The Fire may be in the midst of a five-game unbeaten streak in league play, but they’re still feeling a strong sense of urgency heading into this Saturday’s clash at Columbus.
“Mindset is we need a win,” Fire defender C.J. Brown told MLSsoccer.com on Thursday. “I think the first 10 or 11 games of our season we gave up some crucial points that we know we should’ve held on to, so every game now is really important to us. We’re playing the number one team in our conference, so it’s very important.
"It’s going to be a tough game, so as long as we try to stick to the positives we had in [last Sunday’s 1-0 win over] New England we should hopefully fare out all right.”
The main positive that came out of the New England game was the Fire’s ability to hold the Revolution scoreless. After going ahead in the 30th minute, Chicago absorbed significant amounts of New England pressure without ceding a goal – or many clear cut opportunities. One thing the Fire didn’t do well in Sunday’s game was hold possession once they had the lead. The defending bailed them out against the Revs, but Brown feels that Chicago will need to hold the ball better against the Crew – who lead the Eastern Conference with 18 goals scored – if they want to leave Ohio with a result.
“We need to be focused in the back, we need to stay organized, communication needs to be good,” Brown said. “We need to be alert because, like you said, they have a lot of attacking weapons and I think if we’re structured with our back four and the midfielders/forwards are putting pressure on their defenders then it gives us a better chance.”
Brown said that he is excited for the match.
“It’s always a good game,” Brown said. “It’s competitive, they challenge for everything, we try to challenge for everything and I think those always make for good games. Their fans always come [to Toyota Park], our fans go there. I think the atmosphere’s pretty good and it’s always a good game and you hope to see that again this weekend.”
Other Notes: Though he has been participating in full training, Fire right back Tim Ward will miss Saturday’s game. He’s still dealing with a left calf strain that has kept him out since May 8. Dasan Robinson will likely fill in for Ward at right back. The Fire announced that the illness that kept Collins John out of several league matches was a gastrointestinal disorder. John resumed training with the club on Thursday and said that he hopes to be back in 2-3 weeks.
