PBP: Home Opener Chicago Fire v. Cincinnati FC (forlorn chili) Soldier Field 7:30 MLS Season Pass

Hugo had a higher transfer fee, but I highly doubt he's paid much more than a quarter of what Shaqiri is paid.

Speaking of Shaqiri, from my view in the mezzanine he looked as fit as he's been since his first few months in Chicago. His "work" rate was as good as it's been here too. There were even a few legitimate tackles put in.

Somewhere I saw a comment that Guti loses focus when he's not on the ball. I hadn't noticed it so much in the attack, but we've seen it more than a few times when we're defending. Maybe it's a tactics thing where only Shaqiri comes back in our half to get the ball and Guti is higher. I'll have to see his heat map compared to Shaqiri's.

 

This is such a strange comment. Do you not know his coaching history or what exactly?

 

Iol- did you see him coaching us last year? I've been watching the team since he played for us, and other than him catching lightning in a bottle with Montreal during the CCC a long time ago, nothing about his coaching career tells me he's going to get us where our talent should take us this year. I get that people here look at him with rose colored glasses, but if he was anyone but Frank Klopas, I wonder how many people would think he was the right choice for the job.

 

His run to the USOC Final in Seattle was also brilliant. Maybe he’s streaky and we can ride another wave? But other than the few big names that are mostly retired or gone now, I couldn’t name another coach in MLS that really stands out above Frank. That’s partially my ignorance but also partially because he’s been successful.

 

I know there's a lot of gloom and doom and frustration but yes, the schedule is brutal out of the gate. There was a moment Shaqiri unlocked the right side and MHS was dribbling the end line looking for someone, anyone to be on the end of a low cross for a tap in. He tried to find Guti but the pass was behind and awkward and then it rolled slowly across the box and no one was really there until Acosta stepped up and drilled it over the bar. If that chance goes in and Czichos doesn't have the passing lapse we are all talking completely different. Maybe I should take that to the optimist thread but the margins were close and a good team is gonna punish mistakes...which is what happened.

EDIT: I posted the news feed but do it so quick I don't really look at what I'm posting until AFTER I post the page and then I browse with my coffee. I just noticed that the paragraph above is like EXACTLY what Klopas said. No I'm not a shill but I do agree with him.

At the end of the day, when you look overall, the game as a whole, you saw a team – I saw a lot of good things from our team out there today against a very good team. I think at the end of the day, when you play a team like this, you make two mistakes and we paid for it... But… pic.twitter.com/LGJ9LQS8I9

— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) March 3, 2024

 

Gutierrez and Shaqiri each have some things they do very well. They also each have their share of weaknesses and peculiarities to their play, like most players. To me, it
has been obvious for some time that playing both of them just does not work.

Gutierrez’s weaknesses magnifies those of Shaqiri and vice-versa. The impact of this fact cannot be overcome by any roster combination, certainly not the current Fire one. A new coach would not solve this problem.Despite the addition of Cuypers and Acosta and the emergence of MHS, things are not going to change.

They just do not fit together. IMO, the only solution is to play only one of them at a time.

 

This is high level, but what are the respective weaknesses that don’t combine?

Shaqiri can accurately pass a ball anywhere within half a field’s distance. I feel like Gutierrez should be able to find open space more often to receive that pass and when he does, do more than just turn and run towards goal.

If that’s Guti’s lone move, Shaqiri’s only choice will be to consistently drop balls in over the top or through-balls on the ground right up the middle to an on-running Guti. Acosta will have to camp out in the zone behind Shaqiri to feed Shaqiri wherever he finds the open space and we’ll continue to be a pretty one dimensional attack.

I want more out of Guti OR for him to commit to being a winger. His play isn’t 360° enough to be in the middle.

 

What do you ya know...Frank put the best XI available on the pitch! Fabi at LB worked better than expected!

Lots of negative comments out there about the tactics...rotation/flex Fabi and MHS into a 5-2-3 and 3-4-3...but I thought it showed promise.

Not having Acosta and Cuypers in pre-season leaves us with work to do to play like a team...and that is made much harder by playing against a team that has not yet allowed an in-play goal. Of note was how well FCC CB's defended Cuypers...every ball played over or through to him was handled quickly. That said, 4 or 5 of the Cuyper targets were just a tad off and we should see those sync up as they learn each other. Also of note, FCC's big off season signing (Robinson) had a good game, as did the league MVP (L.Acosta).

It sucked to lose at home "like that"...we actually matched up fairly well against last year's shield winner, and lost because of 2 stupid moments. Oddly, that is very encouraging! I haven't watched the TV replay yet, but in-person I witnessed more quality play by the Fire than I've seen in years. Seriously....YEARS.

We have the pieces to be good this year! Just hope we can find form before being too far behind in points to matter

P.S. The ref struggled.

 

Both dropped back some, maybe a little more by Shaqiri (only) this match. Neither seems to be able to play effective defense.

 

Somehow I knew you could pull them out of, wherever you pull them out from. Not much to choose from there.

 

Trying hard not to make this a Shaqiri vs Gutierrez thing. Could have found plenty of shortcomings by BOTH of them.

I am not talking about only this match. The problem has persisted for an extended period of time with different coaches and different teammates. They are supposed to be the most talented players on the team, yet they failed to have an impact-Again!

I believe one of the major contributing factors to this misfit is that neither seems to be able to play effective defense. This team does not have the personnel or attitude or coaching to overcome this.

 

This is exactly what I saw. A few close calls that were all cleaned up nicely by Cincinnati's defense.

 

My only gripe with this heat map is the fact that Shaq and Guti were pulled too far apart and leaving Cuypers all alone with 2 defenders on him.

Either Acosta needs to help fill in that gap or it may be time to acknowledge that Shaq should be on the right with Guti in the middle and figure out how to adjust defensively.

I have noticed Shaq putting more effort defensively since he took the armband, but neither him or Guti are good defenders.

 

Cuypers vs. 2 quality defenders like The Whiner and Robinson is not a fair contest. This is the perfect time for other players to step up and help out more.

 

The Fire need to field a team with two speedy wingers who can hug the line when appropriate and can also play defense-plus a central AM who will advance on goal
and distribute the ball.
Old News!, I know but we are still not there. Fire acquired a few pieces this offseason but are still short a few IMO.
Past failures make it likely the natives will get restless early this year.
Go Fire!

 

Additional blazing speed is always helpful, but all formations we’ve run expect the wingers to invert and the fullbacks to overlap. Using MHS and Herbers as the wingbacks showed hope that we will actually run these formations where there strengths lie.

For me the ‘issues’ on the attack were largely because of Shaq struggling to read where Cuypers needs/wants the ball, and Acosta not reading anyone more than 5yrds away from him. Add to that the new rotations were out of sync 2/3 of the time and it looked a bit wonky.

That said, there were some beautiful moments where the rotations were in sync and the midfielders moved well. I have faith they will find form…the quality level ‘is enough’.

To repeat what some others have said, FCC and the Union and much more mature than us and have played more matches. Those matches were tough matches to throw new players and formations at…as much as we all wanted better results, we should have a much better year ahead than the last 4!

 

Time will tell. I really hope I am wrong.
Trying to assemble a puzzle that has missing pieces and includes pieces from a different puzzle is never fun or successful.

 

Holy Crap! A Salquist sighting! Pineda has been doing a lot of work at CB. I hope this works out with Gasper in the lineup as well.