On Cleaning House

As the Revolution's star continues to rise, mostly at the expense of a Metrostars team in near-complete disarray, some things become clear. Not only do the Chicago Fire have it within them to make the playoffs with a win this afternoon against the Colubmus Crew in Naperville, they can also send Metro to an early exit. As if making the playoffs wasn't incentive enough. I'd go so far to say that we have a moral obligation to keep Octavio Zambrano's squad from taking the field again in 2002, mostly because it might mean they are no longer playing like they're "his" squad. Some fans in the News of York and Jersey might want to see their boys in the playoffs, but trust me, we'd be doing you a favor. After watching both New England and DC surge at the end of the year, it's apparent that no house needs to be cleaned as badly as yours, and the best way to effect that is to fail miserably in the regular season. On the field, it may only take a healthy Marcelo Balboa in the back or as a defensive midfielder, a smarter player in whichever position he doesn't take (although, to be fair, I've seen small rocks that are smarter, and quicker, than Mike Petke), and a less-clinically-insane Clint Mathis to get the job done, but Zambrano has got to go. His comments about the aforementioned Mathis sounded like a surrender to me. A man with nothing to lose can get away with airing those kinds of grievancs in public, especially when you have exactly one match left with the player in question.

Some might put the Fire in the same predicament if the wheels continue to come off against the Crew, but with the rash of injuries this season, the case to sack second- and third-tier role players would have come anyway once the healthy bodies return. There will, obviously, be salary cap issue to deal with when the end does come, but it's simply a reflex action to blame the coaching staff and management for what transpired on the field this season. There are far too many mitigating circumstances to make it stick, and anyone with actual say in the matter realizes that.

Back on the Revolution's side of things, it looks like Daouda Kante has made all the difference in transforming a formerly porous defense into one that has only given up something like seven goals in eight games. The Revs had been scoring all season, but still coming up short, and Kante has been a big help in stopping the bleeding. And going back to viewing all things through a Fire-colored lens, the lack of impact former league MVP Alex Pineda Chacon has had on the squad this year makes me wonder if he could become another successful Bob Bradley reclamation project in the offseason. If it's possible to bring back an in-form Chacon at a decent price next year, the Fire's problems finding the back of the net could be quickly and decisively solved.

In the meantime, the Fire desperately need to take care of business against the Crew, but that's become such a foregone conclusion in the past week that it almost doesn't deserve mentioning. Who will be on the field to do it is, as usual, another matter entirely. Conventional wisdom goes against starting new acquisition and spelling nightmare Dipsy Selolwane in such an important game, but he will see time, especially if Ante Razov's recently subluxated shoulder doesn't allow him to play the full ninety minutes. Someone clearly needs to step up for the Men in Red, and it's entirely unclear who that could be. DaMarcus Beasley has played hard lately, but hasn't been able to make that last move to get on goal. Razov is still the Fire's leading scorer. Hristo Stoitchkov might be playing his last match in a Fire uniform if the team loses. Peter Nowak is still regaining his form after injury. I'm guessing it will be Nowak. I'm praying it will be Nowak. St. Peter, deliver us unto the playoffs.