Atlanta United Express Lane: The Chicago Fire Match In 10 Items Or Less
By Jon Nelson
It’s a light week in MLS, but it gives the six teams that are playing the chance to make up some ground… or lose an opportunity…
Atlanta United and Chicago Fire get that chance, but, with every almost-off week in Major League Soccer, there are some pitfalls
The international call-ups create issues…
On both sides.
Miguel Almiron played 77 minutes midweek but can catch a 2 AM flight out of Peru to be with Atlanta United for the trip to Chicago.
It’s a rare opportunity for a flight timetable to be on the side of MLS in a time of international friendlies and qualifiers, but it happened for Atlanta United. How MUCH Almiron will play is the question…
For him to be in the Starting XI would certainly be a surprise.
The same can be said for Chicago and Dax McCarty. The Fire won’t be with their emotional leader and that almost cancels out the lack of an Almiron for Atlanta United.
So, then, what does that mean for the Starting XI for Atlanta?
Does it mean that Josef Martinez gets the start?
It could… and that would be the swap-out for Almiron in the starting line-up, dropping someone to the middle from their current place whether we’re talking Yamil Asad or Tito Villalba. Leaving Julian Gressel on the wing should be paramount.
If Martinez is still out (and being held out, possibly, for the midweek US Open Cup match with Charleston Battery) it could mean that you see more of Brandon Vazquez and/or Kevin Kratz in the line-up with eventualities of Vazquez up top and Kratz in the middle since Kenwyne Jones is out on international duty as well.
Everyone remembers the last time Vazquez was active in the #5Stripes offense…
The Last Time…
Atlanta fans remember this one and hope there’s more of the same, but for a side unbeaten in their last ten at home in suburban Chicago a replication of this effort will be a tall order.
And last week, it wasn’t much better…
It was even a longer night for Chicago last time out when they visited Orlando City and couldn’t take advantage of two-man advantage situations…
But the Fire is FAR different with Bastian Schweinsteiger as the “straw” in the offense. The defensive back-four should be unchanged with Michael Parkhurst, Tyrone Mears, Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez, and Greg Garza for Atlanta United having to deal with Basti, Nikolic, and David Accam.
They feel they have a lot to prove from their visit to Orlando.
"“I’m disappointed because we had to convert the two-men-up advantage we had during most of the game,” Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic said after that match. “It was okay to control the game, but it’s not enough. We have to understand that we are not the team that we were in the past. We are a team that could control the game and dictate the game. And it’s not enough to get the point, especially in a game like this.So I’m not happy with that. I am not happy with that mentality. We were just fine. I didn’t see the hunger in the final third.Maybe in the last couple of minutes we woke up from that lethargy that we were in, but we have to improve. We have to learn to play these kinds of games … but me and the rest of the guys are a little disappointed today and we will keep working on improving. “The locker room is not happy on this.”"
And it wasn’t fun and games for Atlanta United, either…
Set pieces and height came up and bit Atlanta United…
Short of the first seven minutes at BC Place, just ask Atlanta about their run-in with Vancouver and all you’ll see is Kendall Waston in their dreams…
But, as Atlanta hovers near the Red Line in the Eastern Conference, they know this go-round will be different:
"“I have paid attention,” Michael Parkhurst admits. “They’re a very different team than the last time we played them and we were up a man for 80 minutes, so it will be a difficult game. They’re high on confidence, playing well. I’m not only impressed with their results, but the way they’ve been playing. They’re a confident group, and Schweinsteiger has brought that with him and it will be a tough intra-conference battle, but we’ll be ready for it.”"
HOW TO WATCH AND LISTEN
MATCH INFORMATION
Saturday, June 10 | Toyota Park, Chicago, Illinois| 3 p.m. (CST)
Atlanta United (5-5-3, 18 points) vs. Chicago Fire (7-3-4, 25 points)
TV: UniMás
Talent: Paco Villa (play-by-play), Diego Balado (play-by-play)
English Radio: 92.9 The Game
Talent: Adam Schick (play-by-play) and Jason Longshore (commentator)
Spanish Radio: La Mejor 1600 AM
Talent: Armando Carillo (play-by-play) and Daniel Cantu (commentator)