Photo: NWSL
Fire doing well between them, but not within either one.
PREFACE: It was a disappointing weekend for both the Fire and the Red Stars. The former again had some lapses that led to two points being dropped while the latter could not hold on with ten players after the sending off of Savannah McCaskill on the Virginia side of DC.
RED STARS: It was a different looking Red Stars squad with Julie Ertz opting out and players such as Yuki Nagasato going out on loan spells. For Nagasato, it was with Hayabusa Eleven which is an amateur men’s side in Japan. Other notables include forward Makenzy Doniak and goalkeeper Emily Boyd who currently play for Denmark side HB Køge and forward Rachel Hill who joined Swedish side Linköpings FC.
Of course, they are not the only team who has been poached for talent (google “Women’s Super League England”). However, players such as Alyssa Naeher, Casey Short, Kealia Watt, Tierna Davidson, and Morgan Gautrat are still on the team and Arin Wright rejoined the team after giving birth in the Spring.
Things started encouragingly enough against bogey side Washington Spirit at Segra Field. Missouri standout Sarah Luebbert scored her first professional goal in the 26th minute of a nice pass from Watt. However, quickly afterwards, Savannah McCaskill picked up a yellow card—and then a second one in the 42nd minute.
Washington eventually came from behind on goals from Bayley Feist and Jessis Scarpa to give the Spirit the three points. We’ll see how the Red Stars recover on Sunday against Sky Blue FC who opened last week with a win over the same Spirit.
FIRE: It might be asking too much for things to change overnight given all the changes the Fire made in the offseason. Moreso given the stop-start nature of the season with COVID-19 around. Yet, not much has changed as of yet when it comes to the play on the pitch from the Fire in the six games in Phase 1 of MLS’s restart.
Most everything went right in the Fire’s home opener win over FC Cincinnati, but a lot of their problems are stemming from either box. Up front, Robert Beric has struggled without CJ Sapong as his attacking partner. Sapong had been out for personal reasons for the last few weeks and only returned to the pitch on Saturday against Columbus.
“Expected goals” became a burden for the Fire last season after not turning enough of them into actual goals. Przemyslaw Frankowski reminded everyone of that with his miss against Columbus on Saturday.
And then, there is the defense. Lapses continue to cost the Fire points in the standings. Francisco Calvo continues to be a hot mess in the back especially in the loss to New England where his error led to the first goal and stopping after the ball deflected of Jonathan Bornstein while Gyasi Zardes kept going one the ball was at his feet. The remainder of the defense has not been much better with Mauricio Pineda not being as good in defending as he has been scoring off corner kicks. Similar can be said about Boris Sekulic and Miguel Navarro whose contributions in attack were better than those in defense. Jonathan Bornstein was brought on to help close match, but was on the pitch for both Crew goals.
You have to create your own luck in soccer, and the Fire simply aren’t doing so at the moment. Yes, Columbus is still the best team in MLS, but the Fire were 2-0 up on them after 14 minutes and it would have been an encouraging statement to make to defeat the top team in the league.
Much about Chicago Fire FC is new, yet after eleven matches this season, we are still seeing some of the same problems on the pitch that has plagued this team the last several years. That needs to change if the Fire want to show its fanbase that there is something to look forward to when they are allowed to come to Soldier Field.
Chicago Fire
Chicago Red Stars
