THOUGHTS ON THE FIRE: So after the Fire have played their first match, it is evident that there needs to be improvement at every position, especially defense. Too often, defenders were either caught standing still or too far forward and nobody was covering when defenders did push forward. All four goals allowed by the Fire were soft even though Richard Sanchez made initial saves on two of them.
Especially in the case of the last two goals by Sporting KC, you could picture SKC scoring because nobody picked up Jimmy Medranda on the rebound or that too many defenders were bunched dealing with Daniel Salloi and Gerson Fernandes and ignoring Felipe Gutierrez. That nothing to say that the setup in the first place was made possible when Johnny Russell got in between two defenders to setup the scoring chance.
Sanchez did make four saves, but the only other thing of note was how often he came off his line to deal with Sporting’s attack and how he would station himself towards the center circle when the Fire had the ball deep into the other team’s zone. One super quick counter could well end up in the back of the net one of these times if Sanchez is not careful.
For most of the first half, the midfield had a hard time breaking through the Sporting defense and getting the ball to Nikolic. In the second half, there was more urgency and they did find ways to get the ball to Nikolic. The reality with Tony Tchani, Dax McCarty, and Bastian Schweinsteiger is that three 6’s do not make a #10 and the Fire will likely need to still shop for one with Michael de Leeuw still injured.
Nikolic was virtually invisible for the first half, but was very visible in the second after receiving great service.
There is still a lot to improve and most of it has to come internally for the moment. There may be another addition or two before the May 1st deadline, the Fire do have cap space and a DP position available, but for now some of the improvements have to come from within before next Saturday’s tilt in Minnesota.
ONLINE DEAL: Prior to Saturday’s match, Fire President and General Manager Nelson Rodriguez took questions about the new local deal with ESPN which was made official a day earlier. Rodriguez hails this three-year deal (with a rights fee) as the way forward:
“I would say that some of the research that’s been conducted by MLS over the last few years and our own club has shown, and that the industry has shown that viewing habits are completely different,” said Rodriguez. “There’s an old model and then there is just the way that people consume. I think that the convenience of being able to consume what you want on any device anywhere is amazing. I would like to think we’re on the forefront of it.”
As for what appeared to be waiting until the last minute, it was more about getting things right than getting things fast.
“What I’ve been prone to say on the sporting side will apply to the commercial side,” said Rodriguez. “For us, it’s about trying to get it right, not get it fast. It’s about aligning ourselves with organizations like ESPN. Having that partnership is important to us [as well as]having their loyalty to sport and the league. For us to be the first and only team with whom they have such an agreement is incredible and I think it speaks well of our club. It continues to show we are becoming a club of choice not just for players, not just for staff [like new COO John Urban]who’s chosen us when he had other options, but also for partners.”
RED STARS FRIENDLY: On Sunday, the Chicago Red Stars defeated the Portland Thorns, 1-0, in the first match of the Thorns’ Spring Invitational Preseason Tournament. Arin Gilliand got the game’s lone goal in the 62nd minute. The Red Stars next play on Wednesday against the Houston Dash in Portland.
