The current player flux in Chicago has Nate Jaqua, Tony Sanneh, Zach Thornton, Andy Herron and John Thorrington all departing the club, with a passel of rookies and Ryan Coiner coming over from Columbus.
Dave Sarachan must have seen something he really, really liked in Bakary Soumare, because while I wasn't the biggest fan of Andy Herron -- he was probably fourth on my depth chart if everyone were healthy, he was still the team's MVP last year, as well as their leading scorer. To let him go for a draft pick and an untested forward in Coiner seems like a lot, although the "untested" part of Coiner's game could be a key to getting the value out of that deal.
I'm bullish on the Fire's draft, overall, because nearly every hole left by a player departure has been filled. Soumare replaces Sanneh, and has even played some defensive midfield, so if Jim Curtin comes back strong after his injury-filled 2006 season, the Virginia defender could even get a leg up on Logan Pause as an eventual replacement for Chris Armas in more of a Shalrie Joseph mode. Jerson Monteiro looks like he could be a straight-up swap for Nate Jaqua, both as a big forward and as an occasional right midfielder, and maybe with a little more bite.
As for Herron, Chad Barrett steps immediately into that role, and was actually looking better than Herron before he picked up the injury bug last season. So Ryan Coiner takes the third or fourth spot on the forward depth chart and the Fire move along without a hitch. Matt Pickens has already stepped up into the starting goalkeeper position, so Thornton's loss is simply absorbed by David Mahoney as Pickens' backup.
This leaves the team in really good shape relative to the salary cap, and opinions on how it leaves them on the field depend largely on one's opinions of Jaqua, Herron and Sanneh. Losing Sanneh hurts if only for the sense of calm he imposed on the Fire's defense, and I don't know if Curtin brings that to the table -- he's much more of a "heart" guy than a "head" guy to the extent of the "Big Cat" -- so we'll see if Soumare plays beyond his years.
Sarachan has, I think, a long history of making big impacts with his second pick, so I'll trust his judgement that Monteiro can fill Jaqua's shoes, and Calen Carr is still a viable option on the right side of the midfield, especially if he sees the departure of big Nate and John Thorrington as motivation to stake his claim as a starter in that position.
Chad Barrett can replace Andy Herron without missing a beat. This is the one thing I'm most certain of, because Barrett brings a more varied attack than Herron, who relied maybe a bit too much on beating the offsides trap and getting behind the defense.
As of today, that makes my first choice starting lineup as follows:
G Pickens
D Brown Curtin Robinson
M Carr Armas Mapp Segares Guerrero
F Barrett Rolfe
The one spot I'm not sure about is Gonzalo Segares as the second defensive midfielder. You could drop him to the back and go 4-4-2, you could go with Diego Gutierrez in a role he played for much the latter stages of the season, or Logan Pause, or you could try Soumare in that spot right out of the gate. Ooh, Plotkin! That's who I'd like to see there, but I'm not sure if he's ready yet.
If you think the Fire were playing beyond their ability last season, this doesn't look like that much of an improvement, and hopefully Chicago can leverage some salary and their Designated Player slot to push themselves over the hump. As ever, I'm more optimistic than that. I think the Fire finally arrived at a coherent style of play with the U.S. Open Cup run, and have the guys they need to execute and grow that style. We'll see when the preseason reports start to come in.
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