Tag Archives: Jalil Anibaba

August 28, 2011 · 3:23 am

Three Main Points: Chicago Fire 2-0 Colorado Rapids

Both of Chicago's goalscorers from Saturday night's win


7:30 p.m., Toyota Park. Attendance: 15,211. Referee: Juan Guzman

A few hours before the Chicago Fire kicked off against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night at Toyota Park, Dominic Oduro (@FreakyFast8) tweeted “Was just watching bolt run and I wish I was as fast as him.” Well, let’s just say there was one or two people in the Rapids team who were wishing the same thing about Oduro. The Ghanaian scored his ninth goal of the season with a terrific breakaway goal in the first half that we’ve come to expect from him. The finish on this occasion wasn’t too bad either, especially for a player who has taken so much heat for his finishing this season. Cory Gibbs nodded home a second goal before halftime to send the Fire on their way to a second consecutive win for the first time this entire season, setting the team up nicely for a US Open Cup semi-final match on Tuesday.

Here are my three main points from the Fire’s 2-0 win over Colorado: Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under Match Analysis

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

July 27, 2011 · 8:04 am

Chicago Fire Sign Pavel Pardo: What this means for the Fire

In the most unsurprising move of the transfer season so far, the Chicago Fire announced the signing of former Mexican International Pavel Pardo on Tuesday on a deal running through the end of the 2011 season. Months of speculation finally drew to a close as the Fire released Bratislav Ristic on a free transfer to create roster space for Pardo, who most recently played for Club America. Contrary to popular belief, Pardo has not been assigned to a Designated Player slot, but will instead fill the international spot previously occupied by Ristic.

So what does this mean for the Fire? Expect changes to the starting line-up and lots of them. The Fire are fortunate to have a full week before they host the Philadelphia Union to toy with new formations and starting lineup variations. The club certainly didn’t sign Pardo to have him sit on the bench, so we can expect to see one of the Fire’s central midfielders be relegated to the bench for the match against Philadelphia.

And if that midfielder is Logan Pause, which it will most likely be, we may see him moved to the right back position at the expense of Jalil Anibaba. Pause has spent significant time playing at right back for the club and having failed to really provide the spark Chicago needs in midfield this season, moving Pause to right back would be the only suitable option for Klopas if he intends on avoiding a change in captaincy. Anibaba has enjoyed a steady season at right back, but as a rookie he lacks the experience of fighting for an MLS playoff spot, whereas Pause has been there and seen it all before. That said, Pause’s speed could be an issue at right back. As a player not known for pace, Pause may struggle against some of the league’s faster wingers – an area Anibaba has coped remarkably well in.

With Pardo presumably slotting in for Pause, Grazzini – who also signed for the Fire this month – will most likely take up a center attacking position in midfield while Pardo drops deep and anchors the midfield. Both players are excellent passers of the ball and will certainly provide much needed attacking impetus in the final third.

Logan Pause: Time for the captain to move to the bench?

Regardless of whether Klopas opts for a diamond formation with Grazzini at the top of the diamond or with the two new signings partnering each other in midfield, Patrick Nyarko and Marco Pappa are almost guaranteed to retain their starting spots on the wings. If this is the case, Dominic Oduro, who has enjoyed a fantastic debut season so far, will continue playing up front and will be joined by either Christian Nazarit or Diego Chaves. Oduro can also play on the wing if necessary.

The signings of Pardo and Grazzini will only benefit the Fire as they seek to make a strong push for a playoff spot. These acquisitions will also add depth to the Fire’s midfield and increase the competition for places. Baggio Husidic, Daniel Paladini, and Corben Bone will all have their work cut out for them in order to earn time on the pitch, but ultimately, competition for places is what you want in a team.

For the Fire players and staff, they must be thankful they have until next Wednesday to adapt to a new lineup, as well as a new formation. As for Fire supporters, the Philadephia match won’t be able to come fast enough as fans eagerly anticipate seeing how Klopas shuffles around his starting eleven and utilizes his two big name signings.

Potential Starting XI vs. Philadelphia on Aug. 3rd:

GK – Johnson

RB – Pause

CB – Cuesta

CB – Gibbs

LB – Segares

CDM – Pardo

RM – Pappa

LM – Nyarko

CAM – Grazzini

ST – Oduro

ST – Nazarit

 

1 Comment

Filed under News

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

June 17, 2011 · 8:02 am

New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire: Five things to watch for

Following a momentous win in Columbus last weekend, the Chicago Fire continue their stretch away from Toyota Park with a trip to rivals New England Revolution on Saturday (kick-off at 6:30 p.m.) in hopes of maintaining that winning feeling. Christian Nazarit ended the Fire’s 11 match winless streak with a goal from close range in the 90th minute of the Fire’s 1-0 win over the Crew to give the men in red their first league win since March 26th. New England could now find themselves in a similar situation, having lost their last four matches and slipping to 7th place in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Chicago.

