Hot Time In Old Town - All Posts

Chicago Fire vs. Real Salt Lake - MLS #11 - Story Stream

2013-05-24T13:00:20Z

Bakary Soumare Returning to Chicago (Updated)

2013-05-23T19:49:15Z

According to Guillermo Rivera at Fire Confidential, Ives Galarcep over at Soccer By Ives and a number of other sources around the internet, Bakary Soumare is on his way back to Chicago. Most sources state that the final details are currently being ironed out, but that the deal is essentially done.

At the moment, there are very few details. We will have more details when the trade is announced.

Bakary Soumare was defensive force to be reckoned with during his time with the Fire. At 27 years of age, Bakary is still a strapping young lad and could potentially return to the Form he was in circa 2008/2009, but he did suffer a knee injury that took quite a while to recover from. He seems to be back to health, but an injury like this could still resurface and then the Fire would be back in the same spot that they are in now.

The Fire back line definitely needs reinforcement. Most fans would probably prefer to see Jalil Anibaba back to the right back position and Wells Thompson on the bench, and the Fire acquiring Soumare would make this a possibility. I do not want to see the Fire give up too much for Soumare who has not fully proven that he is completely healthy. We wouldn't want to have another Arne Friedrich situation on our hands.

Speaking of Arne, the fact that the Fire do trade for Soumare might mean that Arne will possibly not be returning. Guillermo Rivera and Jeff Krause reported on the Fire Confidential Podcast that the Fire where having difficult making the trade for Soumare happen due to not having enough room under the cap. If the Fire are cap strapped, but they are still getting this deal done, then I assuming that its because team is not counting on Arne making a return any time soon.

Also, if the Fire are cap strapped, then I would also assume that the Fire might be giving up a player. Or maybe they could get this deal done because Sherjill MacDonald will be coming off the books in about a month.

If any one disagrees with my assumptions, please leave a comment. I'd like to get some other points of views on this.

To top it all off, there are still rumblings of a Mike Magee for Robbie Rogers trade.

Hang on Fire fans. Bakary's return could be the first of many big changes coming.

UPDATE: Soumare to Fore official

The club has officially announced that former player Bakary Soumare is indeed returning to Chicago. The Fire are sending their 2nd round pick in the 2014 MLS Superdraft, as well as allocation money to the Union for Soumare.

Post-Match Chalkboard: Game No. 10

2013-05-22T21:19:00Z

John Hackworth made a few alterations to his line up on Saturday. The result was a more potent looking Philadelphia Union at home.

The most influential change to the lineup was starting Sebastien Le Toux up top with Jack McInerney. McInerney was the man of the match on Saturday, but Le Toux was a close second.

Le Toux completed 4 out of 10 attempted crosses, 2 key passes and an assist.

Another adjustment that Hackworth made was switching Danny Cruz from the right wing to the left wing this past Saturday. The speed of Cruz gave Fire right back Wells Thompson trouble throughout the 63 minutes that Thompson played. Cruz had 2 successful dribbles out of 4 and won two fouls, both committed by Thompson.

With the speed of Cruz to deal with, Thompson could not afford to get forward and support the attack.

Last week, I had wrote that I thought that Wells Thompson might be getting a hang of things at right back when it came to the defensive aspect of the position. After this past game, I'm redacting that. Wells is progressing, but he still has a long way to go.

In the end, there were some players on the Fire squad who had a decent game individually. As a team, the defending was sketchy at times and the attacking was toothless throughout. The Fire put 6 shots on target in the game, but the only shot that I can recall looking dangerous was Dilly Duka's.

Compared to some fans, I feel I've been fairly optimistic about this team despite the awful start to the season. After two straight loses to a team that we should be capable of beating, I'm starting to lose faith.

Damn Yankees

2013-05-22T02:02:56Z

Ordinarily I am always for MLS expansion. In truth I know this will be good for the league and exciting for the Fire to have new competition. New York has an immense and thirsty market for soccer and the club will surely gain attention fast. But did it have to be the Yankees? Did it even have to be New York? Allow me to let you in on a little secret. I, like many residents of the Windy City, am not from Chicago. I grew up about an hour and a half north of "the city" in Poughkeepsie, NY and was raised a rabid Mets fan. Omitting an exciting time in the mid 1980s, I grew up always watching my team play second fiddle to the men in pinstripes.

Now, with my adult passion being soccer, must I endure a second New York soccer club sapping the US soccer market of all remaining world press attention for MLS? Already, if you went by ESPN, there are only two soccer clubs in the US: the Galaxy and the Red Bulls. The Sounders are getting close to that. Since the wealthy Yankees will be a minority partner to powerful side Manchester City Football Club, the New York City Football Club seems poised to be a collaboration of titanic proportions and the club will likely end up a powerhouse in the league within a few years of entering in 2015.

