MLS Wildcard Playoffs - Chicago Fire (1) v Houston Dynamo (2)

The Dynamo invaded Toyota Park and left with an impressive road win. Houston advances to face Sporting KC after Will Bruin’s brace.

Houston Setup

     Dominic Kinnear elected to field a 4-4-2 on the road. Will Bruin and Calen Carr started up front with Brad Davis wide left and Boniek Garcia on the right. Especially in the first half, Davis stayed wide to swing in crosses while Boniek was free to drift inside to try and find space between the Fire’s lines. In the center, Adam Moffat played as a holding player which allowed Ricardo Clark to play a battling role in the center. Clark was instructed to play higher up the pitch to try and pressure Logan Pause and Pavel Pardo and make the Fire’s attempts to build attacks more difficult. Defensively, Corey Ashe and Kofi Sarkodie were the fullbacks. They saw a lot of the ball, but were cautious going forward not wanting to leave the center backs (Bobby Boswell and Jermaine Taylor) exposed.

Chicago Setup

     Frank Klopas went with a 4-2-3-1. Sherjill MacDonald was the lone striker up front with Chris Rolfe the number ten behind him. On the right was Alvaro Fernandez and Patrick Nyarko played on the left. The two holding players were Logan Pause and Pavel Pardo. In defense, Jalil Anibaba, Arne Friedrich, Austin Berry and Gonzalo Segares played from right to left. The tactics from Klopas were not overly profound, but built around the creative skill of Rolfe, Nyarko and Fernandez. Unfortunately for Chicago, these three players struggled to consistently trouble the Houston back four.

Houston Set Pieces

     The visitors have been renowned for producing on set pieces; Brad Davis has 27 set piece assists since 2009. Even before the opening goal in the 12^th minute, Sean Johnson had some troubles dealing with crosses. Houston won a corner and Davis’ curled left footed ball into the near post was met by Will Bruin and went in off of a slight Anibaba deflection. Anibaba was the man responsible for marking Bruin but he slipped tracking the big forward.

Key Midfield Battle

     With an early lead, Houston turned to a defensive approach while Chicago had to push numbers forward to equalize. While only having two central midfielders, Houston got the better of the play in the center. The key role was Ricardo Clark playing almost a rover type central role. He had the freedom to venture up the pitch and from side to side. His goal was to win the ball back and make life difficult for Pause and Pardo. He finished the match with five ball recoveries, five clearances and two interceptions.

Ricardo Clark's role higher up the pitch, winning the ball & distributing.

   

   This role of Clark negated the impact of Chris Rolfe on the game. The Fire turned to Nyarko and Fernandez out wide to create but were unable to link up with Rolfe in the center. Rolfe has had a standout season, but on the night, he was quieted. When he was able to receive the ball, Houston forced him to play the ball wide instead of towards the goal, as seen in the graphic below. Furthermore, the Dynamo played a high line in the first half and MacDonald was frequently caught offside.

Rolfe's attacking third passes were forced wide by Houston. 

Chicago Chasing the Game in the Second Half

     Down a goal at the break and struggling to threaten the goal, Klopas brought off Pause and brought on Alex. The shift resulted in a 4-1-4-1. However, the team talk went out the window when Will Bruin doubled the lead one minute after the break. Clark won the ball off of Segares, which fell to Calen Carr who set up Bruin through on goal to finish far post. The center backs Berry and Friedrich were spread out wide and unable to recover from the poor giveaway.

     Now down two goals, Klopas brought on Oduro for  Pardo, moving to a 4-4-2. Oduro and Alex brought life to the match, but were unable to threaten goal until ten minutes to go when Alex pulled a goal back.

How Far Can Houston Go?

     The Dynamo will be a tough opponent for Sporting KC. The number one seed from the east has had a great season defensively but has struggled to break down defensive teams. Houston will be comfortable in playing a defensive system in the away tie in the second match, so Kansas City will have to earn a good result on the road.

     The key player for Houston will be Boniek Garcia. He will have to step his game up for Houston to win. They need him to take players on and dribble past them. A dynamic counter attack will at times be open for the Dynamo if Sporting are chasing a match. At times, Espinoza will drift too far forward opening up a huge space in the center. Boniek has the speed and the technical ability to exploit this space if his Honduran compatriot has a lapse in concentration. A third method of attack, through Boniek, will add another dimension for Kansas City to defend.

     Finally, Houston is a dangerous team on set pieces, which can bode well in any two legged tie. Sporting will have to be wary about giving away free kicks in their defensive half and unnecessary corner kicks. A slight edge should go to Kansas City for their solid regular season, but Houston has key traits in teams that can win knockout rounds so the tie should be tightly contested. 

