Chicago Fire

The Chicago Fire might be sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, but Mike Magee is trying to change that.

Since arriving in the Windy City, Magee has been the focal point of the Fire's offense. Without missing a beat, the forward has scored in four straight MLS appearances, and six straight in all competitions.

In fact, Magee has scored in every match he has played for his new club.

Some eyebrows were raised when Bruce Arena let him leave Los Angeles in exchange for the rights to Robbie Rogers.

I think it is safe to say that Chicago got the better end of the deal.

Magee led the league in goals at the time of his departure. One month later, he remains at the top, with 10 goals from from just 14 MLS games.

There is nothing too flashy about Magee's play. He is deceptive, makes good runs and is quick off the mark. What makes him special is his ability to find the ball around the penalty area.

He is not physically imposing, but his crafty ability to split the defense makes him a constant goal threat.

Often deployed out wide for the Galaxy, Magee has always been able to pop up in the right spot at the right time. His keen eye for goal has him playing up front these days, and the results speak loudly.

After just four MLS games with the Fire, Magee leads the team in scoring.Some of his teammates could learn a thing or two from the forward. His closest competition comes from Maicon Santos and Daniel Paladini, each with two goals on the year.

Mike Magee is without a doubt the hottest player in MLS right now. While other candidates can boast more impressive strikes and contribute to better sides, Magee's scoring record is enough to solidify the No. 1 spot for the time being. With half the season left to be played, Magee is on pace to knock in more than 20 goals this year.

The Chicago native feels right at home with his new squad, seamlessly transitioning into the side. Magee's reliability in front of goal has been a revelation for a struggling Fire team. But having gone undefeated since he made his debut, the Fire will attempt to ride his hot streak into a playoff spot.

It's evident that Major League Soccer is missing something.

As the Chicago Fire take on the Philadelphia Union in a league matchup, with both teams fighting for their playoff lives, the missing ingredient in the MLS is becoming slowly evident.

The oldest argument in the book about the MLS is that the players are lower quality, so the games lack the excitement of European leagues.

What's lacking, however, is not excitement. It's a game that is controlled by the middle of the field. Certainly in today's matchup, it's impossible to ignore the gaping hole in the middle of the field. This is evident when you view a game from the press box, as opposed to watching it on TV.

If you're into tactical observations, the press box is the place for you. A birds eye view is how soccer is meant to be viewed.

The recent world football era of small, attacking midfielders (mostly in Spain) may appear to have "ended" with Barcelona and Real Madrid getting worked into submission by the taller, air-attack heavy Bayern Dortmund sides. Maybe, though, America is just a few years behind Europe when it comes to properly utilizing our midfielders. 

What the MLS is missing—and what every major European league has—is a solid core of both attacking and holding midfielders.  

Here are the reasons for Chicago's 1-0 loss to the visiting Union:

1.) Long balls from the Fire's defending core of Jalil Anibaba, Austin Berry and Gonzalo Segares went for naught as Patrick Nyarko struggled to put the ball in the net. Moving from defense to midfield and midfield to strikers (one pass at a time, one section of the field at a time) isn't part of the game plan. 

2.) On corners, the taller and more physical Anibaba pressed forward to either take corners or scrap in the middle for headers to win. This left their defense quite a bit more vulnerable than the Union, who play a more conservative style and don't press forward. This is part of Chicago's weakness (a lack of striking and/or finishing power). 

Final: Fire 0-1 Union. The legend of Jack Mack grows as he steals a game for Philly with his league-best 7th goal.

— Matt Thacker (@MattTalksSoccer) May 11, 2013

3.) Simple play works most effectively for the men in red.

Logan Pause and Jalil Anibaba epitomize this style of play, which for Chicago doesn't typically translate to goals.

It does translate to what they're known for—a solid defensive core, with last year's Rookie of the Year Austin Berry, Anibaba, and newly minted backup keeper Sean Johnson. Pause is much more of a holding midfield and doesn't attack like we're used to seeing in Europe (watch Barcelona's Andres Iniesta work his magic to push forward while still playing defense).

Especially with Philadelphia's "stack the back" game plan on defense, Frank Klopas' men have proved the importance of spreading your defense and developing individual players as opposed to "parking the bus," as John Hackworth's men have done. Unfortunately, spreading the defense failed on the game's only goal off a long ball from Sebastian Le Toux to forward Jack McInerney.   

4.) In the second half, Daniel Paladini came on and provided a much more stable midfield presence, which led to multiple opportunities for the Fire. You see this all over the MLS, though.

Moving the ball from one third to the next and trying to skip the middle portion is like writing a book report without ever reading the middle portion: You can get the gist, but you can't work out the details or do any real analysis.

