Now that Brian McBride is set to join the Chicago Fire after the Olympics in mid to late August, one question begs to be answered. Does McBride make the Fire the MLS Cup favorites?
Yes, New England has been the class of the league for most of the season, but Chicago was dominant the first two months of the year before offensive struggles, and issues with forwards being able to finish, helped lead to a winless month of June. Now Chicago will add McBride to an attack that features Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chris Rolfe and Justin Mapp.
McBride is a proven goal scorer and a leader, someone who can energize a team and help bring the best out of it. We all saw him inspire Fulham to a successful race to avoid relegation last season and there’s no reason to believe he won’t be able to inspire the Fire come playoff time.
So there’s the question. Does McBride make Chicago the favorites? Does Chicago still have other issues that will keep the club from adding an MLS Cup title exactly a decade after adding one in its inaugural season? Is New England, which has posted the league’s best record essentially without Taylor Twellman, still the favorite?
Share your thoughts below.
To suggest that Houston’s defense can compare with the Fire’s is a joke.
In the mid, I love Chicago’s mid, but I think DD and Holden are great so I won’t push that one.
Up top we are obviously lacking, but with McBride coming…. and maybe Rolfe moving up… could be interesting.
jdawg- you saying Houston has more depth is indeed subjective…. its merely opinion at best….
and who cares about the 2-1 win at toyota park, outcomes are not up for debate…
Also, I couldn’t agree more that the Revs are the favorites to come out of the east. Having said that, Alex has made a great point. I have a hard time making them the “team to beat” in the entire league when they always end up choking eventually, even if it is in the cup final.
And no, I’m not hating here. I have unfortunately witnessed first hand that when they play terribly they are still lucky and resourceful, and it has hurt my team. But you gotta win at LEAST one before I start bowing and exclaiming you as the favorites. That’s just how it works.
Mark, you and everyone who thinks McBride is a gamble are missing the point. McBride has never “lit it up” anywhere, ever. He is NOT a guy that comes even close to that fabled “goal every 2 matches” label of prolific.
As I mentioned in my first comment, he is a deadly finisher. When you combine that with his passing ability and tireless workrate, including helping out the midfield, you fine true value regardless of his age. One only has to watch him closely to realize this–believe me, I used to hate on him more than anyone I knew until I realized how good he really was.
Think of all the wasted chances we see by subpar talent in this league every single matchday. Now, think of the fact that McBride doesn’t waste chances. This is why he is not a gamble, and this is why Toronto got totally screwed in this deal. He might not score 15 goals in 15 games, or even 7 in 15. But he WILL have nothing other than a positive influence on the Fire.
This is also why as a RBNY supporter I’m even sadder.
NE the team to beat???????? Please, they don’t know how to “close the deal”. They’re the Buffalo Bills of the MLS. Until they do it, I will doubt them. Besides, no one in MLS runs the table all year and wins it. It’s always who is hot at the end. And Houston is vulnerable – they can’t score much.
Steve,
Ive seen enough of Puse to know what I DONT like. Or put Conde there and put marmol in the backline.
Hamlettt has a history of playing favorites not whose best
McBride’s style of strength and Hard nosed tactics made him perfect for the EPL due to their dependence on crosses and headers for a lot of plays. McBride also has a sick finish on him so if Blanco can play some good passes to him it’ll be deadly. Justin Mapp has speed and crossing ability so thats another danger. Funny, lol it’ll be interesting to see how Chivas USA (Ante Razov) vs Chicago Fire (Brian McBride) is going to go down. should be good.
New England is still the favorite. They’ve been playing this well without Twellman and even Cristman and Mansally haven’t been able to maintain their health. Castro as well can be an impact and I love the energy of Khano off the bench lately.
NE might have a lapse with Parkhurst gone to China but Igwe should be able to step in with Heaps sliding to the middle.
McBride makes Chicago even more potent… but the Revs still are the best.
Columbus is still the team to beat. They’ve looked the best in the first half. Haven’t always gotten the result, but even when they lost to the Revs they looked better.
They do play terribly on turf, however
I’d like to see Conde and Marmol switched in the above lineup, and I think Prideaux has proven himself thus far on the right. But yeah, something like that, please no more dual defensive mids.
NE is the favorite until someone makes a run at them.
Martha – You’re out of your mind if you’re just going to pencil Marmol in place of Pause based on what we’ve seen of him.
@fumar
You wouldn’t!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3ixSTzD4SSU
says it all.
Only a shrink can help Barrett become a top finisher. Let’s hope TFC has a good one.
They should have dealt Rolfe. McBride could have helped Barret become a top finisher in MLS.
Chicago should have said they do not want McBride, then the problem is MLS’s. If they think the league needs him fine, but why should Chicago give up a starter, money, draft picks and ISL? The talk about Mcbride is surreal, like being 36 means nothing. Reminds me of posters claiming the price for Freidel was too low as if 37 meant nothing, even for a goalkeeper.
Houston is definitely the team to beat again. I would be surprised if they did not win.
Mcbride—-Rolfe
Mapp—-Cuah—Thorrington
—-marmol—
Sega—Conde—Soumare–Robinson
—-Bush——
Me likey
I think the Fire is the favorite.
Every team struggles at some point in the year., and the Fire struggled the whole last month. yet they stayed in 3rd place in the conference.Now they get rid of their worst striker and add a better one.
jdawg, I’m with you. I remember last year around here some folks didn’t think Houston would win it. They ARE the team to beat. You know once this almost meaningless season is over it’s a whole new game and Houston knows how to bring the pain.
If they pair Chris Rolfe with McBride up top then Yes.
If they continue to push Rolfe out wide right, then No.
McBride will help but he can’t do it alone. When Rolfe is up top, our entire offense looks better. It will be even more so with McBride.
I love the idea of Rolfe running off McBride. Let Blanco run behind them and feed them. If that happens, then I do think the Fire are the team to beat.
Oh yes, and then there was that 2-1 win at your house in May (when yall were playing well too). Forgot that one.
Chicago will probably get McBride for 9 regular season games. Assuming there are no injuries during the regular season or Olympics.
In the meantime, the East is a beast–every team is competitive. Right now, probably the worst team in the East is DC United–and we saw what they looked like going into the All-star break. NE has played well all season. Columbus is strong. TFC–if they get a forward (and no, Barrett isn’t the answer) will be tough. Red Bulls–if the new talent works out and Angel stays healthy.
A healthy in-form McBride is a huge plus. But that assumes he’s healthy. And that Chicago is still in position to make a run.
@ ag nigrin: I think what you say is less true in MLS than in most leagues. To build a consistent contender, sure it takes time. But the MLS champs don’t have to top they table. They just have to win games in the playoffs. A team with good players, good timing, and good luck can do that more easily.