The Fire return to your television set tomorrow at 6:30 when they take on DC United. I assume they will be trying very hard to actually score a goal in this game. Although, I get the feeling that Ezra Hendrickson would rather extend their shutout streak to three games.
The home opener last weekend was a ton of fun, even if the quality of the game wasn’t quite there. I went to quite a few games last season, and with Covid Protocols and a pretty disappointing team it never felt like a home field advantage. But Saturday felt different. There was a different energy and excitement than last season, and defensively at least some promising things to get excited about. So here are my quick thoughts before this weekend’s game.
Hendrickson understands that playing at Soldier Field means you prioritize defense and play low scoring conservative football. I think that we can definitively say that Ezra Hendrickson is not going to abandon organization and a strong foundation in a desperate search for goals. In fact, I’m not entirely sure that we’re going to see any changes in the starting lineup from the first two weeks.
The most likely change I could see happening is Federico Navarro coming in for Mauricio Pineda, and that’s not because I think Pineda has been bad, but more that I think going into to the season the plan in center midfield was very much Navarro and Gaston Gimenez, but Navarro wasn’t fully fit to start the season. Now assuming that he’s fully fit I could see Hendrickson wanting to see his first choice midfield pairing, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he sticks with Pineda as a reward for his overall solid play so far.
Another sign that Hendrickson is more than happy to focus on the defensive side of the game and gradually improve on the offensive end is that he stuck with Herbers on the left wing against Orlando last week. Herbers doesn’t bring a ton of goal threat, or creativity, but he is going to work extremely hard, and defend from the front.
Brian Gutierrez is pushing him hard for that spot, but I think that Hendrickson has decided that he is going to trust his experienced players at the start of the season and give them every chance to nail down a place in the team. This will get the older players on his side and further motivate the young players to work hard and earn their minutes. Fans always want to see young exciting players, especially when things aren’t exactly clicking offensively, but it’s a long season and I just feel like Ezra is happy enough keeping games close and building a strong defensive foundation first.
Goals? Goals!
Maybe I’ll be wrong and Jhon Duran and Gutierrez get the starts at the wings, but I would be surprised. So then how can this team create goals? The best moments from the Fire this season have either come off of turnovers forced in midfield or the attacking third, or Shaqiri and Ivanov combining together down the right.
In the first half in particular against Orlando there were times when Shaqiri would drift out to the right touchline when the Fire were out of possession, and Ivanov would drift into the right half space almost next to Przybylko who would drop deep. Then once the Fire won possession Shaqiri came towards the center of the field and exchanged positions with Ivanov, while Przybylko stretched the defense vertically (a little bit). This simple movement gave Shaqiri a little bit more time and space on the ball to turn and pick the next pass.
The combination play with Ivanov wasn’t perfect, and obviously didn’t create any goals, but over two games it’s clear that those two combining and playing off of each other is the best thing the Fire have going for them offensively. So it’s something to continue to keep an eye on this week.
The Midfield Debate
Finally, there’s been a lot of talk about Gaston Gimenez this week. On Orlando’s VAR disallowed goal Gimenez appeared to do about as much defensively to stop the play as I did sitting in the stands. It wasn’t a good look from one of our Designated Players, especially one that is coming off a very poor year last year where he looked disinterested most of the time.
But then you look at the stats and see that he’s leading the team in tackles, pressures, and interceptions, which shows he is doing some work defensively. Additionally, he led the team in progressive passes and progressive dribbles. So he’s winning the ball and moving it up field better than anyone else on the team. Now part of that is just the nature of his position, but part has to be because he’s not a completely terrible player, and here is where I’m going to tie everything all together. Is Gimenez a perfect player? No. Is he a very frustrating player? Yes. Will Hendrickson stick with him this week? Yes.
The reasoning is simple, if Hendrickson can get the best out of Gimenez then the Fire are a better team this season. Pineda and Navarro could be just as good, but I think Gimenez has a higher ceiling than either of them. Hendrickson praising Gimenez post game is proof that he’s doing everything he can to keep Gimenez motivated, and involved.
In all of his moves so far Hendrickson seems to be saying relax, it’s a long season, and let’s not get too carried away yet. It’s okay to punt and trust your defense instead of going for it on 4th and 1. Proving that the Fire really are feeling at home at Soldier Field.
How to Watch
Local: WGN, and the Chicago Fire app
Nationally: Streaming on ESPN+
If you want to record and or watch the replay of the game
Local: Out of luck unless you have cable
National: ESPN+