There is definitely a market for two clubs in New York and the Yankees attaching their name to the project draws the attention of many fans nationwide that follow the most popular team in baseball. Is this good for MLS? Sure. That does not mean I have to like it. It would have been nice to see a different city and a city without as saturated of a sports market get the next MLS club. Why couldn’t the next city to host a MLS club be a city like Atlanta, Tampa or New Orleans? A little MLS representation in the south would be nice. How about St Louis or Detroit, for a little more Midwest representation? How about Phoenix? It could be any place but New York.

Obviously there would need to be the financial backing, wherewithal, a fan base and a sports market to make a club successful in any of these other cities and I can’t argue that New York is ready to go. It stands to reason that the NYCFC (they have been clear it is NOT NYC FC) will act as a feeder club to Manchester City with lots of international loans. It will be an opportunity to see up and coming world soccer stars in MLS play, which is always an exciting proposition. Fans of the Fire have the rest of this season and all of next to brace for impact. Expect this move to get a lot of attention in the US and around the world. I know rivalries are not born overnight, but I know personally I will have a new club to love to hate in upcoming seasons. Here’s to hoping the Fire get the better of the NYCFC.

USOC Matchup Changes; Pineda to US U-20 Team

2013-05-21T13:13:36Z

If the Charlotte Eagles end up beating the Sounders U-23 team, their matchup against the Men in Red would take place on Wednesday, May 29th at 6 PM instead of the original Tuesday, May 28th date. Keep in mind this game would be play at Winthrop University in South Carolina. Should the Sounders U-23 team win, the Fire will be hosting them at Toyota Park on May 28th. So, either way the Fire will find out who and where they are playing, and soon.

Also, for those that didn't see this last week (I apologize for not getting this up sooner), here's an interesting look at the behind the scenes process for the USOC draw. The Fire's own Jeff Crandall was made privy to the inner workings of this process. You should definitely read the article. It helps shed light on a seemingly secretive process. One thing is for certain, it will be nice to kick off the campaign for our 5th USOC title. Let's hope the tournament goes much better than the 2013 season thus far.

In other news, Victor Pineda will once again play for the US U-20 team. He had a successful 2012 for that team, scoring 3 goals and adding an assist in 6 appearances. Pineda will be away from the team from May 28-June 8th. Definitely, congrats are in order for Victor.For some reason he hasn't been getting a look from Frank Klopas despite the team needing steady midfield production and not getting it this year. I have no reason why he isn't getting some playing time now that he's healthy. At least Victor will be seeing some good, steady minutes for the U-20 team. And let's hope we see much more of him in Fire red as the season progresses too.

MLS #10 - PHI 1, CHI 0: Fire guttering in another scoreless loss

2013-05-19T03:30:53Z

I was one of the lucky few for whom the drugs kicked in; presented with another 4-4-2 featuring Wells Thompson Naive DefenderTM, and Double Pivot and the Pinched-In Twins ... well, there is a time and a place for mescaline, and a slightly out-of-phase hypercolor (reachable through mescaline booster-stage) for this stuff here on this dissolving bit of gelatin paper ... today was the time, I was in the place, and the hypercolor was also on offer. I had a bit of rum ready at hand, and a small supply of Miller High Life - the Champagne of Beers. I was ready for kickoff, come what may.

Girded by arcane chemistry, I felt perversely buoyant in the early moments. The shapes were odd and static, familiar as a damp towel; I felt a mild tingling in my hands, and hallucinated an early corner kick. On this set piece - blood falling from an iron sky - some wizard or enchanter rendered our boys into spastic, two-dimensional cut-outs of themselves, and an shockingly 3D version of Jack McInerney ran through a crowd of his teammates (seemingly out of depth of field) to crunch home an early goal.

I was particularly struck by the way the blood-rain mingled with our two-dimensional Men in Red as they struck the famous Scream pose, hands cradling a howling yawp. ‘Facing the meaninglessness of existence while magicked into a dumbfounded two-dimensional state must not be a great deal of fun,' I thought. I realized I was hallucinating, and yet I could see the score: PHI 1, CHI 0.

The Fire, such early victims of obvious magical perfidy, labored manfully to get back into the game. Two-dimensional people, compared with their 3D originals, lose something crucial - a touch goes awry; a run ends too early, or too late; a slip lets the switching pass through. The field began to spin widdershins. Beneath the play-by-play, a growling voice chanted in a language I could not understand. Time slipped its gears.

