Firing Away: Chicago Fire at Colorado Rapids

For those of you who are newer to this, I started liveblogging matches in late 2008, as a way to re-engage with the team. Then last year, I wound up doing something similar for Stats LLC, which ended up being the VW Game Nav on the MLS site. This year, that's been killed, so we'll see if I can get into a groove. This may suck if you're coming here via the RSS feed, but it is what it is.

• [PREGAME] Will look for starting lineups momentarily. Banner? John? Husidic? We'll know shortly.
• [PREGAME] Ives reporting no Conde. Curious to see who gets the nod.
• [PREGAME] Krol gets the start on the left, and Kwame Watson-Siriboe gets the nod to replace Conde. Nyarko on the right side of midfield to make way for Collins John up top. None of this is all that surprising, except maybe for Dasan Robinson getting passed on the depth chart.
• [PREGAME] Sorta the battle of the Jon Busch bookends this week, with former Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens facing off against Andrew Dykstra. We don't play Chivas USA after San Jose, do we? That could be three former Fire goalies in a row.
• [1'] Keith Earls tests Dykstra early from distance. Not a bad plan. C.J. Brown had to play it out for a throw beforehand after he got no help for passing it out of the back.
• [4'] Announcers just showed Mastroeni and then started talking about Blanco. I'm guessing they were wondering who would draw the inevitable red card from Pablo with 'Temo gone.
• [8'] One really important thing to watch is how Patrick Nyarko handles his defensive responsibilities on the wing. Still early, but he's certainly not getting caught forward.
• [9'] Of course, we know Nyarko can get forward, and Tim Ward loops a nice ball into space for him to run on to, but his low cross is in front of McBride and Pappa as they go to goal.
• [13'] GOAL COLORADO! Omar Cummings takes a nice turn on the ball at the top of the box and rifles it into the corner. Logan Pause got fooled on the coverage, and may have thought he'd have goal-side help from the central defense, but it never came.
• [19'] Ballouchy takes on Krol and Watson-Siriboe and almost sneaks a long, low shot into the corner. Dykstra may have had the post covered. Maybe.
• [21'] Colin Clark takes a long run up the Fire's right side, roughly where Patrick Nyarko should be playing defense.
• [23'] Forgot that Wynne is a card magnet as well. And apparently a ball magnet, as he slides in front of what looked like a sure goal from Brian McBride. At least I think it was him, based on the announcers. Pappa and Nyarko have flipped sides.
• [26'] GOAL CHICAGO! Collins John, um, "opens his Chicago Fire account," getting past Marvell Wynne to head in a corner kick. How's that "Wynne in the central defense" experiment working out?
• [29'] Leaving New England hasn't made me like Jeff Larentowicz any less. Still, he's dangerous on free kicks from distance, and almost tucks one into the corner. Dykstra was pretty late getting to the post -- looked like it would have gotten past him if it were on target.
• [31'] Colin Clark needs to fall down when the push happens, not two seconds after. Not sure if the yellow was for the dive or for the bitching afterwards.
• [34'] Whatever Colin Clark had, it's catching. Omar Cummings goes down easy, then Pablo Mastroeni wins a foul just outside the box on a pretty awful call against Krol. Leaning on him a little, yes, but no foul.
• [36'] Nice effort from John, even it he was offside. Glad he continued the play to take the shot.
• [41'] GOAL COLORADO. Foolish, foolish play from Marco Pappa to give Colorado a penalty kick, which Conor Casey buries. Tim Ward was there, and Pappa seemed to get slightly unhinged after losing the ball on the touch line.
• [45'+] Finally, some possession in the attacking third for the Fire, but Nyarko is offside. Still, clever ball from Collins John. And that's the half.
• [HALFTIME] Chicago still doesn't look anywhere near a finished product. A bit disorganized in the back, and no consistency in the attacking third. The defense sometimes looks like they know the long ball would help, but consciously avoid it and end up just passing it back and forth between them waiting for a seam to open up. I noticed that last week, too. Pappa and Pause both look questionable at best, which takes out half our midfield contribution. Ward and Nyarko seemed to be combining well, but then Nyarko flipped to the other side. Collins John seems to have been more productive than McBride up top.
• [HALFTIME] And no assessment can be complete without noting that Andrew Dykstra still hasn't shown any indication as to why he got the nod over Jon Busch in the first place. Pretty sure he crashed into one of his defenders again, and was not quick to get down on two low shots to the corner. Still crossing my fingers for the kid, but he needs to deal with this learning curve quickly.
