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A Supporter’s View: The Chicago Fire

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With the memories of Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s last-minute equalizer still in the minds of Fire fans, the Chicago Fire took the field against arch-rival New England last Thursday eager to score some taste of revenge for being knocked out of the MLS playoffs yet again.

Chicago exacted that revenge in the form of a 4-0 drubbing of the Revolution. The victory has fans in Chicago bullish about the prospects of for a successful season under first-year coach Denis Hamlett.

SBI correspondent Stephen Wattles was at Toyota Park last Thursday and shares his take on the victorious and chilly night in Bridgeview, Illinois (Feel free to provide your reaction to Stephen’s piece in the comments section below):.

Some payback at Toyota Park

By Stephen Wattles

What’s to complain about when your team wins 4-0 against the team that knocks you out of the playoffs every year, and looked like a world-beater in week one?  Absolutely nothing.

Thursday night’s 2008 home debut for the Fire was an absolute success.  Not an unqualified success, as Mr. Toledo ensured with that 7th minute red card that an asterisk would hang on this one, but it was far more than this fan could have hoped for making the drive to the stadium, watching the skies darken and the temperature drop.

To be honest, I would have taken any type of win and probably would have gladly accepted a draw after watching New England tear Houston apart in their opener.  Especially considering our own less than convincing performance in Salt Lake City.  But I’ll gladly take the four-goal drubbing, couldn’t happen to a nicer team.

If you draw up a plan for a win, an early goal is always a necessity and it doesn’t get much earlier then the 3rd minute (unless Will Hesmer has money on your team and is in the opposing net).  And if you’re given a man advantage early on, you want your team to take advantage, and the Fire quickly put the hammer down and put the game out of reach well before halftime.  So the players deserve praise for taking care of business, and assuring a joyful evening for the 15,000 of us trying to keep warm and dry at Toyota Park. 

As for the ejection, it may have been harsh but there was certainly ill intent in that challenge.  And after watching fellow MLS goons Harmse and Parke receive their marching orders later in the weekend, it may be that Mr. Garber and company decided its time to discourage the negative tactics that too often are employed in the league.  I certainly hope that’s the case, as the loss of Blanco to injury (or suspension due to retaliation) is the one thing that this team definitely would not be able to recover from.

Inside the park the crowd was a good one considering the conditions.  However, the club and the league need to do something to encourage the folks who own the expensive seats (the ones that show up on TV) to fill those seats for at least the nationally televised games.  The newly expanded (now two sections wide) Section 8 was awesome, well done guys and girls.  Based on that turn out, it’s definitely fair to expect a full or nearly full house all season.

This week’s trip to San Jose will be an interesting one.  Does the Fire go out there and take the game to them and get a straightforward win over a team they should have no trouble with?  Or do they play it close to the vest and let points drop?  The Earthquakes should be firing on all cylinders in their return to the Bay Area, but to be honest, anything less than three convincing points will be a disappointment.

Its far too early to jump to any conclusions but there are some early reasons for optimism:  Pause filling in admirably for Armas in the defensive midfield, four of six points despite quite a few injuries /absences (Brown, Robinson, Conde, Nyarko), and Busch’s play between the pipes.  As well as areas for concern: the Wilman factor, how Hamlett mixes these players around and keeps everyone happy, and can these forwards score against a team with 11 men?

Comments

  1. I was at the game. Stephen’s incisive and thoughtful comments made me appreciate the game even more – too bad it was after the fact, though!

    I look forward to his comments in the future, which will hopefully help me understand more of what the game is about, and appreciate our home town team even more.

    Keep it up, Stephen!

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  2. Good first effort on our boys!

    As far as “mike” asking for player evaluations, tactics, etc. – I would say this match did not require these critiques as the ref handed out a red card in the 7th minute which changed the whole complexion of the match.

    Other then maybe mentioning something about Barrett’s performance, the South end goal mouth area being torn up, and the fact that the FIRE gave up way too many corners I have no problem with this write up.

    Does anybody know why the field was no in perfect condition since it hasn’t been used in a few months? Or did I miss an event that took place earlier this year?

