Not everything is about rivalries in week 12 of the 2016 Major League Soccer season. For two particular clubs this weekend, it’s all about survival and keeping pace with the rest of their peers.
Chicago Fire vs. Houston Dynamo is an encounter that pits the two bottom table teams in their respective conferences. Both need a win to make life a lot easier for them and to stop the perpetual bleeding.
Here are the three things that stand out to me heading into #CHIvHOU on Saturday:
If there’s ever a time for the Dynamo to pick up a road win (would be their first of 2016) it’s now.
The Dynamo have failed to come up with a road win since July 10, 2015. We are less than two months away from it becoming a year. After this game, the Dynamo’s next two are at Vancouver and at FC Dallas. The following road games are at Portland (June 26), at Orlando (July 8) and at LA Galaxy (July 15).
Think I’m thinking too far ahead? I am a little but my point is that this is a team that, no matter how close they’ve been to that coveted road win, when push comes to shove they have walked away with nothing. If they are ever going to win on the road, it’s this match.
Why?
Chicago is entering its fourth game in 11 days, in a fourth different city (2 different countries), spanning three time zones. David Accam, Chicago’s team MVP and top scorer in 2015, will miss this match due to a one-game suspension handed down on Friday by the MLS Disciplinary Committee.
Yes, the Fire are unbeaten in their last six regular-season home games against Houston but (at the moment) they are battered, they are beaten, and (even without ‘Cubo’ Torres) the Dynamo should have enough to come away with the three points and no excuses.
Chicago’s character (if they have any) will show in this match.
Vancouver, Boston, New York and now Chicago in the span of 11 days. Granted they are playing at home but Chicago is on tired legs and without one of their best players. They have lost four of the last five games and come away with only a point in that span. On top of that, because they played midweek, they only had two days to prepare for Houston.
There is zero reason for the Chicago Fire to win this game. There is every reason for the team to mail it in and be content with a tie at home if it’s available.
So how will the Fire react?
This is Owen Coyle’s first match in Chicago, his first visit to the city even. He’s a coach that has struggled be an effective manager on the road and implement his tactics like he does at home. If Chicago wants to win this game, they will smell the blood in the water and attack with every bit of gas they have in the tank.
Will it be enough? We’ll see the end result but we’ll also see what this team is made of and if there’s pride in their players. I suppose you can apply this to the Dynamo as well.
This could be ugly (especially if you don’t have a rooting interest in this game)
#CHIvHOU will match the two lowest cumulative percentage of possession teams in the league. I mean second to last and dead-last on that list. Translation: this is going to be a chippy game where 1} either one team will dominate possession while the other attacks in frustration or 2) effective passes will be hard to come by.
Also, goals might be hard to come by. The Fire don’t really score a lot of goals (hence the losing). All of the Dynamo’s road loses have been by a goal but only one of them was a shootout. Now, you might have heard about an explosive Dynamo early in the season but their last game was an ugly win against RSL.
I’m not against ugly wins. I’m all for winning whichever way possible. I’m just saying this one might not be pleasant to watch if you’re just about “beautiful soccer.”
Victor Araiza is a beat writer covering the Houston Dynamo for Prost Amerika.
Follow @victoraraiza Tweet to @victoraraiza
