As do most opponents of Columbus Crew SC, Jonathan Campbell and the rest of the Chicago Fire back line knew what to expect in Saturday’s match against the 2015 MLS Cup finalist. In just his third MLS appearance, Campbell was tasked with containing one of the league’s most prolific target forwards, Kei Kamara.
“We watched the film, and they tried to put a lot to his head,” Campbell said after helping the Men In Red earn the clean sheet in a scoreless draw. “Deep in their half, they'll try to clip balls up there. On that one, we'd go up and attack it, or we'd drop back and try to win the second one, with Ethan [Finlay] running off different guys. In the box, farther in our half, we tried to deny the cross so that [Kamara] couldn't even get a chance with it, but made sure we marked with him the whole time, and always had a guy running with him in the box.”
The Fire enjoyed success where many others have failed, limiting Crew SC to just one successful open play cross on 14 attempts (above right). Kamara was held without a shot for the first time since joining Columbus ahead of last season (35 appearances) and for the first time in a regular season match in which he played 90 minutes since Sept. 17, 2011 (67 games).
“One of the biggest things that we harped on was 'no cross, no goal,'” goalkeeper and former Crew SC man Matt Lampson said after the match. “They barely got any service to Kamara; that was a huge coaching point that we had. He hardly had any opportunities.”
Both Campbell and Lampson attributed much of their success centrally to the diligence of dual-responsibility wing backs Brandon Vincent and Rodrigo Ramos.
“It's a tough position for them,” Campbell said. “They have to get all the way up to their outside at times, and then also drop in and be the outside back on their weak side, so it's very tough for them. I think they did a great job with it.”
“Credit to those guys,” Lampson echoed, “because as soon as the ball went wide, we were on top of them. It makes my job a whole lot easier if we are organized and working hard.”
Flanked on either side by European veterans Joao Meira and Johan Kappelhof is Campbell, the 2016 SuperDraft selection (No. 12 overall), who was tabbed the Chicago Fire Man of the Match and earned Soccer By Ives’ nod as MLS Rookie of the Week following the clean sheet. On Monday, head coach had high praise for the UNC product's early progress.
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"I think Jonathan is doing his all, his adaptation to the league only took two to three games," said Veljko Paunovic. "It's amazing how intelligent and how well he's handling this first year as a rookie. I truly believe he can be not only a very good player for Chicago Fire, which we all work on that, but also for the national team. I think he has that capacity to become a great player for this country. But he knows and we know that we have to stay firmly on the ground and work hard."
For a back line that on Saturday featured five MLS newcomers with varying degrees of professional experience, the cohesion and communication on display was encouraging for all involved. Entering a bye week, the Fire will only work further to develop the back line’s unity ahead of matchups with a Philadelphia side that has scored five times in its last two games and an NYCFC attack that netted four goals against the Fire on opening day.
"A system doesn't make the game, players do it," Paunovic said Monday of his three-centerback setup. "It's something that we have to understand as part of our system. Being more solid at the back gives us more support to each other, we are closer to each other, and from that point we can build our game and our style. We are now comfortable with three centerbacks to build out of the back and get to the second third of the field. Now we have to transfer that possession to the final third to create and then convert opportunities that we are looking for."