Thoughts on the match?

Tweet me @kpngacleansheet 

Or write on our Facebook Page. 

Fire Finally Earn 3 points Over Visiting Rapids

Chicago Fire Setup:

        Frank Klopas’ side continued to show how much they have upgraded in this dominating victory over the Defending MLS Champion Colorado Rapids. The speed in the partnership of Oduro and Nyarko up top was too much for the Colorado back line to handle. Without Marvel Wynne’s speed to cover for the rest of the 3 defenders, Colorado would have conceded quite a few more goals. Nyarko would often drift deep and especially wide to the left to receive the ball and immediately look for Oduro to make a run in behind the defense. Oduro would use his speed to beat the Colorado center back Marshall mostly to get in for a goal scoring chance, or look to pass back to Nyarko for a chance at goal.

     Pause lacked width and did not get forward enough, as it could be seen he is more comfortable in a holding role, but that position has been taken up by Pavel Pardo, who had a quite night before being replace at halftime. Pappa played wide right and Grazzini played in the center behind the two strikers, and both looked comfortable with possession and helped the fire to control the ball and linked up well together and with their two strikers.

Colorado Setup

     The Rapids set up in their usual 4-4-2 with recent USA call-up Larentowicz partnering with Mastroeni as the two holding midfielders. Thompson played wide left and played much too far into the center of the field and hurt Colorado’s width in their attack. Mullan played out to the right, and Folan and Nyassi were up top together. Cummings started out on the bench and played briefly in the second half, and his presence was missed. Nyassi was the lone bright spot in the Rapids attack as he was very active in moving around the pitch looking for the ball and when he did have it, he looked to take on defenders and create. Unfortunately for him his teammates looked tired and fatigued from their Champions League match and lacked movement and energy in the final third which was the main cause for Chicago keeping a clean sheet.

Tactical Observations:

• In the 17’ minute, Pavel Pardo played an excellent long ball down the right wing to a streaking Oduro who easily outran the Colorado defender Marshall and slotted one past Perkins to give Chicago 1-0 lead. It was a sign of a long night for Marshall, as he had trouble dealing with Oduro’s speed all night. It was also an excellent ball by Pardo all the way from his holding midfield position.
• Colorado, minus Nyassi, looked content to only look to score from set pieces. They drew many fouls about 30-40 yards in front of their goal that they used like corner kicks from straight on, and they would try and create as many chances for corners as they could.
• Nyarko was often found wide to the left, where he could isolate the Colorado Left Back Kimura 1-on-1. Nyarko owned this matchup and by the end of the match Kimura looked like he had had enough.
• In the 35’minute Grazzini and Pardo worked a nice give and go on the left wing after a long throw was cleared out, and Pardo was able to play in a perfect cross that Gibbs headed in to give the Fire a 2-0 lead they would never see seriously threatened.
• It is obvious that Colorado needs more playmakers, with Casey out for the season and Cummings playing just the last 30 minutes or so, they had no one minus Nyassi who could create a chance for themself or a teammate. Their two wings, Thompson and Mullan, are fine players but neither is dynamic in any facet of the game and did not contribute at all to any major Colorado attacks.

Conclusion:

     For a fan who may not be a close follower of MLS, after watching Saturday nights game, if they had been asked which team was the defending MLS champs, they would have said the Fire for sure. They were much more lively, determined, and dangerous than the Rapids. The Rapids may have been tired from their Champions League game midweek, but with the absence of Casey for the season, it seems unlikely that they have enough firepower to repeat as champions.

 

 

Thoughts on the match?

Tweet us @kpngacleansheet

Or Like us On Facebook.

Chicago v DC United (1-1) – Fire Surrender Lead & Draw, Again

Chicago’s Strategy

     Frank Klopas’ side has been significantly upgraded in midfield upon signing the defensive minded Pavel Pardo and the attacking playmaker Sebastian Grazzini. These two players are very comfortable on the ball, possess a wide passing range and have the technical ability to play with a man on their back.

     Moreover, the dynamic partnership of Patrick Nyarko and Dominic Oduro up top troubled DC’s defense all night. In possession, the two strikers looked to find space in the channels which stretched DC’s center backs out wide. More dangerously, Chicago’s counter attack started with Nyarko as the outlet man who would find Oduro in behind United’s back four.