Sixty-eight days later - the rum gone, the chemicals long since run dry; the High Life sacrificed to an interminable halftime segment - the official smeared the ichor from the face of his watch, raised an arm, and blew the game dead. The data-wave flowing from the laptop narrowed from an all-singing, all-dancing fugue in several adjacent universes - shapes with the ball, simple and repeated; shapes without, the revealed evidence of group intention, the ball weaving between - to a single point: PHI 1, CHI 0.

As I fell asleep, I thought I heard someone say, "Results, motherf#*ker."

Hallucination over?

Ok, I'm not Hunter Thompson. And I didn't have any mescaline. So this game was another game that sucked as an experience in time. We may look back on some aspect of this contest as a turning point - I don't know what it would be, but I have a healthy respect for the possibility of the failure of my foresight - but its actual experience, watching it as a Fire fan, was one of almost hallucinatory frustration. 1-0, them. Seven losses out of 10 games.

Somehow, the team took a good hard look at the 0-1 home loss to this same team last week and thought, "Heck yeah that's good enough! More of that, please!" Same rambling front pair, with Rolfe and Nyarko roughly splitting up the field, trying to drag defenders out of shape. Same pair on the outside of midfield, pinching and pinching into the space that isn't there in the middle. Same Wolverine back-someone else forward double pivot. Wells and Sega starting way high.

Strangely, given a week to ponder the problems presented by Patty the Mad Dribbler, Philadelphia was somewhat better prepared. For example, in one stretch in the first half, Soumare tackled the ball away from Nyarko 356 possessions in a row. But the Fire got the ball all the way up to Pat 356 times consecutively, which I consider a moral victory. ‘Sooner or later one of those is gonna work,' I tell myself, smearing the tears and mucus onto my cheeks.

I realize there is the narrowest of margins separating this group from success: A breath too many or too few, or too early or late; a step not taken fully, or too fully, or in slightly the wrong direction, and it all comes undone. The season is not over, far from it, and should the breath come at the right time, and the step land at the right place, the malaise can lift in the time between thoughts. But damned if this season isn't starting to look like a march made out of duty rather than inspiration.

There were moments of isolated improvement. Duka, in particular, had a chance to show the technical skill we'd heard so much of in preseason: His rasping 60th-minute drive was the lone real threat to tie the game, dipping and swerving until MacMath one-handed it over the bar. Nyarko was again tricky and full of running. Pause is having some success connecting with longer balls into the channels.

But over 90 minutes, the main impression was of a team composed of supporting players, unable to vary their patterns enough to make a difference going forward. Chris Rolfe has been replaced by a very lifelike facsimile of Chris Rolfe; this new one is filled with dandelion fluff and weighs 18 pounds. Neither forward could peel off into the pocket and dictate play; neither wide man could cause panic running at the defense. No one combined well enough to unsettle Philadelphia. And we zoned out on another set piece to drop all the points.

The loss drops the Fire to 2-7-1 on the season - I would usually write that 2-1-7, which gives a clearer picture of the situation. In 10 games, the Fire have avoided defeat three (3) times. Chicago has collected seven of the first 30 points of the season.

Chicago Fire vs. Philadelphia Union - MLS #10 - Gamethread - 6:30 PM CST -My50/MLS Live/107.9 FM

2013-05-18T22:00:05Z

One has to figure the Union will have a lot of confidence coming into this match. Despite tonight's game being their 3rd match in 7 days, Philly should be riding high for this one. after all, they came into Toyota Park last week, got dominated in pretty much every meaningful category, yet still found a way to pull out a win.

In contrast, the Fire come into the match in shambles. We can't score, can't seem to catch any breaks, and can't get key players (Friedrich) healthy. A win would certainly be a boost to the dour moods we have been stuck in as fans so far in 2013. Until we get consistent goals, I have a hard time predicting 3 Fire points. I am going to say that we will grind out a tough draw tonight. I see a 1-1 scoreline, with goals from McInerney and Nyarko.

With Patty up top again tonight, chances should be created against the same struggling Union defense/midfield. Let's all hope it's not another long night of missed chances that comes back to haunt us as normally the script. Join us here at HTIOT to talk some Fire and help cheer on the Men in Red. Let's go Fire!

