Quick-hit notes from around the Chicago Fire Soccer Club Monday:
He likely wouldn’t have come to the thought on his own, but asked about the atmosphere of the Chicago Fire locker room at the moment, Frank Yallop provided an apt assessment Monday of a club that weathered a slow start and now has taken all possible points from its last three outings:
• What wasn't a topic of much discussion in that same Chicago Fire locker room Monday was an issue that came to light 24 hours earlier, one involving sixth-year starting goalkeeper Sean Johnson. News reports circulating on Sunday had Johnson as a candidate to be loaned to fellow MLS side Montreal Impact, a club preparing for Wednesday's second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final against Club America. The Impact, who are without suspended starting goalkeeper Evan Bush for the match, explored all options for a replacement on short notice, including a request with MLS inquiring as to the availability of other goalkeepers within the league.
As Yallop explained Monday, the conversation never officially extended beyond the authority of the league, who ultimately quashed the move before the Fire technical staff was forced to weigh its options.
Yallop went on to say that he had only begun to consider what the club would gain from such a loan and if it was the right move when MLS resolved to take the possibility of a deal off the table.
"It didn't get to that point, so [there were] no questions," Yallop concluded. "We would have discussed it obviously, but once it's a no, it's a no. What I would have done is kind of irrelevant. It wasn't approved, so end of story."
WATCH:Chicago Fire 1:0 NYCFC | Player Reaction
• Checking in on the rehabbing Mike Magee and Patrick Nyarko, Frank Yallop had this to say on Monday:
"Mike's stepping up his on-field activities, Patrick is kind of doing a lot of straight-ahead running and I think he's going to start some cutting and really turning, getting used to a bit of a stress situation. They're getting there. I think I said to you guys earlier some time in June, and I'm hoping it's closer to the start of June than the end of it. Both are in good spirits, both are smiling which is always a good thing, and both are really 100 percent behind the team and enjoying watching the team at the moment."
• There also were updates on the Men In Red dealing with less serious injuries, including captain and centerback Jeff Larentowicz. Larentowicz was absent from Monday's training session while giving his ankle an extra day to fully recover from a light knock sustained Friday vs. NYCFC. Quincy Amarikwa and Michael Stephens, both of whom also were nursing ailing ankles in recent weeks, were full participants in training Monday and are on their way toward regaining full match fitness.
• Speaking of Amarikwa, Yallop also addressed the current dry-spell in goals experienced by Chicago Fire's crop of strikers:
• Two standout members of the Fire received national honors on Monday, beginning with Friday's goal-scorer and Man Of The Match David Accam. Accam was pegged for the MLS Team of the Week after causing headaches for NYCFC throughout the duration of the match. Another first-year member of the Men In Red, rookie Matt Polster, received yet another National Rookie of the Week laurel from SBISoccer.
