First, Thorrington was extremely effective at CAM against New England and they have one of the better central middie combinations in the league with Joseph and Larentowicz. Second, to be fair, this team was never designed to attack up the middle. We were supposed to work it up the wings on whatever side Blanco was overloading and cross the ball into McBride and then goals ensue. Nyarko was supposed to be our speed threat and whoever was in attacking midfield (Rolfe, Pappa, Mapp or Blanco) was supposed to pick up any rebounds or poor clearances and put those back into the box or into the net. If everything had gone well, it might have worked. Unfortunately, several things happened that turned it into a recipe for underperformance. In no particular order: McBride didn't do himself many favors this season with largely -and with exceptions!- merely mediocre play. I officially declare him a bust which makes his selection as MVP extremely galling to me as a Fire fan. Rolfe took a while to learn the midfield role and even then he really wasn't as good at it as a real midfielder. Mapp proved not even worthy to be subbed into games and apparently got passed up by Banner in the depth chart. Thorrington proved to be absolutely horrible as a 2nd d-mid to cover the gaping hole we had where a CAM (Blanco) would have been. This caused him to lead our team in both yellow and red cards despite playing effectively only half a season. Sega and Ward got hurt which robbed us of more attacking options on the wings. On the flip side, Banner and Prideaux tended to stay home and this helped out our center backs. When Thorrington got hurt, Denis brought in Lowry who proved too attacking-minded for Denis's scheme and so after the kid saved our asses in a couple games, Denis did not learn his lesson and Peter's reward was a spot on the bench. Nyarko either doesn't have the skill or, more likely, was not developed properly and so he underwhelmed at forward. We had no Plan B for when Blanco got called up and when McBride got hurt. This is an even more inexcusable coaching failure on Denis's part because he was here when we went through the same damn thing with two older stars Hristo and Nowak. You'd have thought he'd have learned from that experience but obviously he did not. Soumare was either distracted by visions of Europe dancing in his head and/or he was also not developed properly and/or he is just plain average. While Denis apparently totally mishandled the whole situation, Baky's departure proved an accidental boon to us as CJ Brown stepped in and played better than Baky did but it did hurt our performance for the first half of the season. Obviously, not all of this is Denis's fault. At the same time, enough of it is Denis's fault and his responses to the rest were entirely inadequate so he deserves to be "failed to be rehired".
Because we don't have the kind of skilled forward who would complement a big target man up front. Oh... wait.
One more reason this plan, which could have, but did not come off - nobody EVER stays wide on the weak side on this team. Drove me crazy all season long.
Chemistry issues? What sort of thing would you be referring to? Would challenging a defender to "take it outside" be an example of a chemistry issue?
No... I meant more like Rolfe secretely felt that Blanco and McBride had horrible body odor and he would only agree to play as far from them as possible.. out on the wing. Kind of like the period where I was sure our two d-mids loved each other so much that they insisted they wouldn't play at all if they couldn't be on the field together. I guess we'll never know.....
As usual, you misinterpret what I have said and you are letting your clear bias for Chris cloud your thinking. Go find where I said that Blanco or McBride shouldn't have come off. I dare you. I double dare you. You won't find it because I didn't say it. I said that after 100 minutes of missed chances and no goals, it seems pretty foolish to NOT use your subs, and so I asked who else you would bring IN. I don't know any details about the players at the time the subs were made. Someone said that Chris was completely gassed. I have no idea. If he was, then bring him out. If not, I probably bring McBride out. Now, why don't you tell us all what a fantastic game Chris had that was simply thwarted by the selfish play between Blanco and Pappa. Finally, I'm not continually defending Hamlett. That is simply the impression people get that think we have the greatest team ever assembled in any league that would have gone 30-0 with a simple half wit as a coach. We weren't that good. We were good enough to be in the mix and if McBride doesn't waste a wide open break by putting a ball 5 feet wide of a pretty open back post, we are all talking about how great the Fire are and how we are getting to Seattle. Last night, I thought we had a reasonable game plan that created plenty of opportunities to win outright in 90 minutes. We again far out "corner kicked" the other team and we had a couple of "how did that not go in" moments. RSL is a very good team. We should have beaten them, but I think people are downplaying their quality too much. They just took out the defending champ and two-time Supporter Shield winners and RSL has several starters that are better than ours. There is no reason to think that we should have crushed them. As I have maintained from the start of this season, MLS Cup was a must, and we didn't get there, so Denis should move along. But last night cemented my opinion that our fate was sealed by an organizational decision to try to win with two old players. I agreed with bringing them both in, so what can I say. But, in the end, we just didn't have it.
