The Fire certainly wanted more from Sunday night’s 2-2 draw in New Jersey against Montreal, but a point is a point on the road.
Now, with a quick turnaround, Chicago will turn their attention to Sporting Kansas City as they take on head coach Peter Vermes and Co. on Wednesday night at Children’s Mercy Park.
DUTY CALLS
Chicago will say goodbye to defender Miguel Navarro and midfielder Gastón Giménez for at least a few games, when factoring in the mandatory quarantine when they return to U.S. soil. Navarro will represent his home country of Venezuela in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying and Giménez will do the same for Paraguay after engaging in a one-time switch from Argentina earlier this year. Coincidentally, Navarro and Giménez will meet each other in the second of their two respective qualifiers on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Replacing Navarro is straight forward, as the veteran Johnny Bornstein has performed very well over the Fire’s recent games. We were told Navarro got the start against Montreal on Saturday in anticipation that the 35-year-old Bornstein would have to start at least four matches with Navarro gone.
Replacing Giménez is an entirely different story. He has been arguably the most consistent performer for head coach Raphael Wicky this season, and plays a very important role in that No. 6 position as a facilitator and a disrupter of the opposition’s rhythm.
For my money, Giménez has been the glue that holds it together in the middle of the park, and he provides an excellent balance to the silkier nature of Álvaro Medrán.
With the long-term injury to Luka Stojanović, options in the middle of the field are fewer than ideal. There are, however, some personnel or tactical moves that Wicky can make to strike the proper balance.
We could see either a return of the three-back system, or a bit of musical chairs with defenders Johan Kappelhof and Mauricio Pineda. The rookie Pineda could slide back into the holding midfield role that he is more comfortable with -- and started in at the beginning of the season—while Kappelhof moves into the right centerback slot next to Francisco Calvo. Kappelhof returned from injury as a substitute on Sunday - his first appearance since March 7th - and is still getting back to match fitness.
While this may seem like a big blow, Sporting are also dealing with the same issue as their star striker, Alan Pulido, is away linking up with Tata Martino and the Mexican national team.
Pulido has been nursing an injury since the summer’s MLS is Back Tournament, but scored a brace in a 2-1 win on the road in Houston on Saturday. This was Pulido’s first time back on the scoresheet since July 31. For now, SKC fans will wave goodbye and go back to the drawing board.
For head coach Peter Vermes, he can either slide Erik Hurtado into the No. 9 spot, in a traditional 4-3-3, or bring in winger Gerso Fernandes and slide Khiry Shelton into the center striker position. We’ve seen the latter while Pulido was sidelined with injury.
Both teams will have decisions to make, and will have to carry on without key players. Next man up.
UP, DOWN AND ALL AROUND
It’s been a fascinating year for Sporting Kansas City. Over the last five games they’ve more or less traded wins and losses. That includes back-to-back losses at home against Orlando City and FC Dallas - something that SKC fans are not used to experiencing. It was the first time they have dropped two games in a row at home since 2016.
Despite the up and down nature of their results, the Western Conference as a whole has been unpredictable. SKC currently sit in third place, however, it is extremely tight at the top of the table. A mere six points separate first place from sixth.
Pulido’s injury absence hindered Sporting’s ability to get in a groove offensively. Any time a team is missing the most expensive transfer in its history for an extended period of time, it’s going to put a damper on the locker room.
Like the Fire, SKC have endured stretches of creating really good chances, but lacking the finishing touch. The Fire on the other hand have put away eight goals in the past three matches.
Sporting’s past two matches have been a small snapshot of the larger problems of inconsistency for Vermes. On Sept. 23 against Orlando City, SKC gave up two poor goals almost in identical fashion in the first half. Not once, but twice the backline mistimed an offside trap and gave up point-blank, 1-v-1 opportunities to Orlando. Orlando punished them on both occasions.
Sporting fixed the problem at halftime by bringing on former West Ham centerback Winston Reid. The defense tightened up almost instantaneously, and SKC went on to get the better of Orlando over the second 45 minutes. Despite a goal from midfielder Johnny Russel, the Lions’ pair of first half finishes were enough to get them across the finish line
In their latest fixture – Saturday against Houston - SKC looked much better defensively, despite conceding possession to the Dynamo. Pulido scored two goals on either side of halftime that both came by way of SKC homegrown product Gianluca Busio.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Sporting Kansas City is very much a possession-oriented team and want to build out of the back when they have the opportunity. Defender Amadou Dia pushes up extremely high on the left side of the defense, while Graham Zusi is a bit more reserved on the right. They split their centerbacks to the extreme. Despite wanting to build and keep the ball, they still have the pace and quality to be effective on the counter.
Out on the wings, SKC play inverted similar to Montreal. It will be crucial for Chicago’s wingers to come back and defend and help out teammates Boris Sekulić and Jonathan Bornstein in 1-v-1 situations.
Up front, the Fire will find success attacking the right side of the KC defense, especially out wide. Zusi is a great player and is still quality on the ball, but he’s less capable of covering the same type of ground as his teammate, Dia, on the left side. Creating an overload on the left side of the attack for the Fire will pay dividends.
Sporting are always an entertaining team to watch and haven’t disappointed the neutral observer yet this season. They are the only team to not be held shutout yet. The Fire will look to end that run, but it will take a collective defensive effort.
