Searching For A Spark

You can only say you're just unlucky so many times. Just as Chicago wasn't as good as their 11-game unbeaten run might have you think, they're also not as bad as this current three-game slide might indicate. But two tactically sound matches that yielded two losses begs the question, just what is wrong with this Fire team?

One way to look at the 2-1 loss to D.C. United is, what could the Fire have done differently? I don't know that you could quibble with the starting lineup. The parts fit -- and I want to call out the wing midfield play of Pappa and Rolfe, in particular -- but the machine still isn't quite working. You can squawk as much as you want about not finishing chances, but it's not like you're going bench Brian McBride for missing the penalty. And the Mapp-for-Nyarko sub was a really good move, as it got Chris Rolfe up top where he could be more dangerous. They're just not scoring, or at least not scoring more than the other guy, because I don't want to overlook Marco Pappa's brilliant first-half goal.

And the two goals against? The call on Jon Busch seemed the very definition of "hard done by," even if the call in the second half against Josh Wicks might have offered a degree of consistency. The foul on Segares wasn't particularly ill-advised, it just happened to be in a really bad location. Two years ago, I was all over Sega for routinely getting whistled in that general vicinity, but he doesn't do it that much any more. Defensively, it was set pieces, and it wasn't even defending on set pieces. It's also worth pointing out that C.J. Brown seems to have fully shaken the rust off.

The most frustrating thing about this lack of results for the Fire is that no one is in over their heads the way you see guys on other truly bad teams in MLS (Dallas, San Jose, New York). There's no player you can point to as a clear weak link.

The elephant that's not in the room right now, of course, is Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Are this team fortunes really tied so closely to Mr. White? And if so, how does Denis Hamlett most effectively re-integrate him into the lineup?

One thing that I've noticed in the last couple of matches that give me a clue in that direction is that the central midfield seems out of balance, in that John Thorrington seems to be trying to do too much. I love that he wants to -- he's been the fire of this Fire team -- but he may be altering the chemistry in bad ways as a result. I'm not sure of this, but I get the sense that Logan Pause hasn't gotten as many touches in the midfield in the last couple of matches as he normally does. This is bad, because Pause is an excellent passer of the ball. Granted, he very often passes to Blanco very quickly -- absorbing the lesson of Chris Armas playing with Peter Nowak before him -- so maybe that's what he's been missing.

So, what I'm thinking is that, with the backline mostly getting their act together -- the Dallas match notwithstanding -- the offense needs a boost. Which means that you need your big guns on the field, which, in turn, means that Blanco doesn't replace another attacker in the starting lineup. I think maybe Chicago needs to switch to a true diamond midfield, with only Pause or Thorrington, but not both, and with Blanco as a true attacking midfielder. So you've got this:

G Busch
D Ward Soumare Conde Segares
M Rolfe Pause Blanco Pappa
F McBride Nyarko

With the SuperLiga matches coming up, I'm hoping Denis Hamlett takes advantage of the non-league matches to experiment a bit and see if some measure of alchemy can get this team winning matches. It's still not the end of the world, but clearly something needs to be fixed with this squad. It's just not clear what.