When the lineups came out for today's matchup against Sporting Kansas City at Toyota Park, gasps could be heard: SKC, the most committed 4-3-3 team in the league, the foremost purveyors of in-your-face pressing in the league, were coming out in a 3-5-2.
#SportingKC XI vs #cf97: Kronberg; Myers, Palmer-Brown, Sinovic; Peterson, Nagamura (C), Feilhaber, Dovale, Juliao; Bieler, Dwyer #CHIvSKC
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) May 18, 2014
It's getting all mid-90s Premiership in here, and it makes some sense in light of this:
FIRE @UIHealth Starters vs. #SKC: Johnson; Palmer, Hurtado, Ianni, Cochrane; Nyarko, Larentowicz (C), Joya, Shipp; Amarikwa, Magee #cf97
— Chicago Fire (@ChicagoFire) May 18, 2014
Chicago named an unchanged XI, deployed in the same 4-4-2 that just deboned a decent New York defense. The Sporks have essentially one healthy centerback, and that's Palmer-Brown, a 17-year-old kid with exactly zero minutes first-team experience. Expect KC's shape to look like a 5-3-2 whenever the Fire are in possession, with Myers and Sinovic getting lots of help on the flanks from Peterson and Julião.
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