Form guide:

New England: W-L-L-L-L

Chicago: D-D-D-D-W

Five things to watch for:

  1. Gold Cup regrets? – Having rejected Grenada’s invitation to represent his country in the Gold Cup, Sharie Joseph opted to stay back with the Revolution and help the club move up the standings. The result has not been what he and the Revs would have hoped for, however. Four defeats on the trot has seen New England slide down the standings, with Joseph particularly struggling the past couple of matches. That said, Joseph remains the leading scorer for the Revs with four goals and has proven himself capable of being a match winner in the past, meaning the Fire should still be cautious of what he brings to the table.
  2. Tightening the ship – After shipping goals from almost everywhere on the pitch in the early stages of the season, the Fire have finally come to grips at the back. Yamith Cuesta and Cory Gibbs have established a burgeoning partnership at the heart of defense, while Gonzalo Segares has continued his fine form at left back. Both Bratislav Ristic and Jalil Anibaba have deputized at right back and have helped contribute to three consecutive clean sheets for the Fire. Sean Johnson also looks to his best, causing us to wonder why he was ever kept out of the side for so long by Carlos de los Cobos. A clean sheet on Saturday will equal the club’s record of four straight clean sheets. Can the Fire maintain their defensive form and keep New England out?
  3. Runaway top scorer – The Fire couldn’t really ask for a better opportunity to equal its record of consecutive clean sheets. The Revolution have scored just three goals in the last seven matches and looked out of sorts in front of goal during their 0-0 draw with Toronto FC on Wednesday night. In fact, only Joseph has managed to score more than one goal for the Revs this season. Seven players are tied in second with one goal apiece and the club’s total haul of 11 goals scored this season is a league low.
  4. Attacking options – With Gaston Puerari being transferred to Club Atlas on Wednesday and Marco Pappa still on Gold Cup duty with Guatemala, the Fire’s attacking options will be slightly limited. Patrick Nyarko and Dominic Oduro will most likely start on the wings while Nazarit could partner Diego Chaves up front. If this is the case, we could see Orr Barrouch make yet another substitute appearance if the Fire need more attacking talent on the field as the match progresses. Barrouch has made 12 appearances this season, all of which have been off the bench.
  5. And then there was one little Uruguayan– Puerari’s departure means a greater burden will be placed on Chaves to deliver the goods (despite Puerari not contributing much in terms of goals). Nazarit will need to contribute as well, but he’s still young and finding his feet in the MLS. Chaves started the season in terrific form but hasn’t scored since his opener in the 1-1 home draw with Houston on April 23rd. The Fire will certainly be hoping for a few more goals out of him. Saturday wouldn’t be too bad of a time to score one.

3 Comments

Filed under Match Previews

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 22, 2011 · 1:28 am

Chicago Fire vs. Houston Dynamo: Five things to watch for

Three straight defeats and suspect defending has seen the Chicago Fire slip to eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings, a position few thought they would be in at this stage of the season following such a positive start. The Fire will hope to regain its winning form on Saturday night at Toyota Park when they play host to the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo are undefeated in their last four matches and travel to Chicago in hopes of piling more misery on the Fire, as well as avoiding a repeat of last year’s corresponding fixture.

The Fire earned the points in this fixture last season, winning 2-0 courtesy of goals from Baggio Husidic and Logan Pause. But with the Dynamo undefeated in four games and the Fire unable to pick up a point in their last three matches, it is anyone’s guess what result Saturday will bring. Here are my top five things to watch for:

1) Defensive Changes – With 11 goals conceded this season, the Fire have yet to keep a clean sheet and have proven to be extremely vulnerable in defense. In fact, only D.C. United has conceded more goals this season (12). The Fire’s defense was put to the sword again last weekend by a weakened Los Angeles Galaxy side and ultimately paid the price for two defensive mistakes. Carlos de los Cobos will be desperate to see his side cut out the mistakes and will most likely shake things up in defense to boost Chicago’s chances of snapping this losing streak. With Cory Gibbs to undergo a late fitness test following the injury he suffered last weekend, Yamith Cuesta is likely to slot in at center-back while Dasan Robinson could step in for Jalil Anibaba at right back. Regardless of who starts in defense for the Fire, an improvement in communication and concentration is necessary if the men in red are to halt the Dynamo.

2) Defense Out, Creativity In – Fire fans have become frustrated after witnessing three straight stuttering performances and there have been a lot of calls for a more dynamic, creative attacking threat in the starting line-up. Mike Videira and Logan Pause have been de los Cobos’ first choice central midfield pairing, but Saturday’s match could see Baggio Husidic or Daniel Paladini earn their first starts of the season alongside captain Logan Pause. Videira is a talented player, but his major strengths are displayed on the defensive side of things. It would be a wise choice for the Fire to deploy Husidic or Paladini in the center of the park in place of Videira. Not only will provide more attacking options, but It will also improve the Fire’s link up play between the forwards and midfield.

