The 1-1 draw vs New England on March 7th seems like eons ago.
At 8:00 a.m. CT this Tuesday vs. Seattle Sounders on ESPN, we will get our beloved Fire back after a 129 day wait…but who’s counting?
Now we have a matchup to preview, and I’m here to tell you what will happen in Orlando will be hard to predict. As Head Coach Raphael Wicky said in an immediate reaction to the MLS is Back Tournament draw, (which of course is null and void now) “I don’t know what it all means after each team has had a three-month break.”
The man could not be more spot on, especially considering CFFC’s game of musical chairs having to shift from Group A to Group B. This means less time to prepare for their opponents and two early morning starts as opposed to just the one they originally had scheduled in Group A. Nevertheless, here we are about to restart the 2020 campaign with three group stage games that count towards the regular season and a spot in CONCACAF Champions League on the line.
COFFEE, EGGS, AND A REMATCH
An unexpected rematch with the reigning MLS champs is a blessing in disguise to me. Wicky’s boys dropped an absolute heartbreaker at CenturyLink field in the season opener and will be chomping at the sun-kissed, Mickey-Mouse-Palm-Tree-induced bit to get another crack at Brian Schmetzer’s group. It was a fixture from which they deserved a point, but now-regular-USMNT-starter Jordan Morris scored two goals off the bench to leave the Fire pointless in Seattle. Yes, Seattle already has 90 minutes under their belt in Orlando, but it was a grueling contest against an unusual, but seemingly effective man-marking system from San Jose. This, paired with only two full days of rest given the late kickoff on Friday and an early one on Tuesday, give CFFC a clear advantage in terms of legs.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM CFFC
We have yet to see any action from the likes of young DP Ignacio Aliseda, Boris Sekulić, Luka Stojanović or even CJ Sapong so far in 2020.
What we do know is that Wicky’s group can hit you in a number of different ways. We have seen two goals in very different fashions: extremely direct from Robert Berić in Seattle, then a solid build-up with delivery out wide and a savvy headed goal from Johnny Bornstein in New England -- his first in MLS strike since 2008 with Chivas USA.
We also saw some good flashes of shifty interplay and combinations that easily could have led to goals and some that actually did find the back of the net, but the offside flag spoiled the party.
Defensively, we saw a roll of the dice and some in-game tactical adjustments vs. New England to go after the eventual equalizer. “Tactical flexibility” is a buzz-word in the world of football and even inside of the first two games we saw the trust from Wicky to implement mid-game and the professionalism and wits from the players to execute in the heat of battle. This will prove to be invaluable in a world-cup style tournament and beyond.
ROTATION
As unpredictable as Wicky’s lineup is going to be, the same goes for Seattle. Given the quick turnaround and physically taxing match against the man-to-man defense of the Earthquakes, there will be a lot of decisions to be made in the Seattle camp. A lot of players wearing green will want to bounce back and play another 90, but given the nature of this tournament, the humidity and lack of rest, Schmetzer will undoubtedly rotate his starting XI. We all know it will be the classic Seattle 4-2-3-1, but there are a ton of question marks: If or when João Paulo will be healthy? Who will start at left back? What will the middle of the field look like? Anything short of 3-4 changes would be surprising.
OK CLASS, WHAT DID WE LEARN?
It is less than ideal that the Fire technical staff had to game plan on the fly for their three opponents that were just announced on Thursday, but they did get a chance to play against Seattle back in March and see them play just several days ago. It is tough to really draw anything that can be directly translated to success for Chicago because they are not going to employ the same system as San Jose coach Matias Almeyda. One thing that ESPN lead analyst Taylor Twellman did continually call out was how deep Morris was playing when Seattle were defending. If the Fire can employ a similar strategy and wear out both wingers -- especially Morris (should he start) -- it will remove a lot of the pressure from the backline of Chicago. This requires the outside backs to get involved in the attack and stay high to win the ball back in dangerous areas.
HIT 'EM HARD AND HIT 'EM EARLY!
It’s Orlando in July. Seattle just finished a physically and emotionally taxing affair less than four days ago. The Fire are fresh and have been like a horse locked up in the starting stalls having their first match pushed back six days. An early goal would set the tone and really make Seattle have to respond and maybe gently step away from whatever game plan they had originally implemented. The start will be crucial for both teams, but given the logistics of it all I would imagine an incredibly fast and physical start from the Fire to really impose their will on a potentially weary Sounders bunch.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is still the first game in more than four months for Chicago and there will be some growing pains, but it is a tournament and aesthetics aren’t nearly as important as results particularly in the opening game. Raphael Wicky has experience as a player with Switzerland in the 2006 World Cup and you can be sure he is well aware of the importance of getting points, particularly of the thrice variety, in the first game of this type of competition.
Keep in mind folks -- This is the reigning champs we’re talking about, and Schmetzer is one of the best coaches on this continent. He will have a game plan, and his guys are so well-drilled and experienced. The Fire will have the revenge chip on their shoulder. This is going to be a fun one.
Chicago Fire Football Club is back and it’s against the team who won it all last year. Doesn’t get much better than that.
