Reblogged from Chicago Fire Blog:

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Following last season’s high profile international friendlies against Manchester United and Chivas, the Chicago Fire yesterday announced they will be hosting another exciting international friendly this year against EPL side Aston Villa at Toyota Park on July 21st.

The summer is always an exciting time with international friendlies and this summer will certainly be no different with the likes of Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Shay Given arriving in Chicago.

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All footage in this video was recorded during the Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps match Saturday night at Toyota Park and all credit goes to Fire supporters Geoff Stellfox and Zach Huey for putting together this great video. Enjoy!

As a result, match analysis and opinions will be minimal this summer but I’ll provide a few photos/updates from Toyota Park on match days and throughout the week. Feel free to follow my personal account on Twitter @jharbert7 as well as that’s where I’ll be tweeting from. Don’t be strangers!

GO FIRE.   

Come out to Halsted Harp this Thursday for Fire Team Trivia Night! This fantastic event is a first for the club and is destined to be an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. The event is hosted by Jeff Crandall and Drew Elden and will provide all Chicago Fire and soccer fans with the opportunity to test their Fire, MLS, and world soccer knowledge against other fans. Teams of six will be allowed to compete and a variety of prizes will be available for the event’s winners. Don’t miss out!

Event details:

Location: Halsted Harp (2138 N. Halsted)
Date: 7:30 p.m., Thursday June 7th
RSVP: http://on.fb.me/KTVrA4

Additionally, the Fire are also hosting ‘Brews and Bites’ Saturday from 3-5pm at Roots Pizza. More on that here.

The Revs snapped a 10-match winless streak against the Fire | Photo credit: yahoo! sports

An already disappointing week was made that much worse Saturday night as the Fire stumbled to a disheartening 2-0 defeat to rivals New England at Gillette Stadium. Kelyn Rowe and Benny Feilhaber both scored goals within five minutes of each other in the second half, condemning the Fire to a third defeat in the span of just seven days.

A sloppy first half saw Gonzalo Segares double his scoring tally for the season, but his header from Pavel Pardo’s free-kick came back off the right post for what was either team’s best opportunity so far. After the break, Dominic Oduro also struck the woodwork with a header as the Fire came out of the traps committed to breaking the deadlock. Unfortunately for the men in red, the match turned on its head as Feilhaber found substitute Rowe in far too much space, allowing the Revolution to open the scoring against the run of play. In similar circumstances, Feilhaber doubled the home side’s lead as Rowe turned scorer to provider in the 73^rd minute. Even the much anticipated return of Chris Rolfe – who came on seconds before the Revs’ opener – couldn’t prevent the Fire from slipping to a second consecutive MLS defeat and a fourth loss in five matches.

Talking points:

Defensive frailties – Midway through the first half I found myself reflecting on how well Jalil Anibaba and rookie Austin Berry had done to fill in the void at CB. However, midway through the second half I found myself ruing the absence of Cory Gibbs and Arne Friedrich. Anibaba and Berry have performed well at times, but Saturday’s defeat made in painfully obvious just how much the Fire miss the experience of Friedrich and Gibbs. With Gibbs most likely out for the entire season, Fire fans can only hope Friedrich recovers from a hamstring injury as quickly as possible to avoid more results like this.

Target man – Orr Barouch was handed a rare start up front for the Fire as Oduro was assigned to a role on the right wing. Meanwhile, Federico Puppo found himself dropped to the bench following the team’s shocking defeat to the Michigan Bucks in midweek. For the most part, Barouch was relatively ineffective throughout the match, particularly with his link-up play between the midfield. His best contribution arrived immediately after the break when his knocked down a cross with his head into the path of Oduro, although the Ghanaian’s header ended up bouncing off the far post. Despite being positioned on the wing, Oduro remained the Fire’s most dangerous player. Regardless, the Fire need more reinforcements up front, and they need them soon.

Uncharacteristic – Gonzalo Segares has always been one of the most consistent performers for the Fire and has made the left-back position his own over the past few years. Even after a defeat, it’s very rare to fault Sega for his performance. Saturday night was an exception, however. The Fire defender looked good when going forward, but defensively it wasn’t one of his best performances this season. He was beaten by Rowe on a few occasions and had to be bailed out by a superb stop by Sean Johnson, before being beaten again in the build-up to the Revolution’s opening goal. And as for Feilhaber’s goal, a combination of mistakes paved the way for the New England DP to score but an out-of-position Sega was one of them.

A snapshot of the Fire’s defensive issues vs. New England. Johnson bailed his side out on this occasion, but the Revs would open the scoring minutes later.