You've left out the fact that your son was cramping up out there. He cramped up in the corner right in front of section 111/112, right in front of us.
[QUOTE = kebzach; 19286189] You've left out the fact that your son was cramping up out there. He cramped up in the corner right in front of section 111/112, right in front of us.[/ QUOTE] No, I didn't omit it because it was obviously irrelevant when Thorrington did the same thing just a few minutes after Rolfe cramped up in the same end of the field. Did you happen to see that as well, Zach, and yet JT did stay in. This has nothing to do with Chris--I felt the same way with Pappa as you read in my quote.
My disagreement with your post, and I may have misunderstood what you said, had to nothing to do with my bias for Chris or Marco (whom I also mentioned, I believe) but rather with DH's substitution decisions which it seemed to me you were supporting. I agree we should have used the substitutions but I did not agree with the players subbed out. Guess that's my opinion and it is not only mine based upon what I heard Saturday night and read today. Again, IMO, I don't think you pull your best ball-strikers out of the game if you have left them in until nearly the end of the game. This has been something DH seemingly has done over the course of the entire season. You don't pull players out because they happen to cramp up once in a game unless they just can't go on--that wasn't the case with Chris or Pappa IMO. How did this get into the discussion??? Nothing I said even related to this issue. If you want to see what the folks at Aalborg thought of Chris' game last night you should read an article referenced on their blog today. They apparently thought he played a fantastic game even though he didn't score. I have no idea why you even wrote this explanation to defend your first comment. IMO, again, I think you have sought to be exceptionally kind to DH and in evaluating his decisions over the course of the season. I just disagree with you and I think again you are probably in the minority by doing so. I had no negative comments at all about the game plan, our opportunities, or our intensity which I happened to think was excellent last night. I also made no reference to RSL being a poor team nor did I even suggest that we should have "crushed" them. My original post took one paragraph--yours took several. That isn't all that unusual from you whenever you are challenged. We are in total agreement on this one and unfortunately I think it turned out to burn us and probably DH as well.
Why are we even arguing? Its a given that whatever subs were made, if they were made by Denis Hamlett, they were incorrect.
Guy's I really dont think Hamlet is going anywhere, not too many managers get fired after nearly taking their team to the Finals. I dont know if manager contracts are guaranteed but I also dont see the Fire eating his money in what is going to be a god aweful year next season with all the losses on offense. Hamlet has a good defensive philosophy but offensively hes crap, he put way too much confidence in Blanco's creativity which is great but Blanco is so damn slow it hurt the fire more than it helped. One bright spot is Nyarko, this kid was awesome last night and if given enough freedom up front he could be THE bright spot in 2010. On the flip side with average attendance numbers last year I still think the Fire will try to bring in another popular Mexican player to help bandage the bleeding attendance that Blanco's departure will create. Averaging just a few hundred more fans than San Diego with Blanco and McBride is no bueno.
If by "put way too much confidence in Blanco's creativity" you mean "routinely played players out of positition, often employing ridiculous lineups in the process or expressly for the purpose of doing so, and compounded those mis-utilized players with the consistently worse use of substitutes in MLS over the last two years...." then yes... I agree.
I know this is tongue in cheek, but this really encapsulates the arguments of most. My guess is that the same people who are up in arms that Nyarko didn't take a penalty last night would be the very same people in the Superliga final thread who were incensed that Denis put the young fragile Mike Banner in such a dreadful position. Never mind that he is two years older than Nyarko and that Nyarko was knocked silly last night. Point is that Denis can do no right with many on here. I get that, and frankly, I don't really care about that. I just think that pinning everything wrong with the team (as wrong as a team who was in the conference final two years running can be) is all due to one guy.
1. Good to know. 2. My bad San Jose. Those crazy cal towns all sound the same to me lol. Now a good question would be who do we hire? My money is on an in house hire, Mike Jeffries a Fire assistant could be the hire if they want to stay cheap.
If Hamlett is the coach next year, I will NOT attend any games. If the FO doesn't want to pay for a good coach, why should I waste my money to see mediocre boring defensive soccer at home.
