When the Chicago Fire wrapped up their three-match road trip last weekend, one player returned home with a career milestone in tow.
Chicago Fire Academy product and Homegrown player Drew Conner made his first-ever MLS start in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against the LA Galaxy, and demonstrated his versatility in the process.
“I was excited,” he said. “I had an idea it was coming just because of where I was playing in training and whatnot, but [I was] just excited and focused. I got an idea two days before the game. Then, when we were in the airport, Pauno told me I was getting the start Saturday.”
Conner -- a central midfielder by trade -- lined up at right back from the match’s outset for the first time, and would not be allowed a cupcake of a matchup to ease into it. In what was a 75-minute shift, he’d square off against internationally experienced players like Ashley Cole and Romain Alessandrini, and the speedy Emmanuel Boateng.
“It was definitely a handful," Conner said. "I just tried to focus on my startup position. All those guys are really quick. When the centerbacks and center mids got the ball, I just made sure I had a couple yards of starting space and was able to keep with them.”
While disappointed to leave with just a share of the points from the team’s trip to California, Conner was mostly satisfied with his own individual performance -- one that capped a memorable week that also saw the Chicagoland native take centerstage at Wrigley Field and strut his stuff at the club's Soccer & Style charitable event.
“I think I played pretty well,” he said. “I thought my positioning was pretty good. The second half, they started to overload that right side, started overlapping more, their wide mids started cutting in, so there was some chaos going over on my side. But as far as most of my one-v-one challenges, (they) were pretty good. On the ball, I thought I was pretty clean going forward.”
Conner’s shift to the right side of the defense wasn’t entirely unexpected, despite having appeared three times as a midfield substitution this season. Conner slotted in next to Johan Kappelhof there for the final 12 minutes of the Fire’s 3-0 win over New England last month, and has been soaking up training time in both positions for most of the season.
“I’ve kind of been working on it for a while,” Conner said. “Since right after preseason, I’ve been jumping in that position in practice. I’ve been getting a lot of reps there in training. When I got on the field, I was just focusing on keeping that line and keeping my hips open and watching the wide mid.”
Conner credits his skills developed as a central midfielder as a reason why head coach Veljko Paunovic saw a fit for him to give him run along the back line. While it remains to be seen whether his contributions in the Fire defense will continue, his confidence in his abilities holds firm.
“I think they see that I can keep the ball well,” he said. “I’m good going forward naturally as a center midfielder. I think I have good vision when I’m faced up on the field and I’m able to pick out the right passes. I think they know that I’m going to focus and work really hard there.”
Next up, Conner and the Fire welcome the reigning MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders for a Saturday night contest at Toyota Park (8 pm CT, ESPN2 | TICKETS).
