Caught in Possession

The Chicago Fire are a good soccer team.

I can say this, with full confidence, in reference to both the club's general state of success in recent seasons and their present form as of July 2008. I have seen them efficiently dispatch favored DC United sides in two of the last three MLS Cup playoffs and on several regular-season occasions in recent years as well. I have also seen them be a general pain in the *ss to most of their MLS counterparts, even when losing, thanks to a uniquely creative sort of destructiveness professionally administered, each in their own special way, by Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chris Rolfe, Wilman Conde, (former coach) Juan Carlos Osorio and the like.

This weekend I got to hijack the tivo at my girlfriend's house long enough to watch the Fire play the Columbus Crew on Saturday. Playing pacey, fluid soccer, the Fire largely bossed the match -- and did enough to feel underwhelmed by a 2-2 road draw thanks to a dodgy late Steven Lenhart goal for the Yellow Football Team.

"Football is time and space, time and space," as my coach in Grenada liked to say -- the outstandingly named Dick Furlonge, a crusty old Trini who'd played for the NASL, Dutch Eredivisie and Trinidadian national team before a blown knee brought on his premature start to a coaching career. And I can't help noticing that Chicago are masters at the second half of that prosaic equation.

The Fire are able to consistently compete against and beat good teams, especially those that are more talented than they are, by manipulating the space in which a game's immediate action takes place.

Defensively, Chicago are a perceptive, well-drilled group able to move collectively and maintain shape. Opposing teams find their space on the ball limited at inopportune moments, whether it be in tight spaces near sidelines or anywhere else that a turnover can be created and exploited, or in their attacking third as they try to create shots on the Chicago goal. What starts off looking like a decent enough string of passes through the Fire midfield is often directed down a blind alley as red jerseys fly to the ball and force quick, difficult decisions. The field shrinks, leading to turnovers. Which lead to...

In the attack, the Fire revolve around Cuauhtemoc Blanco and his adept leadership of the staff of worker bees assembled for his convenience. These are smart, fit, well-coached worker bees, however, who can pass and move crisply and are aware of their teammates' strengths, and try to play to them.

So when Chicago dispossesses their opposition, a quick pass or smart turn swings play in the other direction, changing the point of attack at speed and exposing overcommitment or poor positional awareness somewhere along enemy lines. So often, Blanco or one of his midfield mates finds himself turning towards goal with the ball at his feet, looking at a backtracking defense and multiple teammates to combine with -- and the field suddenly becomes a massive parade ground of space for passers and runners to weave combinations in, as defenders scramble.

In short, a lot of hard work gets prettied up by a sprinkling of inspiration and opportunism, and you have a team that can be very difficult to play against.

A couple examples:

You could contend that this style dates all the way back to the Bob Bradley/Peter Nowak era in the franchise's early days, or try to give Dave Sarachan a bit of credit by pegging it to that since-deposed Fire boss. Or just tell current boss Dennis Hamlett -- who remains, depressingly, the only African-American head coach in the history of Major League Soccer -- to take a bow.

Regardless, it's damn effective and even inspiring, at times like Saturday, to watch. And it has been an absolute bear for DC United in knockout competitions like the US Open Cup, where the teams will meet again on Tuesday. Chicago has had DC's number in do-or-die situations and I think it's telling that Clyde Simms referred to the Fire as "our biggest rival" when we talked last Thursday. Whether it's the reserves or first-teamers or a more likely combination of the two that takes the field at the MD Soccerplex, United must unlock the Fire code.