5.) Dilly Duka and Joel Lindpere are new midfielders in the Chicago system, so it's possible they haven't adjusted yet.

I'd argue nine games is plenty of time to adjust, particularly since Duka is an MLS veteran and Lindpere is 31 years old. I suspect they're both solid clubhouse leaders that posses intangibles we didn't see here today. 

In general, the MLS has evolved greatly in the past 10 years, if for no reason other than its popularity seeing a noticeable boost. On the field, there is still far less organization on both ends than we're used to seeing in Europe. There is a general lack of crispness but no shortage of creativity on both ends.

For both Chicago and Philadelphia, they are most effective when they spread the field. Most of this would be solved with a crew of midfielders dedicated to a smoother flow of moving the ball from one end to the other. 

In conclusion, America is a few years behind on our "book reports." MLS (and more specifically, the current Chicago squad) has failed to scout the best midfielders.

What's next in the MLS? Will we see a charge ahead to find midfielders that will create security in the middle third of MLS matchups? Or will aging stars like Thierry Henry, Tim Cahill, Robbie Keane and Obafemi Martins show up in the league for star power?

The more important question to address is whether commissioner Don Garber cares more about developing the style of play in MLS or the style of player.

There's a book report waiting for you, Mr. Garber. My advice is to take a seat at midfield and think carefully about what you want your league to look like. 

Follow me @ericdrobny for more on world football. 

Chicago Fire fans can breathe a sigh of relief. The “Men in Red” finally got into the win column today. It took two late goals from an unlikely hero to defeat the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in front of over 12,000 fans at Toyota Park.

Brazilian forward Maicon Santos put the Fire ahead in the 83rd minute of play with a brilliant move that left Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles out of position.

Santos followed his go-ahead goal with a header for an insurance score near the 90th-minute mark.

The match began as a seesaw event that featured good passing and solid defense.

Both teams swapped possessions during the first 15 minutes of play. Neither the Fire nor the Red Bulls were able to take advantage of several scoring chances.

The Fire had a great chance at drawing the first blood when they had a corner kick opportunity within the second minute, but Chris Rolfe lofted a soft shot that went into Robles' arms.

Later in the first half the Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead with a goal. The bicycle kick by defender Jamison Olave caught the attention of the fans, and Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson never had a chance to make the save.

The Fire refused to hang their heads after such a highlight-reel play. Just before halftime, Daniel Paladini drew the Fire even with a wonderful header.

The Fire relied on strong defense to prevent the Red Bulls from scoring again.

The Fire escaped with a victory despite playing without injured stars Arne Friedrich and Patrick Nyarko. Injuries have plagued the team thus far in the season, but Sean Johnson assuredly believes that the Fire have what it takes to get past the setbacks.

Sean Johnson on the win and current injuries (quotes obtained firsthand):

We have a group of guys who are committed to a cause and that’s winning games and that’s all we set out to do. It doesn’t matter who is on the field, we have the personnel to step up at any point and time. As you saw tonight, players stepped up, done well. Hunter (Chicago Fire defender Hunter Jumper) his first start, fantastic. Just different stepped up at different times. It’s great when you have depth on the team and you can count on different guys to get the job done.     

Johnson’s thoughts on getting the first win of the year were spot on. Different players must step up when their names are called.

The Fire’s first triumph was a complete team victory—one that should propel them as the season marches forward.

All quotes were obtained firsthand.

Follow @ernestshepard

On Saturday night in front of a sparse crowd on a blustery night in Chicago, the New England Revolution opened up their 2013 campaign with a 1-0 away win over the struggling Chicago Fire.

Honduran Jerry Bengtson scored the game-winner for the Revolution in the 61st minute, as he headed in a beautifully chipped pass from second-half substitute Kelyn Rowe.

The Revolution, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2009, looked sharp through much of the contest, putting together some great attacking combinations through their midfield.

Coming off a 2012 campaign in which New England struggled to find goals, the Revolution found solid stretches on possession in the attacking third through the midfield play, particularly through the efforts of Juan Carlos Toja, who was involved in most of the Revolution’s dangerous sequences.

For the Fire, who lost their 2013 opener last week to the L.A. Galaxy, things are beginning to look much worse.

Center midfielder Joel Lindpere, who was brought in to help the Fire improve their central midfield play, once again struggled to impact the game and went long stretches without getting on the ball. When he did get involved, Lindpere was just average.

In the 32nd minute, Lindpere served a great ball to Dilly Duka, but the chance was wasted by Duka. In the 49th minute, Maicon Santos found Lindpere through the middle of the Revs defense, but Lindpere was too unselfish, and instead of taking the chance himself, played an over-weighted pass to Duka which ran out of bounds.

