MLS Round-up: De Jong departs, BWP scores, and Chicago are on Fire

Chicago Fire continues campaign for a late playoff surge

At points during this season, claims the Chicago Fire could make the playoffs have seemed laughable. The franchise from the Windy City has endured some difficult results under Veljko Paunović, but in recent weeks there has been flickers of something in this team.

The 6-2 defeat against D.C. United was something of an anomaly, and largely down to the first half dismissal of Khaly Thiam. Prior to that they were unbeaten in three games, including an impressive 3-0 victory away to the Montreal Impact.

Despite their overall upturn in form, it was still hard to predict the Fire’s game against the Philadelphia Union. Jim Curtin’s side were missing goalkeeper Andre Blake and Tranquillo Barnetta, while Paunović was without star DP David Accam.

Yet if there is one thing the team has been blessed with this season, it is belief. Roland Alberg accidentally put the ball into his own net in the 22nd minute to give the Fire a helping hand, with Michael de Leeuw doubling the lead in the 71st minute. Rounding out the scoring with Arturo Alvarez late on, when the Fire weren’t trying to add to the score they had Sean Johnson to thank for maintaining the clean sheet.

Johnson is the longest serving member of the current Fire roster, but has struggled to maintain the number one spot at points this season. Now trusted by Paunovic, he has repaid that faith with some fine showings between the sticks, with his first half save on Chris Pontius a particular highlight.

“I think today with no exception everyone had a fantastic game,” the Fire head coach said. “It was a fantastic performance and Sean obviously had a great game. I’m very happy that Sean is getting more comfortable with covering the depth and the aerial balls that we have, I’m very happy about it. Of course, his saves were very important for the team today and the overall performance was very good.”

Meanwhile, Johnson was confident about the club’s potential. Chicago has a game in hand on playoff rivals D.C. United, and if they win that, it would put them within three points of Ben Olsen’s side. Perhaps an unlikely charge, it would be just reward for the loyal Fire fan base that has stuck with the team through thick and (mostly) thin. “We finally have a foundation and this league, you know how it is,” he said. “The summer months are important, you can win two games and things can turn around quickly. We’re taking it one game at a time, and we’ll definitely look to keep charging.”

Colorado’s stingy defence counts for little with a struggling attack

Credit to Pablo Mastroeni, the former U.S. International has orchestrated a fantastic turnaround in Colorado with the Rapids.

Now battling for top spot in the Western Conference, they are benefitting from a fantastic defence. Conceding just 24 goals so far this season, (the fewest in MLS) their biggest issue remains their lack of goals scored. So far, Colorado has scored the fewest goals of any team in a playoff position with 28.

That means they are forced to rely on keeping a watertight defence. On Saturday, the absence of Jermaine Jones and Tim Howard had an impact, with Zac MacMath called in to replace Howard. Unfortunately for MacMath the drop in quality was noticeable, as he gave away a penalty and the team conceded twice to hand the New England Revolution a comfortable win.

The fact they’ve scored just twice in the last four games helps explain the Rapids’ slide in the West, and although they are still 11 points from dropping out of the playoffs, Mastroeni will be disappointed. “Goals change games, goals change momentum, goals instill beliefs, and take belief away,” he said. “Even at 2-0, we had a couple of chances that we could have been cleaner on. A game of 2-1 with twenty minutes left, I think makes for an interesting game.”

Searching for answers, the Rapids are certainly generating chances. They out-shot their hosts 14-13, with over half of those coming inside the penalty area. It would be fair to suggest that for the Rapids, who face FC Dallas next, it is a case of needing quality rather than quantity in the penalty box moving forward. “There’s a lot of reasons why we’re in a tough little stretch here, but there’s no time to sulk and hang our heads,” midfielder Sam Cronin said. “We all need just to improve our own game as a team. As a result, we can play better as a team.”

In the absence of star names the Galaxy pull out an important win

The departure of Nigel De Jong from MLS was less than quiet. MLS HQ produced a curious video depicting his time in MLS, during which they aimed less than thinly veiled criticism at the Dutch international. Citing his lack of goals or assists, it also highlighted his reckless tackle on Darlington Nagbe as a major contribution.

Never one for diplomacy, Bruce Arena addressed the situation this week. “Nigel’s a very good player,” he said this week. “We don’t have an educated public to understand what he does, but he’s been an important member of our team. We do have some depth. If we lose him, then we use our depth. We don’t have any Nigel de Jong’s here, but we have players that can play in that position,” Arena said. “You lose his ball-winning. He’s a pretty good passer. He’s very good at organizing his teammates around him. Not that others can’t do that job, but Nigel is a real pro at it.”

Also missing Gyasi Zardes to a season ending foot injury, and Robbie Keane, it forced Arena to test the aforementioned squad depth. Helping the LA Galaxy coach record his 200th regular season win, he had substitute Baggio Husidic to thank for giving his team the lead. A fantastic strike from distance, the advantage was doubled by Giovani Dos Santos in the final 10 minutes.

Arguably proving Arena’s point regarding squad depth, it is a trait that has helped the team consistently challenge for MLS Cup. While they may not currently sit near the top of the Western Conference, Arena knows that winning his 200th game or the Supporters’ Shield, while nice, are not the biggest prize, that remains MLS Cup.

“When you win a fair amount of games, when you’re coaching, it’s because you have good teams and good players,” Arena said of his accomplishment. “I know one day it will be important, probably to my grandchildren to read about,” he admitted. I’m honored to have coached some great players in this league, and that’s the reason I’ve been able to pile up a few wins along the way.”

Hurtado’s woes see Vancouver struggle against New York Red Bulls

The life of a misfiring striker is a stressful one. Bradley Wright-Phillips knew that feeling of frustration early in the season, when he went seven games without a goal.

He has since rectified that with a fantastic showing in the league. However, for Erik Hurtado the feeling was very real on Saturday night. The forward was a fantastic youth prospect with Portland Timbers U23’s, but he has struggled to replicate that form since turning pro with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Blessed with blistering speed, and all of the physical attributes required to be a top forward in MLS, his finishing is his glaring weakness. On Saturday, he earned a variety of chances in front of goal, but fluffed them all. Failing to produce a single effort on target from seven attempted, it was a stark contrast to BWP, (one effort on target, one goal).

“It’s a microcosm of our season,” Vancouver coach Carl Robinson said of Saturday.“It worked (the game plan), but we didn’t take our chances, so it didn’t work.”

Robinson was later ejected from the game, and although the home crowd cheered him off, and booed the referee, it did little to distract from another poor showing. Hurtado, said to be in tears after the game, may be seen as the person to blame for the result, but ultimately Vancouver’s entire forward line should take responsibility, and perhaps learn a lesson from BWP.

"When (the ball) broke free, I just thought hit the target, try to hit the target,” BWP said. “I kind of blacked out, I don’t remember too much. (I’m) just happy to get a goal and three points on the road.”