Fire at the quarter-pole

By: Sean | May 21st, 2008

…and into the first corner goes the pack … the Crew, yellow livery gleaming, a full length now on the Fire, who are nudged by the horse in orange and stumble slightly …

One-fourth of the season is in the can. The shape of the team has become much clearer, too. This is a hard-working team, a team that values passion and effort, which delights me to no end. As much as I love Chris Rolfe, there’s a world of difference between his workrate and that of the English-groomed Jon Thorrington; and it’s Thorrington who’s symbolic of the first quarter of this season.

(Please note this isn’t a dis on Rolfe. He just isn’t a guy you’d ask to hound the ball all game, every game, and expect it to happen. His gift is clarity in the moment, quickness, [=anticipation, doing something surprising – all tough to pull off when you’re completely gassed. And Rolfe’s gift isn’t stamina, so he’d be gassed.)

Thorrington has found his feet, at long last, in a first-team side with the Fire. Thorrington adds a robust physicality to Chicago’s midfield. He can run all day, press the ball up top, still make the tackle against the opposing left winger. He’s not the flashiest midfielder in MLS, but he does have a good first touch, good pace, and great technique. The guy can play. If he can stay healthy, I hope we keep him around a nice, long time.

There’s also great news at the defensive end of the field. Bakary Soumare is just the Truth in the middle of defense – the touch that looked a little awkward in midfield is silky-smooth in the penalty area. And his strength, size, pace and aggressiveness all speak to a player who’s going to cash much larger checks in the not-too-distant future. Denis Hamlett has wisely spot-welded the retirement-bound but still brilliant football brain of Diego Gutierrez to the young Malian in central defense, creating the least likely dominant central defense tandem in the league.

Then there’s Jon Busch, whom I shamefully assumed was headed for the scrap pile. Apparently 45 (or so) knee injuries in three seasons turned Busch from a gifted keeper into the Zen Master, able to organize two defensive midfielders into the best centerback tandem in the league. There’s something to be said for visualizing the game, I guess.

I’m still not sold on Brandon Prideaux at right back, but Gonzalo Segares, extrapolating his current form, is the best left back in the short history of MLS. Yeah, I said it. He was very good before, but the kid has taken a leap forward this year. If one’s strategy for beating Chicago involves anything from the right flank, forget it.

Logan Pause has outworked his deficiencies as midfield terrier, but rumors of a massive Paraguayan in the wings, as well as the peripatetic cryin’-towel magnate Wilman Conde, will certainly encourage young Mr. Pause to keep bringing it. It’s not hard to imagine Conde or Marmol sliding into that holding mid slot and improving the team.

And then there’s the coach. Denis Hamlett had absolutely no confidence from me when the season began. If the Fire were 2-1-5 instead of 5-1-2 right now, I’d be calling for his head. Here’s the thing, though: Successful coaches get there by being … y’know … successful. And Mr. Hamlett has won on several of his bets going into this season – the Soumare/Guti centerback tandem, Barrett’s tireless workrate up front, Pause in that holding mid slot, Conde on the bench. I’m not sure what his guiding principle is, and in some ways I’m glad it’s not readily apparent. Color me very optimistic about Hamlett.

There’s more to ponder at this juncture of the season, but it’s not all so positive. Let’s simmer on the upside for the time being, eh?