     One problem with the Fire’s formation was the narrow attack. Logan Pause and Marco Pappa played out wide, but too often cut inside when Chicago had the ball. Additionally, Chicago’s fullbacks did not get forward leaving the Fire attack with no options out wide to try and spread the field or get in a cross. As a result, Chicago had plenty of possession in the final third but struggled to fashion chances since their narrow attack was easy for DC to deal with.

DC’s Strategy

     Ben Olsen has slightly adjusted his tactics since DeRosario has arrived at the club. After first, DC set up in a 4-4-2 diamond with DeRo playing behind Wolff and Davies. On Thursday night, Olsen played DeRo at striker to pair with Charlie Davies. Stephen King was brought in to play midfield. King did not play as a playmaker but more of a box to box player slightly in front of the holding midfielder Clyde Simms. Andy Najar and Chris Pontius played on the flanks of midfield.

Fire Dominate First Hour, Pays off with lead

     From the opening whistle, Chicago dominated the run of play. However, the home side, especially Dominic Oduro, did not take advantage of their chances. Oduro had his first chance nine minutes in when he was one v one with McDonald after a quick Chicago counter. He cut inside of the DC defender but his shot was straight at Hamid. Five minutes later off a DC giveaway, Grazzini played Oduro through on goal from the left side. His shot beat Hamid but clattered off the far post.

     At the half hour mark, Bill Hamid was forced into a terrific save after a superb free kick from Marco Pappa. Except for his powerful shots, the Guatemalan was quiet on the night and failed to find space out wide to swing in crosses. Pappa is a free kick specialist, but Chicago has struggled when it comes to set pieces. The Fire have yet to score from a corner kick, which is  unlike most MLS teams who rely on set pieces for goal scoring opportunities.

     DC was lucky to be even at the intermission. They registered zero first half shots and their best chance came in the 42^nd minute. However, DeRo’s shot was expertly saved by Sean Johnson and he was already ruled offside. Kitchen and Davies did well on that particular buildup for United’s lone first half chance. Other than that, DC looked shocking going forward. The away side lacked movement and seemed to be playing as individuals rather than as a unit. Each player was looking for his own opportunity to take someone on one v one. The lack of movement resulted in an inability for DC to string a pass together in Chicago’s final third.

     Also, King was not the answer as a creative midfielder. He only had a handful of successful passes that were going forward; instead he often played the ball back to a defender. This particularly frustrated Charlie Davies, who at several times could be seen throwing his arms up in the air at the lack of service he received. Further complicating the match for DC, Bill Hamid pulled his right hamstring taking a free kick at the end of the first half resulting in Cronin playing the second half in goal.

     The Fire finally broke through in the 59^th minute. Nyarko beat Jakovic down the left side and sent in a cross. The effort was poorly headed away by Woolard and dropped perfectly to Grazzini who smashed the volley off of Cronin and into the net.

     Davies was replaced by Wolff at the hour mark and was frustrated all night due to the lack of service he received.

DC Equalize

     Chicago has been known for surrendering leads and the home side did just that in the 73^rd minute. DC swung a ball in that was deflected to Wolff inside the box. He played the ball to Quaranta whose first touch since coming on for King was sent straight back to Wolff. The veteran striker and former Fire player had space to shoot and he smacked the ball off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net. It is worth noting that Wolff appeared to be offside, but regardless, Cuesta temporarily switched off and was caught out of position instead of marking Wolff.

     The final fifteen minutes played out with each team searching for the winner. However, neither side was able to create a good scoring chance or even test the keeper. Thus, the match finished at a goal apiece.

Conclusions

     Chicago has now set an MLS record with their 15^th draw of the season. Worse than that, the Fire has only collected 11 out of a possible 33 points at home carrying a 1-2-8 record. Chicago now sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and look like a long shot for the playoffs. However, with the additions of Pardo and Grazzini, the Fire could become an attacking force if Oduro can improve his finishing. Nyarko and Oduro have formed a cohesive partnership but creating chances must soon turn into scoring goals.

     For DC’s attack to be successful, they must adjust their starting XI. One option would be shifting DeRo back into midfield, but his scoring ability would be lost. Another option would be to start Quaranta instead of King and play with one of Najar, Pontius or Quaranta in the central midfield role. A third option would be to push Kitchen up into midfield (where he played a lot for Akron) to pair with Simms in midfield to try and distribute the ball from deep. One of these solutions needs to at least be tested because the status quo (last night’s starting XI) will not bring MLS Cup back to the nation’s capital.

Thoughts on the Match or a fellow MLS enthusiast?

Follow us on twitter @kpngacleansheet

Or Friend us on Facebook.