Firing Away: Seattle Sounders at Chicago Fire

Okay, so I thought I couldn't make this game, so I got rid of my tickets. The plans fell through, so I'm navigating this one from the couch.

• [PREGAME] Necessity is the mother of formation this week, with Conde out for being an idiot and Dasan Robinson apparently not fit. So it's Watson-Siriboe in the center of the defense, with Ristic at right back. John Thorrington and Calen Carr also get starts.
• [4'] Marco Pappa with a pretty good chance, but not enough angle, and Keller is there. Chris and Dan are all over the place already, with Dan talking about how yellow card accumulation somehow limited Real Salt Lake's chances. Yeah, I don't know, either.
• [9'] Four corner kicks given up in less than ten minutes? This isn't going to end well. Alonso just misses wide on the fourth.
• [11'] For all the talk of what the Fire needs to do in order to maybe still almost have a shot at making the playoffs, they are also in real danger of having the worst record in Fire history.
• [17'] I was about to say that Seattle was doing very well in possession, moving the ball around the back with one- and two-touch passing. Then they coughed it up, but the Fire couldn't get anything out of it other than a tussle between Freddie Ljungberg and Patrick Ianni. Coming back on the field after medical attention from a collision with Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Ianni now has a jersey with no number on it, which I thought was illegal.
• [19'] Nice buildup from Chicago, with most of it coming from Nyarko, but Ljungberg overheats the cross.
• [20'] Thorrington dispossesses Montero, and the attack is on. Unfortunately, Thorrington was probably also the guy who passed when he should have shot towards the end of the sequence, knocking it out wide to Ljungberg, and things get a bit chaotic after that, with Seattle being able to clear.
• [23'] Segares goes to shield the ball instead of taking it on his feet, and almost has to pay for it. Johnson bails him out. Quick restart to Marco Pappa, who centers to Ljungberg, who finds Thorrington on the right, who...tries to center it back to Calen Carr instead of shooting. That's two in a row Thorrington should have put on goal.
• [28'] I was talking to a friend about this earlier with regard to where he should be on the field, so it's interesting to see Freddie Ljungberg playing out wide on the right quite a bit. John Thorrington picks up the inevitable yellow card.
• [30'] Nice run to the end line from Thorrington, who clearly seems to be everywhere in this match. This time, the centering cross is the right play, but Calen Carr is pushed out too wide to get it on frame.
• [32'] Watson-Siriboe is unable to connect on a Freddie Ljungberg corner kick. He had a great look, but couldn't get close enough to it.
• [33'] Chris was extolling the possession from the Fire, but as it progressed, nobody was getting open to receive a pass and advance the ball forward. Logan Pause almost coughed it up, then C.J. Brown couldn't find anyone in front of him, and Bratislav Ristic then does cough it up, but Steve Zakuani can't convert on the break.
• [36'] Again, nobody giving Pause an outlet, and he has to play a dicey ball back to Johnson, who blasts it into the stands.
• [38'] Nyassi is given a ton of space on the right side, and sends in a tantalizing cross that nobody from Seattle can get on the end of. I'm not going to say the Fire dodged a bullet, but that could have ended badly.
• [39'] Almost an epic rookie mistake from Sean Johnson, as C.J. Brown shields off the attacker and Johnson clears it into his defender instead of picking it up. Brown is not amused.
• [45'] While I'm sure the $15 corner kick ticket offer is nice and all, if you're going to put "operators standing by" on the screen, it might also help to show the phone number.
• [45'+] Segares chips a cross into the middle, and while Carr and Nyarko crash into each other, trying to get a head on it, Marco Pappa ends up with it on the far post and rifles a shot that Keller turns aside. Then it's Segares again with a hopeful ball that couldn't find either the far post or an onrushing teammate. Not a bad sequence to end the half.
• [HALFTIME] After weathering early pressure from Seattle, Chicago hasn't looked half-bad. Unfortunately, not looking half-bad isn't going to be enough at this point. Defensively, they've put the hurt on Montero, and both Nkufo and Zakuani have been mostly quiet. I think the most important thing about Calen Carr at forward is that he seems to be getting involved in the play a lot more than Castillo or Collins John had been previously, and that's letting Marco Pappa find some spots behind him. Pappa is much better when the weight of the entire offense isn't on his shoulders. A goal could come, but it's not going to be easy.