Hopefully we’ll see Segares, as well as the rest of the team, bounce back in two weeks when the Fire host the New York Red Bulls. After four defeats in five matches, a two break could be exactly what this team needs… as well as another striker, perhaps?

The Fire look to back bounce from a shocking midweek defeat to the Michigan Bucks in the 3rd round of the US Open Cup. | Photo credit: zimbio.com

Chicago Fire at New England Revolution
Saturday June 2, 2012 (6:30 pm)
Gillette Stadium

Last weekend I was more than a little bit worried that the match against Columbus was not going to end well for Chicago. Unfortunately, I was right. Chicago has been consistently inconsistent to such a degree that their record has become oddly balanced (excluding the US Open Cup failure on Tuesday). The Fire’s form over the last five matches, T-W-L-W-L, is just part of the see-saw season they’ve strung together thus far, and their home/away results are a near mirror image, 3-1-2 at home and 2-3-1 on the road. It’s irksome.

I mentioned last week over at Total MLS, that the Fire’s weaknesses can be pin-pointed. They have been woeful defending set pieces and have seemingly always been behind this season. Updating the states shows us that Chicago has allowed the opening goal nine times this season, which ties the wretched Toronto FC for the most games conceded first in MLS. This is a major problem. Chicago haven’t kept a clean sheet since May 9th which was only the second of the season, the first being against Philadelphia on March 24th.

Still, the Fire have come back to win or draw in most of the contests where they’ve conceded the early lead but how much longer are we going to rely on that strategy? The concede-and-come-from-behind mentality should not be a tactical foundation; 2-1 score lines are quickly taking the place of last year’s plague of draws. Forgive the pun but we’re going to get burnt.

May was a month packed with matches (7) with emotionally draining face-offs with rivals FC Dallas and Columbus. Facing the New England Revolution will be a hard-nosed affair. Neither team likes the other; both will demand a win after embarrassing US Open Cup loses. What hope there might be will rest on whether or not Chicago has enough fuel left in the tank. Or will the knocks take by several players and grueling running of matches leave them lackluster on the pitch. As for New England, the Revolution has suffered losses all over on the road. Coming home will be a welcome relief for them and will make it that much more difficult for the Fire.

If Chicago hopes to get anything out of the match, Austin Berry and Jalil Anibaba will have to stifle Saer Sène. Sene has scored in three consecutive league games, four in the last five. His May was quite a good month: five goals and one assist in six games. Sene has given the Revs attack some serious respectability which had been lacking for the last couple of seasons.

Sebastian Grazzini should be back on, fully rested, and expect him to play the full match. Forward Dominic Oduro, although uninspiring against Michigan Tuesday, looks to be over his hamstring tweak should be jazzed to go all out in Foxboro. Manager Frank Klopas held Patrick Nyarko out of the game against Michigan partly due to some lingering hurt the player is dealing with. Nyarko is not injured but he has been receiving pain shots for just over a week to treat a string of ailments in the hip, hamstring, and ribs.

Saturday’s match could also see the return of Chris Rolfe | Photo credit: mlssoccer.com

When Nyarko is on the field, Chicago is a better, more dangerous squad so look for him to start. Things will get physical with the Revolution and he’ll be enduring the artificial turf of Gillette Stadium, thus I wouldn’t expect him to go the full 90. But the person who may come on for Nyarko could really spark the team; Chris Rolfe is match fit. All Fire supporters will be waiting with bated-breath for Rolfe to come on from the bench Saturday night. Let’s hope it happens.

Finally, we need to take a moment and cool down after Tuesday’s loss. The fallout from this US Open Cup defeat has left many and most supporters enraged. A lot of this fuming has been channeled towards complaining about the field. It’s a legit argument…but one that should have taken place the week before when Chicago learned they were going there. To complain about the field after a loss like this is a cop-out, it’s a way to deflect from the real issues that lead to the loss.

One of those real issues is Rafael Robayo. The consensus seems to be that Robayo is a bust of a signing. I’m sure there are still those who think he can still contribute and therefore deserves a place on the squad. I’m not one of them. Robayo came to the Fire as a merc player, looking to raise his profile and move on. He’s done that but not in the way he would’ve liked. But to give Robayo the benefit of the doubt, I’ll say that he just isn’t a good fit with Chicago.

Maybe he’d work out well with Chivas USA (I could live with a trade of him for Casey Townsend) or Colorado (they need a Mastroeni understudy) or Philadelphia (again, a trade for Mwanga? Maybe give them some allocation cash as well). He just isn’t going to play well here unless his attitude and his pitch presence changes greatly before the arrival of Brazilian Alex Monteiro de Lima (or simply “Alex”), who will arrive on June 27th. Look for Alex to be an occasional forward and regular understudy for Sebastian Grazzini (this could also light a fire under Frederico Puppo). And while all this might be speculative, keep in mind that Alex’s signing will max out the squad’s 30-man roster and fill-up their international slots. Maybe if Chicago wants to make some more moves this summer they’ll need to trim the fat.