3) Playmaker – While the Fire have lacked creativity in the final third, Houston have thrived with the creativity of midfielder Brad Davis. The veteran playmaker recorded 12 assists in each of the two last seasons for the Dynamo and has already tallied three assists this year. Davis was voted as Houston’s MVP last season and he’s one of the reasons the Dynamo find themselves in third place in the Eastern Conference. The Fire will need to keep him under wraps on Saturday. Looking at you Logan Pause…

4) Haunt Your Old Club – On March 23rd, just days before the start of the new season, the Fire announced they had traded Calen Carr to the Houston Dynamo for Dominic Oduro. Unfortunately for Carr, he is still recovering from a concussion and will miss out on the chance to play against his former teammates. Oduro, on the other hand, has every chance of playing against his old club and will look to have a similar impact as he did on Sunday if he does get the nod. Released by Houston because of his inability to finish, Oduro silenced some of the doubters against the Galaxy with a superb finish after coming on as a substitute. Although he may not start against the Dynamo, he will most likely see action at some point and a goal against his old club would go some way to silencing his doubters back in Houston… as well as ensuring the Fire get back to winning ways.

5) Safe Hands – Following Sean Johnson’s performance against Portland earlier this month, de los Cobos has handed veteran goalkeeper Jon Conway a place in the starting lineup in place of Johnson. The defeat to the Galaxy saw Conway concede twice, but in fairness he could hardly be blamed for either goal. Conway will face a tough test against a physical Houston side and it will be interesting to see if he can prove that he deserves his starting berth.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Match Previews

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 18, 2011 · 9:08 am

Chicago Fire vs. LA Galaxy Post Match Analysis

After a torrid road trip in the Pacific Northwest that resulted in back-to-back losses, the Fire returned to Toyota Park on Sunday in hopes of rediscovering their form against a weakened Los Angeles Galaxy side. David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Juninho were all absent from Bruce Arena’s squad but the Galaxy still managed to overcome a lackluster Fire team to win 2-1 and hand the Fire its third straight defeat. Chad Barrett opened the scoring for the Galaxy in the 42nd minute, beating the offside trap to fire past Jon Conway, who was brought in for Sean Johnson following his disappointing performance against Portland in midweek.

Omar Gonzalez doubled the Galaxy’s lead in the 72nd with a header before substitute Dominic Oduro pulled one back for the men in red with one minute of normal time remaining. A late flurry of corners nearly saw the Fire grab an equalizer, but in the end it would be three more points dropped and more questions being asked about this refurbished Fire team.

Talking Points:

Missed Opportunities – Even before former Fire striker Chad Barrett opened the scoring, Chicago could have and certainly should have been in front. Gaston Puerari, who has been guilty of missing several good one-on-one goal scoring opportunities this season, looked set to put the Fire ahead in the 18th minute after Diego Chaves had flicked the ball into open space. But with only Donovan Ricketts to beat, the Uruguayan chipped the ball just beyond the far post. Gonzalo Segares then followed that up with a narrow miss of his own later in the half. When Barrett’s goal did arrive, the Fire could only blame themselves for being down. After all, looking at the picture below you simply have to wonder how Gaston didn’t score and how different the result could have been had this effort gone in the back of the net.

Gaston Puerari misses a golden opportunity for the Fire in the first half

Offside Trap Gone Bust – When Barrett controlled Miguel Lopez’ and fired past Conway for the opener, I immediately looked towards the linesman for the offside flag. From my view behind the goal in Section 8 and judging by how much space Barrett was in, I found it hard to believe that he was not offside, but upon the replay it was painfully obvious that Jalil Anibaba had kept Barrett onside by failing to step up with the rest of the backline. Josip Mikulic had stopped following Barrett’s run to catch him offside but even he and Cory Gibbs failed to come anywhere close to catching him offside meaning the Galaxy forward was left in acres of space. The picture shows just where the Fire defense and Barrett were when the cross is about to be made.

Chad Barrett finds himself in acres of space to give the Galaxy the lead.

Lack of creativity – Apart from Marco Pappa and Patrick Nyarko, the Fire severely missed a creative spark in the midfield. The introduction of Oduro gave some life to the Fire, but midfield was a case of a lack of possession and ineffective efforts to put pressure on the Galaxy’s defense. Logan Pause is a tremendous player, but his gift lies more within the defensive realm of the game. After all, he did enjoy a stint at right back earlier in his Fire career. As for Mike Videira, he is a hard working player and a combative force in the center of midfield, but he isn’t the type of midfielder capable of providing that necessary creative spark.

Work Ethic – Despite three defeats on the bounce now, the bright side is the Fire haven’t been lacking in effort. Take it for what it is, but even when the Fire were down 3-0 to Portland they kept pushing and were able to pull two goals back. A similar case unfolded again on Sunday as the Fire found themselves down 2-0 but continued to labor and managed to cut the deficit in half. Unfortunately it would end up being too little too late, but you have to at least applaud the effort and look at this team as a hungry and determined group of guys. Things may not be clicking yet for the Fire, but I’d be even more concerned if the effort wasn’t there. Thankfully that’s not the case.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Chicago Fire

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,