Notes from the Training Ground | March 23

Goal-Oriented

There’s no match to prepare for on the weekend, but the Chicago Fire are taking every opportunity to better themselves, be it on the pitch or in the training room.

With Matt Polster and Brandon Vincent on international duty and a number of players -- namely David Accam, John Goossens and Arturo Alvarez -- using the week to regain full fitness, it’s been a smaller but decidedly focused group on the training ground.

Training Photo Gallery

The Men In Red led off Tuesday with a morning session at The PrivateBank Fire Pitch before holding an evening training at Toyota Park. Back to work on Wednesday, small-sided situational play emphasized sustained possession, stringing together passes in tight spaces and swiftly changing the point of attack.

“I think the energy has been great, everyone’s really embraced it and the work rate has been there from everybody,” said Homegrown midfielder Joey Calistri, who has appeared off the bench in all three matches thus far. “We wanted to focus last week on getting the clean sheet and all the credit to Matt (Lampson) and the back line for getting it done, I thought the whole team played well defensively. This week now we're focused on getting our fitness levels up and putting everything together for a full 90.”

“When we are on the opponents’ end, we have to be more patient with the ball,” said head coach Veljko Paunovic. “We have to take advantage of the width that we create making and then our fullbacks have to go a little bit higher. That will be tactically what we have to improve in the game but this is what we are working on and we will focus on during these two weeks. I value very much the possession…and it’s a process.”

Quick Learners

Calistri, who has appeared off the bench in all three matches this season, is part of a young Fire squad that in Saturday’s match fielded 12 players (out of 14) age 28 or younger. For his part, Paunovic is simultaneously relishing his role of a teacher while maintaining a sense of urgency for results.

“I’m very happy working with such a young group and a lot of rookies,” Paunovic said. “They see how much we want to deliver to them and give them the tools to become better and to be successful and also very competitive for our team.

“But we also want to compete,” he added. “We have to reach that level as soon as possible because this league is very competitive and we want to be successful. I demand [a lot], but I’m not impatient. Patience comes from me, that support and trust, and on the other side, demanding. We will demand, and ask, and want to be better.”

And Also
• Joining in first team training Wednesday was Chicago Fire Academy product Djordje Mihailovic. The class of 2017 midfielder announced last fall his plans to attend the University of North Carolina, where USSDA teammates Mauricio Pineda -- who also continues to train with the Fire first team -- and Cameron Lindley are slated to begin their college careers this fall. 

• After joining U.S. U-23 camp Sunday, Polster, Vincent and their teammates arrived in Colombia Wednesday ahead of their critical two-match Olympic playoff

• Following Wednesday's training session, Michael Harrington and Gilberto took on Eric Gehrig and Matt Lampson in a game of 2v2 soccer pool, the game of strategy and skill that is available to play at Fire Fest before each Chicago Fire home match. As expected, the game brought out the competitive sides of all participants. Look for a full video recap of the match on Chicago-Fire.com in the coming days.