In the last five minutes of the match, Lindpere set up two more chances for the Fire, but both came to nothing. Overall, Lindpere’s involvement was too little, too late.

The Fire also tried four different players up top in the match, including starters Chris Rolfe and Sherjill MacDonald, as well as second-half substitutes Maicon Santos and Alex. All four players failed to make a significant impact on the game.

If there was one bright spot for the Fire, it came in the play of center-back Austin Berry. Berry, who was the MLS Rookie of the Year in 2012, played well despite the continued absence of his usual center-back partner Arne Friedrich (hamstring injury). Friedrich was the Fire’s Player of the Year in 2012 and many attributed Berry’s success in 2012 largely to his partnership with Friedrich.

Even without Friedrich, however, Berry was the Fire’s best player. He was sent off the field twice in the first half after being bloodied in a collision with Revolution forward Jerry Bengtson, but Berry returned to the match both times to put in a solid 90-minute effort.

On three separate occasions Berry bailed the Fire out of trouble. On the first, a mistake by center-back partner Jalil Anibaba in the 25th minute almost let the Revolution in on goal, but Berry was quick to recognize the danger and covered Anibaba’s mistake.

In the second half, Berry squashed the Revolution’s best combination of the night. In the 56th minute, the Revolution put together a gorgeous six-pass combination between Andrew Farrell, Toja, Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe to put Toja in alone on goal. But at the last second, Berry came sliding in to just nick the ball away from Toja as he prepared to finish the chance.

Finally, in the 60th minute, just before the Revolution finally broke through, Berry recovered nicely after Bengtson had beaten Anibaba through the middle of the Fire defense. Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson came out strong to make the initial save, but the ball bounced away from Johnson and was heading toward Bengtson for what would have been an open-net opportunity.

However, Berry once again arrived to save the day, clearing the ball away before Bengtson could get there.

For the Revolution, there were plenty of bright spots. Besides the outstanding midfield play of Toja, New England’s five-man midfield made it difficult for the Fire to get anything going in the middle of the pitch. Throughout the majority of the match, the Fire were forced by New England to resort to searching, ineffective long balls over the top.

When the Revolution did give up an opportunity, veteran Matt Reis was there to clean up the mess. Reis’ best moment of the match came in the 31st minute when Fire winger Dilly Duka hit a cannon shot from 25 yards out. Reis was somehow able to get a hand to the shot and parry it wide. Then, late in the second half, when the Fire were pushing hard for the equalizer, Reis was repeatedly big, making a number of good catches on dangerous services into his area and a solid save on a late shot by the Fire in stoppage time.

Also impressive for the Revs was the play of Jerry Bengtson and Kelyn Rowe, who, not surprisingly, connected for the game-winning goal. Bengtson had at least three dangerous chances in the match, all created, at least in part, due to his good runs and positioning. Rowe, the Revs' first-round draft pick in 2012, came off the bench and made an immediate impact on the game with his passing, dribbling and combination play.

For the Revolution, their play in Saturday’s match makes their goal of qualifying for the playoffs this season look very much possible. For the Fire, they will have to get their offense (scoreless in 180 minutes this year) into gear to have a chance at returning to the playoffs in 2013.

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The Chicago Fire can win the MLS Cup!

That was my proclamation after witnessing their come-from-behind victory against the Columbus Crew Saturday night.

Over 19,000 fans jammed Toyota Park and watched Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson give a goal away on an errant pass. But there was no doubt that they would come back and win the game.

The ill-timed pass Johnson intended for defender Arne Friedrich went instead to an awaiting Jairo Arrieta, who caught Johnson out of position to score the goal in the 15th minute of play.

Instead of sulking, the Fire raised their intensity level and went on the attack offensively.

Fire forward and Kettering, Ohio native Chris Rolfe tied the match in the 23rd minute of play. Sharp passing by Sherjill MacDonald set up Rolfe’s goal beautifully.

As the crowd roared, Rolfe proved he was not finished, adding a go-ahead goal three minutes later. The goal ended up the game winner.

Fire coach Frank Klopas praised the effort of the team following the match in his post-game press conference:

“Yeah, obviously another great win for our team. Being here at home there is a fantastic atmosphere tonight from our fans. And I thought we had a very good start to the game. We made a mistake, we gave up the goal, but I gave so much credit to the team. You know, we never panicked, we kept playing the same way and we scored two very nice goals. We had some opportunities in the second half to put the game away and I think in the end it was a little bit difficult because as a tendency when you’re up we dropped a little bit off and then they played everything in the box. Lot of long balls, which is our strength. But in the end I thought it was a great win, lot of credit to the guys.”

