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Chicago Fire Midweek Training: 3 takeaways from Week 9

By John Carollo III

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 24: Head coach Veljko Paunovic of the Chicago Fire is thrown out by referee Robert Sibiga threw him out of the game in the second half against the New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on April 24, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City.The New York City FC defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 24: Head coach Veljko Paunovic of the Chicago Fire is thrown out by referee Robert Sibiga threw him out of the game in the second half against the New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on April 24, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City.The New York City FC defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 24: Head coach Veljko Paunovic of the Chicago Fire walks off the field after referee Robert Sibiga threw him out of the game in the second half against the New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on April 24, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City.The New York City FC defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 24: Head coach Veljko Paunovic of the Chicago Fire walks off the field after referee Robert Sibiga threw him out of the game in the second half against the New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on April 24, 2019 in the Bronx borough of New York City.The New York City FC defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

2. Tactical failure

Chicago Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic was not on the sidelines for this match. Instead, it was assistant coach Marko Mitrovic who took the reigns today. But Paunovic’s presence could still be felt, not just from the possibly illegal hand signals from his box, but also in the tactical set-up of the team.

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The Fire go through periods of having the right idea and then changing it up the completely next moment. A quote that’s been commonly attributed to legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly is ‘Football is a simple game complicated by idiots.’ When you find a system that works, you use that system until that system begins to fail. If it doesn’t fail, you shouldn’t be trying to change it.

There have been flashes and moments all throughout this season where the Fire look capable of taking on the entire league. Although it was against a team like Colorado, they looked amazing in the way that they set themselves up. Winning that game 1-0 or 2-1 would’ve been enough to just prove that the team wasn’t a complete lost cause, but winning 4-1 showed that they could still outclass a lesser opponent. Everything was done right: playing with the ball in the opponent’s end, allowing Nicolas Gaitan the freedom to create in the middle of the park, and making sure the defense didn’t feel too much pressure.

The rest of the time, though, features is a much different look, with the Fire bunkering down and hoping to counter-attack. Then again, it’s not exactly counter-attacking if you also insist on playing it out of the back methodically with no purpose or speed. This sort of play puts stress on a defense that’s already fairly uncomfortable and doesn’t allow the attacking talent to flourish.

The big problem here is that there seems to be a complete unwillingness to stick to a certain doctrine that works and a stubbornness to consistently use a tactic that doesn’t work. This is a paradox, and yet it is precisely where the Fire find themselves.

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