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.
Unlike his predecessor, Frank Klopas has a clear strength in man management and talent acquisition. True, the recent South American signings haven’t panned out but the successes have outweighed them. And, if anything, the handful of failures were due more to the organization over-reaching or expecting more than could be delivered by the player. And we should never apologize for ambition. These stumbles have been learned from and in so doing the organization has become more refined. Patience is the watchword of talent, though it is often a virtue we supporters lack.
All of this talk is just a way to delay the inevitable discussion of the big off-season signings. Chicago was able to pick up forward Maicon Santos in the Re-Entry Draft from D.C. United, midfield stalwart Joel Lindpere from the New York Red Bulls, midfielder Jeff Larentowicz from Colorado, winger Dilly Duka from Columbus, and likely forward Quincy Amarikwa from Toronto FC who has been trialing this preseason. The current concern is that even though Chicago has shipped out some center midfielders, they have still added more than they need. Not everyone is going to be able to play, yet it seems everyone has been told they will play or, at least, expects to play.
Essentially, Chicago now have five starting midfielders—a defensive mid in Logan Pause, a standard center mid in Larentowicz, an attacking center mid with Lindpere, a left winger in Dilly Duka, and a right winger in Patrick Nyarko. All quality, all should be starting. But given that neither DP Sherjill MacDonald nor Fire supporter golden boy Chris Rolfe would be comfortable with a platoon at forward or sitting on the bench, it is highly unlikely that Klopas will develop a 4-5-1 tactic. Although, I will come out now and say I think such a formation would be the strongest for Chicago, a tactic that would give them a powerful starting XI and a reliable bench. Most likely, Chicago will play a traditional 4-4-2. Thus, who will start and where?
The partnership between captain Pause and Pardo was the backbone of the Fire in 2012. Many fans are conflicted about former New England Rev Larentowicz now with the Fire from the Colorado Rapids. Larentowicz has shown himself to be an excellent central midfielder and he will certainly anchor the midfield this season. If his partnership with Lindpere develops well, then Chicago will have not just maintained the quality of their midfield but will have definitely improved it. Lindpere was nearly always played out of position last year by Hans Backe (a manager who refuses to acknowledge that there are positions in soccer). Although the Estonian can play out wide, he is not comfortable there so his return to the middle of the pitch proper looks to have re-energized him. With Pardo gone, Lindpere becomes the deadball specialist. If the goals scored from corner kicks in this year’s Carolina Challenge Cup are any indication, supporters will be happy with Lindpere’s performance.
Last season, Chicago had no left side centrally or in attack; it was nonexistent. This fact has never been much of a concern in the Klopas era because the team system was one that played centrally, barreling up the middle or playing from the back looking down the center. Chicago’s attack has been woefully lopsided. Patrick Nyarko is at his best when he is playing out wide as an attacking right winger; Nyarko’s service creates goals. This unbalance made the Fire a tactically easy team to read and, therefore, counter. This is not to say that the Fire is a weak team or even one-dimensional. As with nearly every contending team, it’s a matter of finding or developing the right piece. It seems that the trade that brought Dilly Duka to Chicago for forward Dominic Oduro will be the ‘right’ piece. Duka has performed very well this preseason and is looking to re-assert himself after a sour season with Columbus. Further, the emergence of this year’s SuperDraftee Yazrid Atouba as a viable left side option has turned heads and he should not only win a spot but could be a dark horse rookie of the year candidate if he get minutes.
So that gives the Fire a midfield of Duka, Larentowicz, Lindpere, and Nyarko. Where does captain Logan Pause fit into all this? The Klopas coaching staff has the stubborn belief that Logan Pause can and should be the starting rightback. This decision is perhaps the most wrong-headed move of the Klopas era. Pause is a defensive midfielder first and foremost. His second position would be as a competent if not uninspiring right midfielder. And Pause can and has played rightback when injury created the necessity—the necessity—for it. The insistence that he can start regularly at rightback is part of a larger MLS delusion that the position of fullback is one for second string midfielders. There is utterly no respect for the fullback position in MLS. Routinely players are pushed into the position not knowing how best to play it and then perform poorly. What makes this even more maddening is that it seems supporters, pundits, coaches, and front offices don’t appreciate the few players in the league that have mastered the position.
The Chicago Fire has no natural rightback. When they parted ways with Dan Gargan and inserted Jalil Anibaba into the role last season, there were legit grumblings as the centerback Anibaba began to learn how to play the position at the MLS level. But the greatest strengths of Anibaba are that he learns quickly, that he works diligently to overcome his mistakes, that he process information quickly, that he is tenacious, and he is physical. Anibaba’s learning curve is short; he gets it nearly right away. True, he makes mistakes but he is able to process these errors better than most players. I am in no way saying that Pause lacks these qualities, I am saying that Anibaba is young enough to make the transition and become a real rightback whereas Pause will only ever be a man being played out of position. Perhaps Pause will work out, perhaps Anibaba will rise like I know he can and own the position, or perhaps the Fire will sign a new player (EPL veteran Pascal Chimbonda was in camp this preseason). Regardless, going into the 2013 season rightback is now the weakest position for the Chicago Fire and it will be exploited.
But make no mistake, the Chicago Fire are a better squad going into 2013 than they were in 2012. Their midfield is stronger and deeper. Although the defensive line lacks depth, it is very versatile. The striker core is lead by Rolfe and MacDonald but is well buttressed with Santos, new look forward the surprising and creative Alex, and Amarikwa. There may not be one15-20 goal scorer on the team but there will be even production across the pitch. Chicago’s midfield will always be a goal scoring threat, and this gives the striker core flexibility and ease which will certainly create its own store of goals. The Fire will threaten the opposition at nearly every position. I don’t expect Chicago to win the East but I do expect them to not just make the playoffs but finish in the top three.
Projected Opening Day Line-Up
Starting XI
Sean Johnson; Logan Pause, Austin Berry, Arne Friedrich, Gonzalo Segares; Patrick Nyarko, Jeff Larentowicz, Joel Lindpere, Dilly Duka; Chris Rolfe, Sherjill MacDonald
Bench
Paolo Tornaghi, Maicon Santos, Alex, Daniel Paladini, Corben Bone, Jalil Anibaba, Hunter Jumper
(image courtesy of Charleston Battery)
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