BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Few would say that the Chicago Fire started the 2010 season on the right foot.
While the Fire’s total of nine points through eight matches is enough to put them in fourth place in the Eastern Conference (a respectable enough position), the sum leaves the club 11 points behind the conference leading Columbus Crew.
Worse yet, the Fire haven’t won a match in a stretch of five games that dates back to April 24. Furthermore, they are coming off an abysmal showing in the inaugural Chicago Sister Cities International Cup – a tournament they hosted.
The offense has been anemic, the defense is prone to lapses in concentration and the coaching staff can’t seem to settle on a lineup. In short, the Fire are still going through the growing pains associated with the hiring of first-year head coach Carlos de los Cobos.
Despite their poor start, Chicago have an opportunity to turn things around before their two-and-a-half-week World Cup break begins on June 10. The Fire will play three more league games – all at home – before the break and the club is looking at these upcoming matches as a great opportunity to move up in the standings.
“We have three consecutive matches at home and we need to think nine points,” said de los Cobos after Tuesday’s training. “It’s very difficult, but we can make it. If we can make it, we’re fighting for second [place] in our table.”
The Fire begin their stretch of home games this Thursday against FC Dallas. After taking on AC Milan in a friendly this Sunday, Chicago will face the expansion Philadelphia Union on June 6 and then the Colorado Rapids on June 9.
For now, the Fire are focusing on Brimstone Cup rivals FC Dallas.
“It’s imperative [that we get good results],” said midfielder Logan Pause about the next three games. “But our focus right now is on Thursday night. We want to make our fans proud and get some results, so our priority is Thursday. Maybe we [can] take some momentum from that going forward.”
