Chicago Fire: Three Takeaways from the Crew

The Chicago Fire came back from behind to tie the Columbus Crew on Saturday at the Mapfre Stadium. Both teams put in a great effort, but ultimately canceled each other out.

Takeaways from the derby, including missing players, tactics, and a squad update.

Where’s Juninho?

Fans were left reeling when it was revealed on Friday that Juninho, a candidate for team captain, was suspended for the match. A holdover red card from his last game in Liga MX was the culprit.

With John Goossens slotting into Juninho’s midfield spot, the Chicago Fire seemed out of sorts for the first half. Expect significantly more comfortable midfield play from Juninho and Dax, come this Saturday.

Pragmatic Tactics

The Fire were lucky to end the first half only down 1-0. Late in the first half, Coach Veljko Paunovic opted for tactical change. After the match, Dax McCarty revealed what that change was:

"Instead of being in a 4-4-2, we tried to drop Michael de Leeuw a little deeper and be more of a 4-3-3."

The tactics worked. Columbus was shut down, and Chicago Fire started to go on the offensive, eventually tying the game through David Accam. The Fire grew stronger, still, as time wound down, but it wasn’t to be as Columbus escaped the match with a point.

Reinforcements, imminent

I believe this team has a lot of potential, and so does Dax:

"It was a tough first half, like I said, but the second half we showed more of our potential. We were dangerous, I think once guys play a little bit more together and get on the same page, our ceiling is as high as we want it to be."

Once Puanovic made the necessary changes, the Fire’s team game became much more effective. With Juninho getting back into the first team for his debut on Saturday, expect a much more cohesive offensive unit.

Ryan Taylor and Chad Barson, trialists for the back line, both got game time in a recent scrimmage against Chicago Fire USL-affiliate, Tulsa. Taylor, predominantly a right back all of his career, saw most of his game time come at center back.

Perhaps, those glimpses of Kappelhof at right back during preseason hint at the future of the back line. Alternatively, coaches may already think Taylor’s good enough on the wing and would rather test his mettle at CB for additional squad depth.

Regardless of where Taylor settles in the back line, whatever it takes to push Harrington out of the starting lineup will be fine by me.

Taylor will remain an unsigned trialist until an international spot opens up for him. Already at the max, GM Nelson Rodriguez may look to loan out a player such as David Arshakyan or trade for an international spot to facilitate this signing.

Next: New Rules for Refs in 2017 MLS

Last but not least, Dax McCarty has put out a memo to #cf97 nation:

"“We have to get Toyota Park back to being a fortress.”"

Let’s start making that a reality on March 11!