Every MLS team this season has seen a significant change in personal on the pitch, on the bench, or in the front office. Such is the beauty of the off-season. Soccer, more than any other sport, is constant changing; its mutability and fluidity is one of the great attractions of the sport. The Chicago Fire had a solid season in 2012 even though they bowed out of the playoffs without much of a fight, the team grew by leaps and bounds over 2011 and the horrendous 2010 seasons. Heading into 2013, Chicago is poised to maintain if not improve its level of play.
Releases, Resignings, & Loans
Roster moves are what matter most in the off-season and pre-season. So let’s take a look at the players released, resigned, and loaned. Arguable the most useless signing of 2012, Guillermo Franco, was, as expected, not re-signed. Then he promptly retired. To which I say good riddance, I can only hope he now begins to advise Rafa Marquez on how to be irrelevant. The retirement that actually moved Chicago supporters was Pavel Pardo’s. Pardo from the moment he arrived for the Fire became an anchor in the midfield and many were sad to see him go. However, everyone fairly agrees that Pardo had given his all over what turned out to be his final season and that retirement made sense. It would be nice to see Pardo in a coaching role in the organization where he could continue to mentor the many, many Fire midfielders.
Another release has been Tony Walls who recently left training camp. As a Wisconsinite and a fullback advocate, this made me a bit sad. Unfortunately, for Walls he was never able to get his foot in the door. Perhaps his one chance to shine was the embarrassing US Open Cup loss to the Michigan Bucks, a match where Walls was largely a non-entity. But it’s worth pausing over Walls departure because as a rightback this suggests that Steve Kinney is finally healthy enough to be considered for the position. The Fire have let Dan Gargan go (much to the chagrin of many a supporter) and have seemed to latched on to the idea of playing captain Logan Pause as a rightback (perhaps the most wrong-headed decision the team could make). If Kinney can stay healthy, he could make the rightback position his own or, at the very least, platoon with natural centerback-shifted-to-the-right Jalil Anibaba
Some familiar faces were re-signed. Alex, the Brazilian midfielder, is perhaps most naturally a center mid but he’s seen time out on the left side showning himself to be capable. Michael Videira, a perennial backup, has shown that he can come in for spot starts and fill-in as an emergency fullback, but it’s difficult to see him not spending most of the season on the Reserves. Corben Bone is a much liked player by both his teammates and supporters. Unfortunately, Bone has never cracked the starting 18 in a real way. His lack of minutes over the past few years is startling considering he just ‘graduated’ from Generation Adidas. Bone is a victim of Chicago’s hoarding of central midfielders and unfortunately Bone is not suited to play out wide on either side unlike Alex. Perhaps this year things will be different, he most certainly deserves to play somewhere and if he can’t get it in Chicago the Fire need to let him go somewhere where he can play—they owe it to their players to let them play.
And in this vein, Chicago has made sure that the players that have passed through their ranks but not been able to find a fixed place have somewhere to go. Two high profile loans have opened up international spots and designated player (DP) money. Since he came to Chicago from Seattle Alvaro “Flaco” Fernandez has been a frustrating player. He never seemed to click with the Fire, although there were definite moments where you saw why he was a DP. I suspect that Fernandez didn’t quite work because he was place out on the left side as not a real winger but as a left midfielder who was encouraged to drift centrally. For Chicago, the left side is the defensive side. Leftback Gonzalo Segares is not an attacking or a supporting fullback, he a defender which is what makes him one of the most value assets in MLS—he’s true fullback and not some failed midfielder being pushed into the position, which is the standard MLS view of the fullback position. Point is, in a more attack minded leftback system I suspect Fernandez would have had a better time of it in Chicago. It’s moot, of course, Fernandez has been loaned out Qatari side Al Rayyan for 6 months with look to being a permanent move.
A different loanee, dud signing Federico Puppo has been sent out for the year to LDU Quito in Ecuador. The move clears Puppo and his ever so popular Twitter hashtag #PuppoLikeMoney from Chicago’s books (last season it was revealed that the seldom used striker was technically considered a DP due the amount of the transfer fee involved, much to the scoffing awe of Fire fans). Puppo never was able to find a role with Chicago and underwhelmed when he played much like Columbian failure Rafael Robayo whom Puppo can into the team with. Perhaps Puppo could’ve morphed into a Chris Rolfe backup but that didn’t seem likely. Also, perhaps now Puppo will go off to LDU Quito and then come back to MLS like Joao Plata has just done but that doesn’t seem likely.
The SuperDraft, The Supplemental Draft, & Trialists
Chicago had a single first round draft pick this year and they traded it. No worries because, if the pre-season matches are any indication, 2nd Round SuperDraft pick (30th overall) Yazid Atouba Emane is in a good position to be a part of the club. The Cameroonian is listed as a forward by MLS but if we’ve learned anything over the years it’s that MLS favors the vaguest and most imprecise method for labeling player positions. Atouba is an attacking winger in the same mold as Patrick Nyarko, which is why he’s catching the eye of several Fire commentators. If Atouba can show his ability on the wing, essentially showing that he can fulfill Nyarko’s role but on the left, then Chicago will have a much more potent and productive attack.
The left side could also find itself played by new signing Brendan King, again a natural center mid but someone who is comfortable on the left. The 22 year-old King is a local boy from Naperville, IL and has experience overseas with Ireland’s Bray Wanderers and Norway’s Alta IF. But both those spells were rather mellow to be kind. It is the left side of the field that will be the biggest question mark for the 2013 Chicago Fire. It looks more and more like a combination of Alex, Atouba, Wells Thompson, and King will vie well into midsummer to see who comes to the fore.
Each of Chicago’s Supplemental Draft picks were pragmatic choices of promising quality—leftback John Gallagher (30th) gives the Fire depth on the defensive left. Segares won’t be around forever and although Hunter Jumper could certainly be an adequate replacement it makes sense to have another name in the mix. Goalkeeper James Belshaw (49th) will vie for the third ‘keeper spot with a few trialists. I would imagine he would be retained and perhaps see some action in the US Open Cup early rounds. Finally, centerback Caleb Konstanski (68th) will provide a bit more depth in defense and he has the adaptability to play a bit as a fullback or a bit as a defensive mid which could be the trait that keeps him on the squad. Each of these picks could easily contribute to the team and given the expanded USL/MLS Reserves League they have a better chance of stay with the organization.
Others trying to pin down a spot are forward Colin Rolfe (no relation to Chris Rolfe) formerly of the Houston Dynamo. Rolfe has underwhelmed and in fact would do better career-wise to find a NASL team to play on for a whole season, I would certainly advocate a move to the Carolina RailHawks or San Antonio Scorpions. Luke Boden has experience in England and here in the states with USL powerhouse Orlando City, I doubt the Fire need another central midfielder. Rauwshan McKenzie is probably the most interesting trailist simply because he has real MLS experience (Sporting Kansas City, Real Salt Lake, and most recently being the good soldier on the dreadful Chivas USA) and would give the Fire solid, competent depth at centerback. It would be surprising to me if McKenzie isn’t retained.
We still need to talk about Chicago’s new major signings—Maicon Santos, Joel Lindpere, and Jeff Larentowicz. But that is a focus for another time. For now ruminate on the fact that Chicago will be a younger team, depth-wise, than it has been in a long time. Also, it seems that the Fire have rolled the dice several times on South American signings and have routinely been burned horribly. Will the front office turn their attention to more moves within the league or to domestic talent? Finally, there is the need for a proven goal scorer, which unfortunately will not arrive for the beginning of the season but may be a summer transfer window DP.
(image courtesy of chicago-fire.com)
