Chicago Fire Soccer Talk

Charlotte dismantled Orlando this afternoon which means the Fire will need to win tonight to take back 4th in the East. Colorado Rapids have the best home record in the Western Conference. Spooky stuff #cf97

Holding out hope that the return of Andre Franco can unlock Lewandowski a bit with his range of passing and playmaking. Hoping he starts tonight #cf97

United Center tops out around 20K capacity but worth noting the Fire had 2 strong attendance numbers when sharing a game day with the Hawks & Bulls for midweek games -10/6: 31K v VAN / Hawks home opener v STL -10/28: 25K v ORL / Bulls v defending champion Knicks #cf97

Post match #cf97 thoughts v ORL: -better team for full 90, 2nd half better than 1st -Bamba DP performance off bench -Barroso burned on 1st goal but was really good in attack -RL9 was better but a bit unlucky tonight…the drought continues -need to improve transition defending

Too many forced passes and casual turnovers. Orlando is killing us in transition off said turnovers. Simple as that #cf97

I hope the new Pro/Rel model works for the USL but hard not to be skeptical when clubs continue folding at this rate Seems like for every Boise/Portland there’s 3 clubs like Westchester/Corpus Christi with no money/infrastructure/buzz around the club…

The lineup I’d like to see tomorrow with Mbokazi and D’Avilla out thru yellow card accumulation: Brady Barroso Olsen Elliott Gutman Zinck Anzor Saletros Puso MHS Lewandowski Gota find our strongest lineup for playoffs as this team can have many different looks #cf97

USL Loan updates: -Omari Glasgow’s Monterey Bay finish last in Western Conf, finishes w/ 2G 5A in 2000+ min playing as fullback & winger (23 starts) -Sam Williams going to the playoffs with 5 seed CO Springs, finishes reg season with 1G 5A and 2000+ min played (25 starts) #cf97

Griezmann having the immediate impact people hoped/expected Lewandowski to have in MLS. And he didn’t need time to “settle in” #cf97

With Charlotte losing on the last kick of the game last night to Portland, the Fire can clinch a top 4 spot in the East with a win on Wednesday v Orlando and a Charlotte loss to MTL. Regardless, the odds of a top 4 finish have improved #cf97

Post match #cf97 thoughts @ ATL: -wasn’t pretty but we will take however we can get them late in the szn -Saletros MOTM -still need to tighten up defensively -RL9 nonexistent again…0 shots on goal -nice game from Dean and Zinck

Atlanta have the worst home record in the Eastern Conference (4-2-9). Winless in their last 5 home matches and needing to win to avoid being eliminated from playoff contention #cf97

For those keeping track, Lewandowski officially surpassed Hugo Cuyper’s minute total for the season this past weekend: Cuypers: 11GP, 989min, 13G 2A Lewandowski: 15GP, 1058min, 6G 4A All stats per the MLS website. Cuypers was on a $3.2M/yr contract. Lewy on $16.2M/yr #cf97

Perfectly sums up how I feel about the Cuypers 🔄 Lewandowski situation. And the only thing that changes my mind is if this team makes a serious MLS Cup run #cf97