Game 9: Chicago Fire vs Wiz 7:30pm Toyota Park CSN

Honestly I didn't notice it live at TP because my eyes were drawn to the ball rocketed out of bounds by Espinoza. Watching the highlights when I got home it's a very clear red card with that blatant elbow. He should be getting a hefty suspension from the league office.

Not at first- but eventually we were damp, and it seemed colder. That's what I get for believing the weather forecast!

I watched the game from a hotel in St. Louis and:

1. No
2. Yes
3. Watch from th 4:00 mark on MLS highlights of the game.

http://p.mlssoccer.com/SAu5a/video/980393/980393_2012-05-12-230433.640hq.mp4

Last night Vermes claimed he was going to appeal the red card. He can appeal it all he wants, but it won't be overturned and Espinosa will definately miss more than one game.

Two bonehead moves gave us 3 points on a platter, and no one of them was not the PK. While the Fire came out and attacked after going down a goal (I know, shocking), Espinoza's flying elbow really put SKC on their heels and Kamara's Rec. League brain fart in front of their own goal was a costly mistake. Vermes has bigger fish to fry than the rookie ref he put on the grill last night.

I mentioned Kamara's idiocy.

After looking at the play again I will give Nyarko some credit for hustling and sneaking the the ball away without being called for a foul.

It was still a Rec. League brain fart type of play as you say .

Glad it was in our favor.

The kc fans are stating the same things.
The ref did a good job.
Both big calls were correct.
And vermes is an ass for calling out a ref who called a pretty decent game.

The Sporks definitely self-destructed, but we dominated from the very beginning of the 2nd half. KC barely got a touch on the ball in the first 10 minutes of the half, and the PK was forced by a great pass from Segares and a nice run by Oduro. The self-destruct happened after that, and we had full control of the game by that point.

We are probably the best 11 on 10 team in the league

I need to rewatch the game but I rember us being pretty even if not edging them out in the first half. Maybe they had more chances but it's not like we were embarrassed on the pitch.

We did dismantle them in the second half, even before the red. I'd like to see what we did differently that changed the game.

Take a look, but in my mind, it was simply more effort, team-wide.

I'm all in favor of hustle. I'm disappointed when people rag on the "American" game because it's all running. I say Messi's a great example of what a skilled player can be when they add "hustle" to their game.

No, I'm not comparing the Fire to Messi.

Although, wouldn't that be nice if we could?

This is one thing I have been talking about since cdlc. A possession game shouldn't be slow and methodical. Look at the great club teams of the world and they all work very fast and very hard. They exploit advantages quickly and even when they are just killing off a game with possession they are really constant motion and work.

Espinoza is a thug .

They also have great coaching and knowledge of positioning and movement.
You see theres a problem when Sega gets the ball and has no one to pass to or the wing is left to deal with the double team by themselves.

Oduro's speed is (obviously) his strength but he needs to come deeper to help the mids out and closer to the wings when they have it.

I think we need a good Dutch tactical coach. Build an identity other than "pass to speedy guy."

I think what it comes down to (our issues with possession/speed of play/ability to kill a game) is a real weakness in the center of our midfield.

Grazzini is a great player, but in this current setup he spends far too much time bunched with Oduru on the shoulder of the last defender. The only plausible reason I can see for this (other than him being told he's a 2nd striker now, with Patrick and Logan shouldering what would be his defensive responsibilities, or perhaps he is focused on winning the 2nd ball after our long service to Odoru is intercepted.

However, when he's in this position he doesn't get the ball to feet, he doesn't put himself into the pocket of maximum distribution opportunities, and our play becomes predictable from full back to winger. Maybe we could get away with this if Pavel was Yaya and completed a pass once every 50 sec, or if Logan played more of a #10 role, but I think we could all agree it would be better if Seba did that. When we are chasing a game however, he will track back to receive the ball from the defense and develop an attack. I suggest he do that all the time.

Also we need a way to incorporate Pappa more effectively into our play but that's another issue.

By saying that are you implying we need to go to / try a 4-3-3 or 3-4-3?

Frank did switch it to a 4-3-3, it's just not a pretty 4-3-3.

More accurately, we had full control of the space within ten yards either side of the center line. At one point, I counted 16 straight completed Fire passes, all within that 20 yard boundary. And KC looked pretty content to let us play pinball within that zone. That's great and all, but we really don't have very many ideas in the final attacking third, at least not when Puppo isn't in. Pappa got so frustrated he started channeling Paladini with hopeless 35 yard "shots" that never came close to being on frame. When we attack as a unit, we can be dangerous, so why is it that we rarely do so? Usually, we hoof it to Oduro or Nyarko who are so far ahead of everyone else that they have nobody to cross or pass to and they're facing at least three opposing defenders by themselves. So they have to hold up and wait for the rest of the team to saunter into action and by that time, the opportunity is so long gone it's sending the team a tacky postcard from foreign shores.

The few times we did look dangerous - and when we actually scored- it was because we put players into KC's penalty area. I've been saying this all season but we still so rarely do it. That's why I like Puppo. He's not afraid to run into the other team's box. We looked more consistently dangerous in the 10 minutes he was in the game than we did the other 80. Much of that was because we had the lead and an extra man, to be sure, but he created at least two good chances to score for himself when we were hardly able to generate that the entire first half. I can't wait until Rolfe is able to play, assuming he's used as a forward in a 4-4-2.

All this isn't to say we're a horrible team. We're not. What I am saying is that until we start doing more of the things we do when we're dangerous and less relying solely on Oduro's speed, we're going to depend on good luck, the refs or boneheaded blunders by the other team if we're going to get results from anyone other than Toronto and Chivas. We did some good things on Saturday night. Let's get ourselves out of our strategic rut and build on that.

Agreed. All the major calls were correct. I gotta say, the officials did a good job. Now, how many games until we see that again?

We do not play a 4-3-3. We play a 4-2-3-1 that can become a 4-2-2-2 if Nyarko and Oduro attack in tandem.

Whatever version of the 4-5-1 they are playing, they don't know how to.

Since other teams have pretty much figured us out and adapted, our success is based on execution, not strategic superiority. Well, execution and luck in the form of mistakes, the ref, etc.

We have good enough execution to beat the bad teams in MLS and to get the occasional result against other teams at our level. But, unless we change things up a bit, we'll need more Sporks-style meltdowns to beat the likes of New York, Seattle, RSL, etc.

My hope is that Puppo and Rolfe will be catalysts for change. If so, they can make everyone on our offense a better player. If that happens, full credit to Frank for bringing these guys in and using them wisely.

I would add Arne, Berry and Robayo to that list...

Well, Old Man and Berry maybe...