Written by: Daniel Casey

Firehouse East | Photo credit: http://bemassivesoccer.wordpress.com

Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew
Saturday May 26, Crew Stadium
6:00 p.m. CT

Written by Daniel Casey. Follow Daniel on Twitter at @winslowbobbins.

The Fire will face more than just the bumblebees on Saturday; they’ll be looking to continue their winning streak which was broke by some sloppy play in Portland. Granted Wednesday’s win over FC Dallas righted the ship, but it wasn’t a proper win, a confident victory. Rather it was a win gifted by poor refereeing.

I don’t like those kinds of wins. I know that many soccer fans will say, “Hey, it’s not cheating if you don’t get caught” or “It is what it is” (similar to Marco Pappa’s attitude after the match of ‘Hey well that’s just how soccer goes sometimes’). But the thing is, it is cheating and it isn’t what it is.

Was Pappa & co. fortunate to pick up three points on Wednesday? | Photo credit: zimbio.com

It’s a sour taste, a hollow victory, a stain. During the EPL season, last month or so, every pundit and Manchester United hater decided that Ashley Young was a diver. Every one of those complainers ignored the elephant in the room—had Young been on their team, they wouldn’t have minded. And that’s the problem, they should mind.

Did Young embellish? Yes, absolutely. Does a defender need to play inside their box with more finesse and with a different mindset than what they use in open field? Yes, absolutely. Was Young a cheat? Absolutely not. And neither was Suarez or Carroll or Torres or Drogba or Van Persie when they went down in the box from contact. You have to play differently in the box than you do in the field. In the field, the mantra for all refs and players should be “Get up & get on with it”; in the box, it should be “Watch yourself.” Here in the States we conflate diving in field of play and diving in the box. Diving in the box rarely happens, whereas diving in the field happens every ten minutes (every two if you’re watching Spanish or Italian football).

But Pappa doesn’t have this excuse, he simply bum rushed the PK. He was at least four feet into the box when Grazzini made contact with the ball; it was illegal and should have been called back. But it wasn’t. And Dallas didn’t have the character comeback—they almost did, they almost won back a goal for the draw but they just couldn’t pull the string. That’s part of football. It’s why we love/hate it.

As you can tell from this little intro rant, Wednesday’s game is still weighing on my mind. Point is, FC Dallas is a rival. They’re not New England level distaste or even Seattle level angst, but they are a rival. When they flop on the pitch (which they do every game), when they blatantly foul and then get pissy about it, when they win…I don’t like it. That’s how you know you’re facing a rival, they make you angry, and you have no time for anything they do. Take note, Kansas City, because all Fire supporters still think you’re cute.

This weekend will be the first of three matches this season against Chicago’s first class rival, Columbus. Round one will be in Columbus and presents Chicago with a bit of a heavy run of matches. Having faced Portland on Sunday and then Dallas three days later, the Fire will come into Columbus oddly energized, on the cusp of fatigue. Fatigue may be a factor come Tuesday when the Fire enter the US Open Cup on the road against the Michigan Bucks and it could certainly come into play when on just three days rest the Fire travel to face New England. It’s going to be one of those weeks that either saps all your energy or galvanizes you.

It can fall either way right now. Saturday night might see forward Dominic Oduro on the bench. The last two matches Oduro hasn’t been that much of a presence due to a lingering sore hamstring. The hamstring tweak has forced him out of the last couple matches around the 60th minute. Resting Oduro would be wise. But a regular never wants to miss a game, especially a derby match. We’ll probably see him start against the Crew and in all likelihood not be in the starting line-up in Michigan. On the other side of things, forward Chris Rolfe has been increasing his training and may be ready to come into the match against Columbus as a sub. I’m hoping to see him against Michigan. Working through ankle pain is serious and you have to be patient.

With Oduro taking a few knocks and Rolfe yet to reach fitness to play, it has meant that Chicago has had to look the midfield for attacking prowess. Fortunately, it has it with Sebastian Grazzini well in form and developing a good relationship with a hot Marco Pappa. But we have to keep an eye on the fact that one more yellow card for Seba will mean suspension. Going into Fire House East (#FHEast), I’ve got grave concerns over the match.