• [46'] Crap, I have to do math to get the minute right now. Justin Mapp for Peter Lowry. If subbing out Martinez last week sent some sort of signal that de los Cobos would take out "his guy," this blind eye to how poorly Marco Pappa is playing sends a different signal entirely. Lowry didn't do much to stand out, but he didn't seem to do anything bad, either.
• [51'] GOAL CHICAGO! Wynne clips Patrick Nyarko's heel as Nyarko goes to goal, and is probably really lucky not to pick up a second yellow. Brian McBride converts the penalty.
• [53'] Logan Pause is probably lucky that ball didn't hit his hand. Justin Mapp with some lousy defending on Earls to lead to the ball into the box. And it's worth noting that Collins John was back helping out on defense in the buildup to Wynne's foul on Nyarko, and I think he actually won the ball and sent it forward. Or dumped it to Pappa, who sent in forward.
• [55'] Wow, Colin Clark is a whiny little bitch, ain't he? To be fair, Nyarko got him, but if you allow yourself to be tripped up by a 90-pound converted forward, it's pretty much your own damn fault.
• [57'] Justin Mapp with what I think is the first run to the end line for the Fire, and McBride is almost there on the far post after Pickens gives up on it. Also, Colorado now has four yellow cards after Omar Cummings runs through C.J. Brown, and none of them are on Pablo Mastroeni?
• [60'] Nice work in tight space on the end line from John and McBride, but Pappa can't punch it through. Chicago looking much better this half, although I'm not entirely sure what the formation is with the Mapp sub. Pappa looks like he may have slid into the middle, but he and Mapp might be switching on and off.
• [62'] C.J. Brown with some really composed defending on Colin Clark. No muss, no fuss, and no chance for Clark to pretend he got fouled again.
• [65'] Really nice combination between John, McBride and Nyarko wins a corner kick, but nothing comes of it. Didn't see who sent the ball in to John, but it came from the right side. Tim Ward, maybe?
• [68'] Ooh, Justin Mapp and Patrick Nyarko with a pretty give-and-go after Logan Pause intercepted a ball in midfield, but the ball into the box can't find anyone except the Rapids. Attractive, attacking soccer! That started with good defense!
• [74'] Another good run to the end line from Mapp, but nobody on the end of the right-footed cross. Or the notoriously left-footed Mapp can't get enough on the cross to find anybody. Take your pick.
• [77'] C.J. Brown is getting better and better as this game goes on.
• [79'] Clever idea from Omar Cummings on the entry pass from Colin Clark, but no one is making the far post run to connect with his backheel flick.
• [79'] Note to Colorado supporters: You don't play djembe with mallets. Man up and hit the thing with your hands like you're supposed to. Bet you ten bucks that guy calls it a "bongo drum."
• [85'] Conor Casey given way too much space on the right, and he rolls one to the near post for Omar Cummings. Watson-Siriboe has Cummings locked up tight enough, and Dykstra smothers it. Keeping up with Cummings on a run like that this late in the match is a feather in the cap of the rookie in his MLS debut.
• [89'] Watson-Siriboe gets posted up high by Cummings, but C.J. Brown is there to bail him out. Pappa comes out to kill some time, replaced by Baggio Husidic. Fire need to stay focused.
• [90'+] I think I just jinxed Watson-Siriboe, because this time he misjudges a header, and C.J. has to muscle Cummings to the ground to stop the attack. Rapids want a foul, but they're not gonna get it. Dykstra could have gotten off his line to get it, though.
• [FULL TIME] Point on the road, at altitude. I'll take it. Things got better once the defense settled down and we switched to a 4-4-2 with a proper attacking midfielder. Marco Pappa is still disappointing me. And Patrick Nyarko is impressing early. He was playing both sides of the ball really well, and getting him further away from the goal might actually be a good thing, given his struggles to finish.
• [FULL TIME] Make no mistake, though -- the way the defense got their collective shit together in the second half may be the most important thing for this team, in terms of establishing itself. Although fighting back from being down a goal twice is good, too. Goalkeeping continues to be a concern, but only because Dykstra hasn't been forced to do anything hard -- unless you count not doing something hard on the two goals from the run of play in two weeks. And that's it for me. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, or whatever day it is when you read this.