An embarrassment of riches

By: Sean | May 4th, 2008

There’s always that moment during a game when I think to myself, “That’s it,” putting a marker down on the isolated eyeblink that swung the game, or was emblematic of the situation that decided it. And then, yesterday, I kept thinking it, over and over again. Frustrating.

The Fire, at this point, look like a team rounding impressively into form. And so I’ve got a sort of blessing of riches, but it’s only a sort of a blessing – I’m delighted the team’s doing well, but if they could do well in a less complex way, it’d sure be easier to pick out the bits to talk about. So, Fire … uhh, y’know what? Never mind.

Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll find a way to cope.

- Amazing how much more robust the midfield looks when it’s populated by midfielders. Thorrington was magnificent for virtually the entire match. Whatever was keeping him tethered to be bench seems to be behind him, because his touch, strength, work-rate and passing were absolutely first-rate.

- If anyone needs reminding why Chris Rolfe has been called up to so many national-team camps in the last couple of years, look no further than the game’s first goal. Sure, the marking was lax, but part of that is due to his astute movement before the ball came in; and that shot? I’m guessing the list of US forwards who could get that shot off that quickly includes Rolfe and Landon Donovan, and that’s it. (This is yet another reason to jump up and down about Thorrington, because his ascension frees Rolfe to play his true position.)

- Initially I was pretty weirded out by the pairing of Gutierrez and Soumare in central defense. I mean, really, starting both last year’s d-mids there? But they’re really evolving into an interesting partnership. I’m guessing this is largely due to the frankly incredible growth of Soumare on the job. Watch yesterday’s game again, this time drinking every time our gigantic Malian snuffs out a promising sequence, and you’ll be lucky if you don’t pass out before the game’s over. Gutierrez has been fantastic as well, positive and intelligent.

- I’ve been skeptical of Jon Busch in large part because I assumed he’d be very, very rusty, given the amount of rehab and bench time he’s dealt with in the last few years. But his positioning and leadership have been fantastic; the few decent shots New England managed were played perfectly by Busch.

- I think Gonzalo Segares officially owns Wells Thompson now. I’m not sure how I should feel about this, morally, but I feel compelled to note it. At least Wells has Sainey Nyassi to keep him company (because Segares has owned him since the earlier game at Toyota Park).

- I have my problems with Chad Barrett up top. I’ll get into that later. But Chad does bring some things to the table that matter. Yes, I’m talking about work-rate and defense. I know, I know, forwards are paid to score, but sometimes, against a solid team like New England, a team that is quite capable of establishing a rhythm that is difficult to counter, sometimes it’s just as valuable to keep their backs from playing out comfortably. And that’s something that having Barrett in the game guarantees – exiting from the back will not be a simple matter. He’ll work you right into the friggin’ ground.

- There’s this Blanco guy in the middle of the pitch. He’s good too.

It’s good times to support the Fire. Not only are we playing well, but the results are coming, and their looks to be some talent still in reserve – Conde and Frankowski missed this with injuries, Marmol still doesn’t have his paperwork, King was strong in reserve minutes, Calen Carr is just waiting for a chance, and you just know Dasan Robinson is gonna solve whatever’s got him on the bench.

Good times, but still a long way to go. Dale Fire!