If the Fire wins this game, they will pull well away from Columbus in the standings and be breathing down the neck of Sporting Kansas City for third place in the East. Power-rankings routinely undervalue Chicago and regularly over-value teams like Colorado, Vancouver, and Houston. The fact is, based on points, games played, and GF/GA, the Chicago Fire are the seventh best team in Major League Soccer. But they have to win against Columbus and win against New England in a decisive, non-bias manner before the league will take them seriously as a top third team.

JELD-WEN Field | Photo credit: http://blog.craigmitchelldyer.com

May 20, 7pm

JELD-WEN Field, Portland

Peter Vermes made a stink last week, embarrassing himself by going off on rookie referee Jose Carlos Rivero’s decision to give Roger Espinoza a straight red card for flying through the air and deciding to land elbow-first on Sebastian Grazzini.  Funny thing about that red card, it wasn’t about embellishment or how much Grazzini was or wasn’t hurt, it was about clear intent to harm. Espinoza went up high and was falling when he started to come down but replays show how Espinoza saw full well what was before him and how he decided to toss his elbow out. No one in the history of sport has ever thought, “I will cushion my fall using my elbow.” Complaints about that red card are, at best, disingenuous.  Which I guess is the reason why Vermes was suddenly so taciturn this week when mumbling that the team would not to appeal the red card. Three straight loses makes every manager snippy.

For Fire supporters it matters really for only one reason, Grazzini who has been pushed around all season and gotten no calls from referees was finally given a call. Too bad it had to be so blatant. Speaking of blatant, apparently Arne Friedrich and the team really want to play down his hamstring injury. The club page would have us believe that Friedrich will not miss much time, however, a Grade 2 strain means Friedrich will be out for at least a month. If we look at this from an “it could have been worse” POV, then this scenario isn’t so bad. But is it really a good idea to embrace such fatalism so early in the season? No, the answer is “no.”

Cory Gibbs is out and now Friedrich, that was supposed to be the centerback duo for the summer. That is not going to happen. It’s unfortunate that injuries lead to it, but the pairing of Jalil Anibaba and Austin Berry is the long-term future for the Fire. Chicago has been able to maintain a quality of depth in their defensive corps that other MLS teams probably covet. This week against Portland will be an opportunity for the Anibaba/Berry duo to shine. The Timbers can score goals…I mean, they’re not so much lately, in fact not since April 21. So it’s been a month since Portland scored, whatever, you have to take Kris Boyd and Darlington Nagbe seriously, both can produce magic. Honestly, magic might just be what Portland need.

Seba Grazzini has been moved farther up the pitch to a more forward role just behind Dominic Oduro. With Nyarko and Pappa finally being positioned out on the wings, the Chicago attack has woken up and is not significantly more complex that it was in the beginning of the season. Manager Frank Klopas has patiently allowed his regulars to settle in and by doing so he’s now moved the pieces ever so slightly to maximize their impact. Although going into the tight and loud JELD-WEN Field will be a challenge, Chicago has to feel confident earning seven points out of a possible nine so far this month.

The Timbers’ defense has improved of late and goalkeeper Troy Perkins will be challenged once again with the Fire’s attack. But the simple fact is that unlike Chicago, Portland has a thin backline and one that has yet to sort itself out. Because of the lack of fullbacks in MLS, teams in the league make the unsavory decision to move midfielders into right and leftback slots. Such measures may pay off in the short-term but rarely have any use beyond single game match-ups. Hopefully, Chicago can take advantage of this given the fact that the Segares/Berry/Anibaba/Gargan defense is very eager and adept in attack. I expect Chicago to press and go after Portland, looking for a definitive win.

Written by Daniel Casey. You can follow Daniel on Twitter @winslowbobbins.

Chicago welcomes its “rivals” to Toyota Park on Saturday. | Photo credit: http://www.isiphotos.net

Match Preview: Chicago vs. Kansas City
Toyota Park, May 12

So far May has been kind to the Fire, undefeated with four points over two games. But things are getting progressively more difficult. The defeat of Chivas in LA came at the last seconds and this last Wednesday’s draw against Real Salt Lake though steady was uninspiring. Chicago’s midweek match was a midfield grind which in a way revealed the true character of the Fire. MLS is midfield-centric league, and Chicago toes the line.

On Wednesday, we saw Marco Pappa put in a third straight excellent performance. Part of this is due to the growing understanding between Pappa and playmaker Seba Grazzini, but part of this is also due to the fact that Pappa has embraced playing the left wing role. Manager Frank Klopas has said that Chicago “are not a team that is going to rely too much on service,” so I suppose I’m going to have to resign myself to the fact that Pappa and Patrick Nyarko will never be played as out-and-out wingers. Yet it can’t be ignored that when Pappa and Nyarko provide service, the Chicago attack lights up.

