the Fire’s problems in the finishing department, has yet to score a goal in three league games, and four games across all contests. It is curious that one of the biggest positives in the pre-season to Puerari and Chaves coming to this club was the fact that they had previously played together (on Montevideo in Uruguay). Yet despite that fact, we have not seen them together up top since CDLC shifted to the now defunct 4-1-4-1 formation.
With the amount of speed this team has at its disposal, we have yet to see the real damage the team can do to the opposing defense. Gaston Puerari has fallen into more of a substitute role, save his start against Sporting, and Diego Chaves, who was rested to start Thursday night, has not yet shown sustained fitness to last a full 90 minutes. That’s not necessarily a deal-breaker for the Fire, as Nazarit could fill in as a worthy substitute in the latter minutes of the game and bring some breakneck speed to the front line. But Diego’s other issue as of late seems to be his ball-handling and footwork. Thursday night, Chaves did not gain and maintain possession of one ball that found his feet. Time after time, he either turned the ball over, committed a foul, or delivered an errant pass to his teammates. If there has ever been an instance where the frustration of a now-eleven game winless streak hits home, I believe that is it.
Orr Barouch, the young Israeli who had shown promise through reserve games and pre-season, has as of late shown less to be impressed with. His strike Thursday could have been the game-winner had it not found the crossbar instead, but Barouch has exhibited a style of play that is more akin to Chaves. He does not have the speed of Puerari or Nazarit, and he too, despite having netted a few goals this season, has not exhibited the finishing power he’s capable of.
It would seem that Gabriel Ferrari, the 22 year old, who came over to the Fire from Swiss club AC Wohlen at the beginning of this season, could stand to get a shot at some first team time on the pitch. Ferrari has experience in club play, having put in time in Serie C1 and the Swiss Super League. He was individually scouted by Frank Klopas, and has shown promise in reserve match play this season. And at 6’2”, Ferrari has the height to be a formidable threat on set pieces for the Fire. Still, Gabriel has yet to see a single minute this season, yet in many ways holds just as much promise as Barouch, which one would think would at least garner him a shot to prove himself with the first team.
The winger positions are much less a mystery. Dominic Oduro and Patrick Nyarko have shared time on one wing, with Marco Pappa occupying the other wing position. With Pappa recently away on international duty, the responsibility has fallen to Corben Bone on the opposing wing in place of Pappa. Bone, with the exception of some solid hustle and offensive swagger against Toronto FC, hasn’t quite produced as he could in a wing position. While he hasn’t done anything to illicit major concern, what is needed on the wing is a playmaker, without the propensity of taking one touch too many before losing the ball to a swarm of opposition. Nyarko’s recent bout with concussion symptoms, acquired during a reserve game, has been cause for concern, as Patrick is finishing up his second stretch of injured time this season. Couple that with significant loss of time on the pitch last year due to injury, and one has to wonder if Nyarko is going to get healthy and maintain it, or if injuries are going to continue to plague the speedy Ghanaian. In his absence, however, Dominic Oduro has filled in quite nicely, scoring three goals for the Fire and contributing a handful of times on assists. Oduro has his issues as well, but he and Pappa on the wings have worked well together, so long as Oduro stays on the right side of the offensive pitch.
Finishing
Quite simply, the time has come, and has long-since passed, for Chicago to finish chances. It would seem that at times, a bit too much finesse has been used, when maybe a more forceful shot would better suit a given opportunity. The fact that Chicago has hit so many crossbars this season (and sometimes even hitting both crossbars on a shot, as happened twice against San Jose), it would seem that, especially for the strikers, too much thought is going into shots, when a healthy blast would get the job done just fine. Thursday night’s ringer off the crossbar by Barouch is a perfect example. In trying to elevate his shot, perhaps unnecessarily, Barouch sent his offering off the top of the crossbar and bounding out to the 18 yd. line. Those types of scenarios have become far too frequent for Chicago, almost to the point of being eerie. Bottom line, Chicago has to get on board with finishing chances. It’s not a question of whether or not they want to score goals; it’s about finding the way to do it.
Passing
This has been a sporadic issue for the Fire throughout the season. At times, it has seemed more egregious than others, although again, Thursday’s game against Sporting KC found a team that could not connect a series of passes together in any kind of substantial fashion. Chicago found themselves on numerous occasions either forcing passes through defenders, only to have those passes picked off, or simply falling victim to complacent passing, resulting in more of the same.
The other issue that has been more prevalent in the brief tenure of Frank Klopas has been long-ball delivery. Chicago during the last two games has tried time and again to send long passes over the top to the waiting striker tandem, in hopes of delivering a break. This was successfully done early on in the season, especially between Gaston Puerari and both Patrick Nyarko and Marco Pappa. Somewhere along the line, though, those deliveries began failing the offense, and they never really were a part of Carlos de los Cobo’s attack strategy. With Klopas, we have a coach who likes the over the top pass, and he’s had the team utilizing it often, especially in the latter parts of the game. This has increasingly become a problem, as Diego Chaves, Cristian Nazarit, and Gaston Puerari have all shown difficulty in winning 50/50 balls in the air. Orr Barouch has also had trouble, but not to the same degree. It’s safe to say that, at 6’2”, someone like Gabriel Ferrari wouldn’t have the same trouble either.
While the recent rash of balls over top has seemed troublesome and problematic, I believe it could work given the right scenario and right core up front. In the early going of the season, those long deliveries seemed relegated to the counter-attack. In recent weeks, however, they have been more the doing of trying to push the ball forward, often in the late-going, than they have been to catch the defense asleep or send a winger or forward on a run.
Chicago has addressed a number of issues this season. Knowing Frank Klopas, he will continue to push the team to hopefully fine-tune some of these lingering problems. What remains to be seen, and what is the hope of every Fire fan, is that they have the wherewithal to address these concerns and work through them the same way they worked through the central mid position and defensive marking.
This is a team that has gotten progressively better in many areas. The next few weeks may be the light at the end of the tunnel to give Fire fans hope, or the nail in the coffin that will have them anticipating next year and what offseason changes may be in store for a club who is still rebuilding. Time will tell if it is the former, or the latter.
(image courtesy of chicago-fire.com)
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