BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. ā Itās a conundrum that has perplexed coaches and fans alike since his arrival in MLS: What is Harry Shippās best position?
Shipp has occupied a variety of forward spots in two seasons with the Chicago Fire, appearing out wide for many of his 63 regular season appearances for the Men in Red. But interim head coach Brian Bliss doesnāt think the flank role is Shippās best spot, telling reporters on Monday that he sees the Homegrown midfielder as more of a central player.
And despite seeing just seven minutes of action in Blissā first two games in charge, the caretaker boss insists Shipp has a bright future ahead of him for his hometown club.
āThereās no doubt,ā Bliss said when asked if Shipp would have a more influential role to play in the Fireās final three games. āHarryās a good player, heās not particularly built for wide play, although weāve stuck him out there. Thatās just the nature of it, to get your best guys out there you shoehorn some guys into some positions.ā
āHarryās more suited to the inside, underneath a guy like Gilberto,ā Bliss, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Monday, added. āLike I said before, he can play like [Mike] Magee, and heās got the passing range and vision, kind of like Mike does.ā
Indeed, Bliss gave Magee his first MLS start since July 15 in a withdrawn role behind Brazilian striker Gilberto in the 3-2 defeat at Toronto FC on Saturday, with Shipp an unused substitute. After a quiet first half, Magee provided a perfectly weighted pass to put Gilberto through for his, and the Fireās, second of the game early in the second half.
āMike didnāt necessarily get it done so much for us in the first half, but I thought he changed the way he played a little bit after we talked at halftime and he helped us connect a few more passes,ā Bliss said. āAnd, obviously, the quick one-touch pass that he put Gilberto in for was kind of what we were looking for in the first half, it just didnāt come to him. So I think every game has its challenges and thereās no set lineup or formation, Harry can do that role as well so it could be an option for us looking at the weekend.ā
With Shipp, Magee, Gilberto, David Accam, Kennedy Igboananike, Patrick Nyarko and Jason Johnson all available up top, Bliss will face a difficult challenge in accommodating all of his attackers over Chicagoās last three games. Just as he did in Toronto, he will approach each game, and each selection process, on an individual basis, starting with Saturdayās clash against New England (8:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
āI think every game poses its challenges and one of the challenges we had in Toronto, being on the road and being the second game [in three days], was trying to maintain a little bit of the ball,ā Bliss said. āThatās why I dropped Mike Magee in there next to Gilberto, or letās say underneath Gilberto, because heās got some good passing sense and heās more of a [possession] player rather than a turn and sprint type of a guy. Thatās one of the things that weāre faced with when youāve got Patrick, Kennedy, Gilberto and Accam out there, itās a little bit of a race track. And thatās not to say that thatās not good, but I thought having the ball and having some possession would have been key for us.ā