Over eight games Chicago have scored 9 goals, respectable but not necessarily threatening. With Sporting Kansas City coming in, Chicago will have to have a sharper point to their attack to come away with three points against the best team in the East. It is entirely possible. Kansas City is coming off a shocking loss to Montreal to which Chicago should look. Against Montreal, Kansas City’s attack was bottled-up and stifled. It’s interesting to note that SKC was leaning very much to the left side of the pitch in that match, suggesting a weak right side that could certainly be exploited by Pappa.

Kei Kamara: SKC danger man | Photo credit: ESPN

First-year centerback Austin Berry put in a second impressive match, and it will be interesting to see if he is given the start again ahead of Jalil Anibaba. Although, I think it would be very, very interesting to see Berry and Anibaba together anchoring the defense. Having lost two straight, Kansas City are looking to right the ship, and there’s nothing they’d like more than to do it against a team they think are their rival. FYI, Sporting Kansas City, just because a team has played you in the past doesn’t mean they’re your rival (http://www.sportingkc.com/blog/post/2012/05/09/tale-two-cities). But who knows, perhaps the Kansas City front-office manufactured rivalry will actually lead to a bit of one because Chicago supporters would love to see Sporting Kansas City taken down a few pegs to where they belong.

Written by Daniel Casey. Follow Daniel on Twitter @winslowbobbins. 

Can the Chicago Fire make it two wins in a row? | Photo credit: zimbio.com

Chicago Fire vs. Real Salt Lake
May 9, Toyota Park (7:30 p.m.)

When Real Salt Lake comes to Toyota Park on Wednesday they will hear cheers. Not for them but for longtime Fire defender and now RSL coach, C.J. Brown. Brown will be inducted into the club’s Ring of Fire which honors the best Fire players. Brown’s retirement saw the last of the old guard leave the pitch for the Chicago Fire and since then the team has been patiently rebuilding, nurturing a new crop of stars.

Certainly this weekend the brightest star for Chicago was Marco Pappa. The Guatemalan netted the game winning goal in stoppage time in Los Angeles against Chivas USA. After last season’s record amount of draws, coming out of an away match with a win heartened club and supporters. Pappa has been in form the last two matches. His amazing corner kick goal in the harsh lose to
Seattle was a bright spot in that loss and this last weekend’s play have once again endeared him to supporters—who seem all too ready to write Pappa off when he isn’t on form. Such is the complex relationship supporters have with their club. This Wednesday will certainly be difficult. Real Salt Lake is one of the best clubs in MLS and their style of play is one that will be difficult
for Chicago to menace.

And menace is what Chicago needs to do to Real Salt Lake. There is love amongst MLS supporters for US National Team members. Every USMNT regular gets treated to cheers and praise via all social media. US supporters seem desperate to love their national team; it is irksome. I mention this because I loathe Kyle Beckerman—I hate his style of play, I hate his attitude, and I especially hate his neo-hippie haircut. Everything about Beckerman reeks of unearned privilege and that rubs me the wrong way. I’m a prole; I have no time for him. And I would love nothing more than for the Chicago midfield to finally assert itself as I know it can and boss Beckerman all over the pitch.

Having gotten that out of my system, let me return to a legit point, i.e. menace. My Beckerman disdain aside, Real Salt Lake is a midfield club. If Beckerman and Morales are bottled-up, frustrated, then the hardly wide play of Will Johnson, Ned Brabavoy, or Luis Gil becomes moot (just imagine how impatient Johnson, especially, would become). Forwards Fabian Espindola and Alvaro Saborio are brilliant but choked of real service having to create whole cloth they can certainly be handled by the Fire’s defense. I would suspect Daniel Paladini working in the center midfield would provide the necessary muscle.

It’s been a boon that Pappa has turned on the attack. This means that teams can’t just focus all their attention on Dominic Oduro. But the simple fact is speed will not win this game for Chicago, even though the Fire stand a better chance of scoring against RSL with goalkeeper Nick Rimando now out with injury. Grazzini and Pappa need to develop chemistry together in order to split the attention of defenses and harry midfielders. Pappa, Grazzini, and Nyarko need to stretch Real Salt Lake while Chicago’s generals (Pardo, Pause) play the long ball. Crowding the midfield or playing narrow is a recipe for loss. Chicago has a real chance to come out of Wednesday’s contest with a win. Doing so would continue to Chicago’s overall dominance over RLS but it would send a message to the league that the Fire are hot and ready to play.

Written by Daniel Casey. Follow Daniel on Twitter @winslowbobbins.