Rather than wade through the misery of the Fire’s dismal showing at Chivas USA last night, I’ll leave the game recap to someone else and focus on some (kind of) constructive criticisms. The Fire’s recent skid has been called Denis Hamlett’s first test as head coach. How the Hammer addresses the problems made clear last night will be the real indicator of his perception and innovation and, ultimately, give verdict on his first term at the helm of the Chicago Fire.

1. Chad Barrett is not, and won’t become, the caliber forward the Fire need. His early season glut of goals had many believing he had finally turned that mysterious corner and “come good,” as they say. All those goals came when Hamlett was running a 2-forward system, and Barrett has suffered as the lone striker in recent games, scoring just one goal in the month of June thus far. Where Barrett fails is in one v. one situations and carrying the ball up for himself. He doesn’t create his own goal scoring opportunities, or at least doesn’t finish them well. If this is what the Fire are looking for in a forward, then Barrett is not their man. He can still flourish in a two man attack, provided his confidence hasn’t left him, but he isn’t the versatile, free-scoring destroyer the Fire need to feed off such a potent midfield and make them truly unstoppable.

2. Justin Mapp is trade bait. Every player has streaks and slumps. Mapp’s streaks, however, last for 20 minutes and his slumps last for 2 full games. If he was going to become the All-Star, national team regular left-side wonderwinger he has been billed as, he would have done it by now, his 6th season in MLS. He seems to lack the psychological build required for players of that level. The excellent players who dominate defenders and inspire goals, force themselves upon the game. Mapp, however, lets the game dictate his performance. When things are going well, so is he. When they are not, he absolutely disappears from the face of the Earth. His true value is as trade bait. MLS clubs will still trade for Mapp (Ahem. Toronto.). If he succeeds elsewhere, that’s fine. The hard fact is that he is not doing so here and the Fire have a ready and rather intriguing replacement in Steven King. The Mapp Experiment has failed. Why not try a new one?

3. A single striker system ain’t gonna cut it. Not with Barrett and not with wingers who disappear at the first sign of a bad result. A tactical change can inspire a change in performances as well, and it throws opponents off the scent. Changing formations makes large parts of opposing teams’ preparations null and void, and allows players to interact in new ways. A simple 4-4-2 could do wonders. A midfield featuring Rolfe and Blanco will be as potent has it had been, and with an extra target up front. The biggest benefit to having a pair of forwards, and one often overlooked, is that it allows the forwards to hold the ball more, and give time for the midfield and attacking fullbacks time to advance. The Fire are sitting on a perfect pairing as well. Andy Herron is fast and tall. Tomasz Frankowski is a deadly poacher. Nyarko and Rolfe fit the same billing, but with even more speed and range in Rolfe.

4. CJ Brown is over. Believe me, it pains me to say it, but it’s the sad truth. He was beat repeatedly by Chivas’ pacy forwards, and on more than one occasion was bailed out by last ditch tackles by Bakary Soumare. When our backline is returned to full strength, continuing to play Brown would be sentimental at best, and as we learned with Paulo Wanchope, sentimentality can kill. As with Armas, however, I hope that the Fire organization can find a place for Brown on the coaching staff. He deserves every bit of respect and appreciation that is afforded Armas and will always be a Fire legend. Unfortunate to have found himself injured at the beginning of his last season, he may not fully recover, and playing him will be dangerous.

5. John Busch saves the day, everyday. Okay, so I didn’t learn this last night. I knew it already, but he continues to amaze even as the rest of the team melts down and the backline goes leaky.

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5 Comments

Joe T June 23, 2008	Well said. Just what I was saying while watching the Chivas game, you know, between crying and punching the floor in frustration.
Ben June 24, 2008	Your comments on Mapp are 100% correct. I'm still going to give CJ time to work out his troubles though. He missed training and isn't necessarily match fit. 4-4-2 is needed soon, unless we can find a way to play a 3-5-2.
Tom D. June 24, 2008	I disagree about CJ. Maybe he's toast, but he's earned more than a couple of games coming back from injury to find out. Let's pass a verdict in a few weeks.
Mike S. June 25, 2008	Regarding Barrett & the Fire's needs. If Chicago is looking to play Barrett as target forward, then he is not the player to do that, nor will he ever be. Nor has there ever been in his skill set or shown to play that way with UCLA or any of the U-XXX teams Neither was Ante Razov when Bruce Arena tried to shoehorn him into that role when McBride was unavailable. Its' foolish to ask a player to play a role that they don't have the physical tools to play. That being said, why have we gone to the lone (target) striker system when we neither have the players to play it (skill set or physically) and have allowed those that do or have the potential to to leave? (Jaqua). Even when teams successfully employ the "lone striker" mode, they run the risk of having the service starved to their target player, or as in most cases these days, the lone player doesn't have primarily have crosses played into him for headers on goal, but has them played to feet for distribution to players making runs towards goal or draws defenders away so that players can run into the space being played. McBride, for all the hopefuls, may be an answer to that need, but he is far from the long term answer unless there are target forwards looking to retire here or there are some being developed in the youth/college ranks that we have our eye on. And even then, it will require that we also find players that can effectively combine with a target forward, which I do not believe that we currently have.
Ben June 25, 2008	I'll reiterate what I said above. We need to implement a &#-2 system. *I don't care as long as the '2' is up top.