Chicago Fire vs. Philadelphia Union - MLS #10 - Preview

2013-05-17T13:44:35Z

Same opponent, different week, and different city. On Saturday Chicago faces the Union at PPL Park after the 2 teams played to a 1-0 Union win a week ago at Toyota Park. Last week the Fire dominated the Union in every statistical category throughout the match, except in the most important category which is goals scored. It took one mental lapse to allow McInerney to slip in between defenders to latch on to a quickly taken Sebastian Le Toux free kick. McInerney slotted the ball past Sean Johnson for the only goal of the game. The Fire had numerous chances to score, but it was the same old story of creating chances and not being able to finish. This inability to finish has meant that the Fire have only scored 6 times this season and this has got to change quick.

Philadelphia entertained the LA Galaxy during midweek, which means that some of the Union players may be a little exhausted (especially since this Saturday's match will be their 3^rd in 7 days). LA came into PPL Park and showed that the Union defense can be taken apart as the Galaxy were able to put 4 past John Hackworth's Union. This is a must win game for the Fire as they sit 8 points out of the playoff spots and if they lose to the Union it will make it 11 points out. Unfortunately at this point in the season, every game is really a must win for the Fire.

Lineups

Since the Union will be operating off tired legs, I expect some of the starters that played against the Galaxy to get a rest Saturday. Hackworth only made 2 changes to his starting XI from Saturday's game versus the Fire compared to the starting XI versus the Galaxy on Wednesday, so here is a wild guess at how they will lineup if Hackworth sticks with his normal starters:

Macmath

Williams-Okugo-Parke-Gaddis

Carroll

Cruz-Daniel-M. Farfan

Casey-McInerney

Since Frank has stated he plans on using Rolfe and Nyarko up top again as he did for last week's meeting with Philly, I would assume chances will again be created. However, we still have to finish those chances and we have struggled with that all year. I think this forward pairing works better than having MacDonald up front but still it won't be the finished forward line because, let's face it, Nyarko is not a striker. We still need to bring in a striker during the next transfer window, but that's all for another story. Larentowicz also comes back from suspension and he will look to take Paladini's place in the starting XI. Other than that I don't see Frank making any changes:

Johnson

Thompson-Anibaba-Berry-Segares

Duka-Larentowicz-Pause-Lindpere

Nyarko-Rolfe

Key Matchups

Since we are playing the same team as last week I don't want to repeat myself. McInerney (if he starts) is the one that is going to garner most of the attention from the Fire back line, as we saw last week. Same with the battle in the middle of the field but this week I think that the Fire have the upper hand with Larentowicz returning to the lineup next to Pause. There is one key matchup I would like to point out though:

Fire's forwards vs. themselves- Yes it sounds kind of cliché but right now they are battling themselves. Through 9 games the entire team has only scored 6 goals, with 3 of those coming from the forward crew. The only way that the Fire forwards are going to find the back of the net is if they start finishing their chances. Last week there were numerous chances that should have been put away and right now not putting those chances away are killing morale as well as results. It's tough to be confident when it seems like you can do nothing right. If they continue to miss chances it will just make it worse and this team cannot afford to drop any more points because of missed chances. It's a painful dilemma to be mired in.

Wildcards

Last week I had said that Le Toux is the Union's wild card coming in off the bench. He not only had the assist on McInerney's goal but he also had the quick thinking to get the dead ball back into play as fast as possible, catching the Fire defense napping. After playing 2/3 of the game against the Galaxy, look for him to start on the bench again but to come into the 2^nd half ready to go. Also look for Kleberson to come in off the bench too. The Philadelphia DP went a full 90 minutes against the Galaxy, but from what I saw he adds that creative vision to the Union team that they otherwise lack.

For the Fire, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Quincy Amarikwa is going to be the Fire's wildcard. He won't be starting but look for him to probably be Frank's first attacking option coming in off the bench. Reports have MacDonald coming back from strep throat, which might push him back in the pecking order. However, Maicon Santos is out for a few weeks due to a shoulder injury picked up in last week's game. With Quincy being the only fully fit forward for this weekend he is going to be looking to make a major impact.

This will probably be the only chance this season where he can expect significant minutes so he must make the most of it. He will look to show Frank that he should be considered for a starting spot and the only way he can do that is by scoring goals. I would expect him to come in around the 60 minute mark and if he can get 1 or 2 goals, he may change Frank's mind about who comes in off the bench first in future games.

Outcome

So as the Fire travel to Philly Saturday asking the same, seemingly eternal weekly question: "who will score the goals for the Fire?". Will it be a repeat of last week and many other games this season? I'm going to say no. The Fire need the 3 points from this game in order to gain some momentum before heading to Salt Lake City on the 25^th. I'm not going to go with my gut this week because I was way off on my prediction last week. I'll say a 1-0 Fire win with the captain Logan Allen Pause getting the winner for his team.