The Fire does deserve the credit and they deserve the support of the fans.

With the Chicago Bears’ season underway and the Chicago White Sox in the middle of a division race, the Fire’s chase at the MLS Playoffs have gone somewhat unnoticed. They are not only in a legitimate position to make the playoffs, but they can win the MLS Cup.

The Fire has an all-important match Friday against Sporting Kansas City. The winner will have sole possession of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. If the Fire wins the match, the sky is the limit. Their comeback win versus the Crew this past Saturday left a lasting impression on the many who watched the game.

The Chicago Fire can win the MLS Cup!

Ernest Shepard is a Bleacher Report featured columnist, all quotes and observations were acquired firsthand.

The Chicago Fire and their coach, Frank Klopas, came into Sunday night’s game needing a win. Less than one minute into the game, they were well on their way.

A Patrick Nyarko goal off a Dynamo turnover got the fans happy barely after the opening kick. The Fire’s second-fastest goal (47 seconds) in team history was just the beginning of what they had in store for the Houston Dynamo in their 3-1 win.

An excited Toyota Park crowd of 17,007 watched one of the Fire’s most aggressively played games to date. If Nyarko’s goal struck a match, a following goal by Daniel Paladini in the 19th minute of play ignited the flame.

Paladini used a deke to get Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall out of position for the score. The goal was set up with a crisp pass from the active, though unlucky, Alvarez Fernandez to put the Fire ahead 2-0. The Fire never looked back.

During the first half, the Fire attacked on every possession; their passes were effective and they showed patience to set up for additional scoring opportunities.

One of those opportunities came when Fernandez received a well-placed pass from forward Sherjill MacDonald. The midfielder proceeded to set his feet for the shot but he kicked it too hard as the ball flew to the right side of the net.

On another scoring opportunity, Fernandez had an additional chance to put the Fire ahead 3-0. Instead of passing the ball to MacDonald, Fernandez kicked the ball directly into the arms of Hall.

The first half could have gone a different way had a Dynamo goal by forward Macoumba Kandji been allowed. Kandji appeared to have hit the ball with his arm so the game officials disallowed the goal.

It was the only true threat the Dynamo had in the first half.

The second half had its share of highlights. This included four athletic saves from Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson. There was a moment during the 72nd minute of play when Johnson had a succession of diving saves. This threw the beloved fans in “Section 8” into a frenzy.

The Dynamo would indeed score late in the 89th minute, thus ruining Johnson's bid for a shutout.

The Fire answered with a goal from Alex in extra time, giving the Fire a 3-1 victory, improving their record at home to 10-2-2.  

Game notes: Sunday night’s game was the first without Marco Pappa. Pappa had an immediate transfer to SC Heerenveen.

Saturday was coach Klopas’ 45th birthday.

Ernest Shepard is a Bleacher Report featured columnist; all observations were acquired first-hand.

CHESTER, Pa.—When the Philadelphia Union step into PPL Park, something good usually happens. Tonight just wasn't the night, as the Chicago Fire (11-7-5, 38 Points) trounced the Union (7-12-2, 23 Points) 3-1 in front of 18,412 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania on Sunday night.

Chicago forward Chris Rolfe scored two of his team's three goals, while Arne Friedrich added another for the fourth-place Fire.

The game was scoreless until the 34th minute when Philadelphia's Freddy Adu crossed a ball into Chandler Hoffman, but Chicago's Jalil Anibaba ended up knocking it in his own goal to give the Union a 1-0 lead.

The Fire then scored two goals in the next four minutes, as Sherjill MacDonald beat Bakary Soumare, crossed it into the box, and Rolfe volleyed a one-hopper with his knees right past goaltender Zac MacMath.

Chicago's Marco Pappa placed a corner kick right near the penalty area, and Friedrich headed it in to give the Fire a 2-1 lead in the 47th minute. Chicago scored their final goal in the 55th minute as Chris Rolfe hit a twenty yard shot right past a diving MacMath who barely touched the ball with his right hand.

Philadelphia is now 13 points behind the last playoff spot, currently held by DC United. Chicago moved up into fourth place in the Eastern Conference with the victory.

Here are your updated Eastern Conference Standings:

Newly acquired defender Bakary Soumare made his Union debut on Sunday night. The 26-year-old looked rusty, especially when he got beat near the end-line of Rolfe's first goal. He was acquired on June 26th, but Soumare had to regain his stamina and health before taking the pitch.

The Union face DC United in their next match a week from now, Sunday, August 19th at 5:00PM. That game is in Washington and will appear on NBC Sports Network.