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  3. JoseM- Difference between wanchope and Frankowski, is in 2 games Frankowski has scored as many as wanchope did in half a season O.o …. yea i know, that was a cheap shot… honestly, Frankowski is showing that he has the athleticism to hang in this league… whether he remains effective is to be determined, but when we have the attack going, he does have the experience on where to be and how to finish

    hopefully our attack can continue to be like it was in the Revs, and not so much like in RSL :-/

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  4. Great article, I really enjoyed reading it!

    hey kpugs, As a Fire fan, I thought thay Barrett was a lot better than normal, but still not great. He still makes some bad touches, but atleast he finished when it counted in this match. I’m really hoping that the confidence he takes away from this game can help him elevate his game in the future because he does have alot of potential but he obviously has never been a truly reliable option as a starting forward for Chicago. My personal preference would be to see Rolfe and Herron up top and Carr on the right wing, but it’s hard to complain after a win like this.

    Also, this is shameless self promotion, but I just started a blog about the Fire and there is a whole entry I just wrote with my thoughts on Barrett after the match. It’s less stylish than this article but I’m planning on evaluating individual players a lot more.

    Check it out if any of you are interested:

    http://firetilwedie.blogspot.com/

    Thanks guys.

    Kev

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  5. JoseM, I don’t necessarily see Barrett and Frankowski as “linking” so much as complementing each other. Barrett’s a wrecking ball compared to Frankowski; he opens spaces and his slop can be Franek’s gold – as we’ve seen. Anyways this is all speculation for now. We’ll see what the season brings.

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  6. Sure, a good evening for all of us at Toyota park. Thinking down the road, I hope Conde will be back and will give everything he’s got. We need him, though Pause held things together well. Mapp has been flat and that one is hard to explain. I don’t see Barrett and Frankowski as connecting and I think we need the better skills of Carr up front, with Herron and Barrett as backup. Either that or with Carr on right mid as an alternative attack force for Barrett’s checked out times. We have to watch Frankowski who hopefully won’t be off and on for us. Too early to tell. Remember Wanchope last year? It took time to see that he was going no where for us. Dennis speaks of how great it is to have these guys all fighting for the field. But no stable offense starters doesn’t sound good for us.

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  7. mike, the first thing you say is “terrible article.” I agree that you mention things you’d like to see – and maybe others would too – from this space. But starting out with an outright condemnation isn’t really going to coax the best out of a volunteer writer. You’ll bet more bees with honey than vinegar.

    I was also reacting to two negative comments in a row – esp “hahaha” who called this guy a “garbage writer.” Look, “garbage writer” then “terrible article” – hey, let’s not turn this space into a place where the writer doesn’t pay attention to the comments becuase there’s nothing positive in it. That’s all I’m saying. this guy is sticking his neck out and deserves a little kudos for having the cojones to put his efforts out for everyone to read – that’s why I put that Ian MacKaye quote in there. I admit is was directed more at “hahaha” than you. Fair enough?

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  8. MODIBO- I’m entitled to put comments. I explained why I thought it was bad and a second article that is better can redeem this guy. i am relaxed, so why would you write what the f*** have i done? I’ve reviewed his article and I give him credit for trying. your comments have more thought and critical thinking than this guy’s article. that’s all i’m saying.

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  9. No thanks kpugs, I’ve already included my email address and I don’t have a typepad account anyway. At any rate, I wasn’t responding to anything other than the claim that “digs” were being taken at the Energy Drinks. Still haven’t heard anything about that, but thanks for confirming your butthurt status!

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  10. mike and “hahaha” – take it easy, will you?

    To paraphrase Minor Threat – at least he’s trying, what the f*** have you done?

    I like the Barrett – Frankowski pairing. It looks like Frankowski’s a real goal lurker – something that we don’t have. Frankowski’s garbage goal was not pretty, and it’s never going to be on a highlight reel. But he swept up Barrett’s scraps. I was ready to trash Barrett when he didn’t take Blanco’s beautiful pass first time, but as sidenetting said he at least got around Parkhurst and created a scoring chance for someone else. Last year that ball would have been out of play. And as sidenetting also said, he’s got that all important quantity for a forward – confidence (or at least reason to be confident).

