Waiting for Ante

The optimist sees the 2003 Chicago Fire as undefeated after two matches. The pessimist sees an overly defensive squad that had difficulty even getting one goal in that same stretch. As is usually the case in these matters, the truth lies somewhere in between, particularly when you consider the most glaring absence on the field, that of the Fire's all-time leading scorer, Ante Razov. As Razov wraps up his three-game suspension this Saturday when the Fire face Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium, this is as good a time as any to look into what he'll bring to the squad. Actually, next week would probably be a better time, but it's been at the top of my mind for a few days now, so what the hell.

The immediate question when Ante returns for the Fire's next match, May 10 against the San Jose Earthquakes, is who moves to the bench? Conventional wisdom says midfielder Orlando Perez, as Razov is a left-footed player. This means DaMarcus Beasley, who has been lining up nominally as a withdrawn forward, depending on who you ask, will have less room to roam up top and will subsequently need to drop into more of a true midfield role. While this could mean more defensive responsibilities for Beasley, limiting his forays up top, you have to imagine Carlos Bocanegra behind him will be able to pick up the slack, along with Chris Armas and rookie Logan Pause in the defensive midfield.

Having established who's on the field, the more important question is what changes in the attacking dynamic. While Rodrigo Faria has done an adequate job of receiving balls up top, the fact that both Beasley and Andy Williams are playing withdrawn behind him means he has to wait for teammates to make a run before he can distribute the ball from that position, no matter how speedy they are. Last week against DC United, the crowded midfield made this a difficult proposition, and Faria was fairly ineffective as a result. With Razov, we're likely to see quicker ball movement after that first pass into the attacking third, along with having two different targets for those passes. This, in turn, should force defenses to pay more attention to the forwards, and may get Williams and Beasley a little more space behind them, which was another problem in the DC match. Ideally, this will allow the team to move the ball more quickly from one side of the penalty area to the other, opening up more opportunities for the wings to get shots in while the defense is shifting.

While this is just rampant speculation as to how players will react to a new presence on the field, the more obvious advantage will be on free kicks. As expected, last week Williams and Beasley were fouled early and often, and near the DC goal, but the Fire's set pieces were as ineffective as DC's 12 corner kicks, which may or may not have even gotten the home team a shot on goal. Razov is a player with considerable experience taking those kicks, and can get them on frame. No, it won't quite be Beckham's shot last week against Real Madrid, but he'll be more dangerous nonetheless.

Clearly, Razov on his own can't be viewed as some sort of savior that will carry the team into the W column on his shoulders alone. More important will be how the other ten men on the pitch make adjustments and exploit opponents' reaction to his being out there.

In the meantime, the Fire face former teammates Josh Wolff and Diego Gutierrez and an undefeated Kansas City side that MLS Wrap host Sean Wheelock inexplicably thinks can win it all after two matches. With a 3-5-2 formation in the first two matches, Bob Gansler's Wizards will force the same sort of midfield congestion the Fire faced against DC, so once again, look for the Fire to play defend-and-counter on the road. The interesting question is whether new coach Dave Sarachan has made the adjustments during the week to yield better results. On the other side, the two main defensive matchups will be Chris Armas versus Preki, and Carlos Bocanegra and Orlando Perez teaming up on Chris Klein. The Fire can win those battles, and Wolff is still not looking fully recovered from his knee surgery, so it's going to be guys like Francisco Gomez in the midfield and Chris Brown up top who will have to step up and do some damage for the Missouri Azzurri.

While Brown had a strong first week out of the gate, I'm not convinced they can pull it off. There is also, as MLSnet's Tino Palace pointed out, an emerging hex on goalies facing the Wizards, but that is likely counterbalanced by the Fire's overwhelming 11-3 advantage in the lifetime series. So I'm taking the safe route and predicting another 0-0 tie, the first draw ever between these two teams.