BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Seven games without a win can cause for some mounting pressure. That’s what’s happening in Chicago, and the Fire players are beginning to feel it heading into Saturday’s game at Philadelphia (8 pm ET, Galavisión).
“Trust me, you don’t even want to know [how bad I want to win],” winger Dominic Oduro told MLSsoccer.com on Thursday. “I want to score so bad. It’s just so hard to just stay patient, you can’t force things like this.”
The entire Chicago team will have to stay patient if they’re going to be successful against Philadelphia’s stingy defense. The Union have given up a league low six goals this year, and the Fire will need to play their possession game to perfection if they’re to leave PPL Park with a result.
“We’ve just got to play our game and try to do what we do,” Oduro said. “This game’s just a game of mental errors, and that’s just one thing that we’re looking for, just a slip and we should be able to try to penetrate through their defense.”
If the Fire are able to penetrate Philly’s defense, they’ll then face the task of slotting home past Union keeper Faryd Mondragón. The Colombian veteran has been one of the top ‘keepers in MLS this year, while Chicago have struggled in front of net.
The Fire did, however, show improvement in last week’s 2-2 draw at Toronto, giving them a high level of confidence heading into this Saturday’s match.
“I think we’re playing well right now,” Oduro said. “We have a lot of confidence in us and it’s something we’re kind of going to use to our advantage in this game.
“We’re kind of getting it right now,” he added. “I think right now we’re really focused and we’re doing our homework to make [our finishing] better, so we’re going in strong. Obviously our main focus is to get three points because we really need it and that’s what we’re trying to work on right now.”
Sam Stejskal covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at sam.h.stejskal@gmail.comand follow him on Twitter @samstejskal.