    We’ll see how things shape up, but I’m cautiously optimistic about our chances with a healthy lineup. Busch makes me nervous in that regard – will he play the full season? Don’t know.

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  11. kpugs – I was thrilled as to what we got out of Barrett – especially after his performances for Nowak in Florida.

    Look, anytime Chad Barrett turns the corner on the vaunted Michael Parkhurst, and essentially wins us a goal, that’s a huge day. He also put his chance away (wasn’t especially pretty but good enough) and had another assist so that’s far more than most of us expected.

    He’s still a work in progress but his biggest problem, for me and most anyone who watches him, has been wasting tons of chances. Every striker wastes some.

    The other big positive was that he and TF were on the same wavelength for Thursday’s game, at least, and that’s a huge deal going forward.

    Barrett needed a shot of confidence and he got it. Now he can’t get too low when he does waste a chance. Watch his face after a bad miss, if he quickly gets on with it we’ll be okay. If he looks like his dog died, then you know the weight of the world is on him and not much good comes after that.

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  12. terrible article, it was boring. focus on the players and important things like evaluating tactics, performances, and who should be playing. very disappointing, i didn’t get a chicago perspective. redeem yourself.

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  13. oh about the seats.. i thought by the 25 – 30 min mark they were decently filled.. but on a thursday night , with the weather we had and the loactaion of the park.. taking 55 is like pulling teeth..

    I thought the turnout was pretty good. But I’m not as sure as you that it forshadows future good attendence as opening night was part of the ever popular 5 game packages

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  14. Does anyone here know what happeded to Michael Videira, that kid that New England drafted and didn’t sign? I heard he is looking at Europe but I haven’t heard a thing from him. Supposed to be first round talent.

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  15. I was really hoping this would include a Fire fan’s thoughts on Barrett. I thought even though he got on the score sheet he still gave away too many balls and missed more chances than he took.

    Anotherbodymurdered, are you so much of a coward you won’t log in or use a name you can be identified by? If I recall correctly it was the crybaby fire fans who threw their little temper tantrums because they had a coach and player who didn’t want to be there, not us RBNY supporters. You pansy.

    Great write up Stephen, was just hoping for some thoughts on Barrett.

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  16. Nice work.

    Anything less than 3 pts against S.J will be a disappointment, especially after watching them vs. L.A last week. Half the crowd at cavernous McAfee will likely be there because of Blanco, so it will be far more friendly than you would ever expect for an home opener (re-opener) for a new franchise.

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  17. Ha, are NYRB fans so butthurt that they are now projecting their insecurities onto unrelated articles?

    A good article btw, keep it up.

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  18. Tim K- if conde is in form and willing to play 110% then he’d be well suited to take the def. mid role…

    altho, i have to stand by Pause, as he’s done well in both games (in my opinion)…

    great write-up stephen, altho i will say apparently our forwards can score against a team with 11 men…. they put 2 away against RSL (yes a poor attempt at humor) and 1 against the Revs (before the sending off)..

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  19. I didn’t think Bush was especially strong on crosses.. decent shot stopper.. but weak on the set peices.. im more worried then assured by him

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  20. I will second the praise to the Fire players for a job well done!! I at the game front row center to watch a steller 1st half performance by our men in red. The team had much better motion, passing and creativity compared to the last game and FINALLY Barrett finished a shot. The weather was awful but the joy of watching 4 goals was so heart warming!. I cant remember the Fire scoring 2 goals let along 4.

    I agree about the attendance for the season ticket holders on televised games. I was there in my proud red with my family. But also note that on a day of poor weather many of the fans there go to the stadium club to stay warm hence the open seating.

    Personally, Im not sold on pause being by him self at defensive midfield. I think either Conde or gutierrez can show much more productivity in that position. Im encouraged by the massive depth of our team! Go Fire

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