• [HALFTIME] I also checked the numbers, and the Fire need two wins and a draw to equal the futility of the 2004 season. Or, I guess, seven draws. Anything less, and they are the worst team we've ever had. I take no joy in telling you this.
• [47'] Sean Johnson with an unforced error on what should have been an easy clearance, putting it out of bounds on the near side.
• [51'] Chicago certainly trusts Sean Johnson with some "hot" backpasses a lot more than they did Andrew Dykstra. It's striking, actually.
• [54'] An attacking sequence for Seattle looks a bit worse than it actually was -- most of the lanes were clogged, and there was no way they get the final shot on frame given where the defenders were for Chicago.
• [57'] Some adventures in goalkeeping from Sean Johnson, as he clearly didn't think Gonzalo Segares was going to get to a ball a good ten yards outside of the box, and then took himself out of the play when Sega gets a touch on it. Seattle tries to put it in the empty net, but the shot goes wide. Segares does the honorable thing for the gaffe and comes up injured, and is replaced by Deris Umanzor. This could get interesting.
• [61'] Nice read by C.J. Brown to realize that playing to feet wasn't getting anywhere, but his lob to Calen Carr gets past him and out for a goal kick.
• [63'] Criminally bad marking from the Fire, but Sean Johnson is there to snuff out the header. Nyarko and Thorrington were both pointing, but not moving, and Watson-Siriboe was caught up high. If a goal is coming, it's looking more like it may not be for the home team.
• [65'] McBride on for Carr. I liked Carr's mobility, so we'll see how that changes the dynamic. I suspect we may see more long balls out of the back.
• [66'] Pappa with a low shot from a bad angle, and it's an easy grab for Keller. Ristic was the impetus behind that attack, and more I see the Serbian, the more I wonder if he's got that bite we've been lacking. Good, aggressive play.
• [70'] Marco Pappa basically just ass-dialed Alonso the hard way, and picks up a yellow card.
• [73'] Seattle on the break, and while I thought Sanna Nyassi was offside, it didn't matter, because he's as bad at finishing as his brother in New England, shooting it right into Sean Johnson's bread basket.
• [76'] Ljungberg with a long, low shot from the top corner of the box, but Keller pushes it aside, and the ensuing Fire corner is over before the replay is finished.
• [80'] I may have jinxed Ristic, as he's made a couple of dodgy plays in the last couple of minutes. He's been training with the team for a long time, but hasn't had a lot of competitive matches in that stretch, so he may not have ninety minutes of sharpness in him.
• [83'] Collins John comes in for Logan Pause, and immediately doesn't hustle after a ball at the end line. Ristic pushes into the midfield in the deal, with Umanzor flipping to the right side and Watson-Siriboe shifting from center to left.
• [85'] McBride flicks one through that John can't run on to. Has Collins John put on weight? Seriously, I think I could have run harder for that one.
• [88'] Pappa is bodied off the ball, and it looks dubious, but no call.
• [89'] GOAL SEATTLE. C.J. Brown can't clean up an out-of-position Deris Umanzor's mess, and Nkufo cuts back on him at the end line and then bounces a ball off his outstretched leg and past Sean Johnson.
• [FULL TIME] It's Seattle, so it must be a late breakdown to blow the game. Holy deja vu, Batman. This is the inherent problem with "not half-bad" performances, in that they keep the door open for one mistake that can kill you. Deris Umanzor made that mistake when he followed Steve Zakuani into the middle of the field instead of letting his teammates -- who were there in numbers -- deal with it. That allowed Nkufo to make a wide run that C.J. Brown just wasn't able to shut down.
• [FULL TIME] The existential question here is -- would Krzysztof Krol or Mike Banner have made that same mistake?
• [FULL TIME] My point being, Carlos de los Cobos is a horrible, clueless coach. He should be sacked. Whoever recommended he be hired in the first place should be sacked. Immediately.