Well its not like there is another Ziggy Schmidt out there for the picking. CJ Brown could be another option but with zero experience coaching it does not make sense, either way the Fire will have a horrible year next year if they dont find replacements for their big 3 so I dont see Chicago as being a major destination for a coach unless we want to bring back the great Sarachan back.
I know football purists can love 0-0 games, I for one hate them and makes me wish all MLS regular season games would go back to the hockey style of games. I know people will yell and complain about this but OMG have those people actually gone to Fire home games this year!? ABYSMAL offense that made me want to blow my brains out.
LOL Repp'd. God, I wish I had a sock puppet nick to rep this again...and again. SuperSting, break out your socks and passwords and rep this thing!
my thought now have nothing to do with why we lost or how much hammlet and mapp and whoever sucks, only my sadness fyi- wrote this at about 3 am last night. I guess I shoulda seen this coming. The Fire Chicago's Fire MY Fire. The team that Ive grown to love, to embrace. The one who has given me some of the greatest fan experiences of my life. None of the sporting events I attend are filled with as much passion and flair as my section 8 encounters. Nowhere else can i stand and deliver for 90 straight minutes, with the souls around me all giving out the same passion and flair towards are men in red, with the collective hope of that ball going over that line, past that keeper, rippling that net, and touching that heart of us. This is what the Fire are. Soccer is a sport built on the moment, the second, the point where your heart is lifted to new heights you never knew where there. Soccer is a sport of passion. And I have developed a passion for the Fire. Just as I have developed a passion for the city of Chicago Just as I have developed a passion for the Chicago flag. Just as I have developed a passion for a section that has become known for its extraordinary displays. Thats why this means so much. Thats why I go. Thats why I dress up in full gear. Fire Jersey, red shorts, red socks, white headband, sky blue and white scarf. Hell i even made a makeshift captains armband for tontines game, and I wasn't even wearing the jersey of the captain. Thats why i get up for these games so much. The Fire are something special. Nobody has ever asked me, but a question that I have though of is "what do I want more... a Fire MLS Cup, or a Chelsea European Title?" Easy. Fire. MLS Cup may not carry the weight of the UEFA Champions League, but god damn, there is something special about a team that represents MY CITY When I think of the Fire, I think of that beautiful little ol town, complete with broad shoulders, Italian Beef, and a lovely sky blue and red flag. Sports give me a place for happiness and passion that other parts of life dont. What else can give me the emotion to run around and slide, screaming to the heavens? Nothing. Except soccer (at least for now). Or so I thought. I waited all week for this. No matter what else happened, I knew I would find happiness tonight. All week long, this was to be the highlight. This would be the thing above all else that got me going. This was it. The thought of celebrating a win or a goal consumed me. All I wanted was that moment of pure ecstasy. This was my chance to bring out the passion and emotion inside of me. What other than a Fire goal to send them to the MLS Cup final to bring my spirits out? Right now I can't think of anything that could. Unfortunately, I cant think of anything that did. In case you didn't hear, my Fire did not win. They lost. On penalty kicks. The cruelest of ways. Soccer is a game based in the smallest of margins making the monumental difference, and Penalty Kicks are the cruelest evidence. Part nerve tester, part athletic ability, part dumb luck. In a game that seems dramatic because of the shift that a few minutes can bring, PKs are a game that can shift in a few seconds. One moment your guy is lining up to win it all. To move on, with just a penalty kick in front of him. Should be easy, I mean its a penalty kick. Just put it in, and were in the ********ing Cup final. At this point, all is good. All the waiting I had done all week will pay off. My passion and happiness and emotion is set to come out now. Finally, something to scream about. Then he misses. Then they don't. Then its over. Then, you have nothing. You are where you were at the start. With nothing but your thoughts. Nothing but the memory of what could have been. What should have been and what is not. To go from top of the world to bottom of the pile in just a few seconds like that is a pain unmatched anywhere else. Say goodbye to the happiness and the letting out of passion Say hello to the pain of another team celebrating again. This is why i take it the way I do. This was supposed to be my source of happiness, the thing that kept me up, but it was stolen from me. Just as it was in too many other situations. This is the stigma i will feel until the next event that consumes, which is an event, that unfortunately I have no knowledge of what it is. What I have now is the pain of another loss, with nothing on the horizon to null this feeling. But I shoulda seen this coming.