Ahead of Sporting KC's match at Chicago tonight, SportingKC.com caught up with Fire sideline reporter and FourFourTwo's Paul Tenorio to preview #CHIvSKC. Live coverage of tonight's match starts at 7:00 p.m. CT (kick off at 7:30) on 38 the Spot & SKCTV.
How would you assess Chicago's season heading into Wednesday's match?
I think it's been a steady building process for the Fire with a new front office mix of Nelson Rodriguez coming in and then a new coaching staff and new head coach Veljko Paunović. With that building there have been some frustrations and the Fire's biggest problem this season has been its attacking play, especially in midfield, but there also have been some encouraging signs of progress, most notably the defensive organization of the team and some really solid finds in centerback Johan Kappelhof, Jonathan Campbell who's been really good as a rookie, young Brazilian right back Rodrigo Ramos who's come on late, and the left-back out of Stanford Brandon Vincent. The back line seems to have a good core that can be there for a few years and we'll see if they get the right pieces to compliment that half and to help David Accam in the attack. We saw that this week in one of those signings step in for the first time in Michael de Leeuw. He's a really interesting player who makes really smart runs and really dynamic. We'll see what he adds to the attack.
What are your thoughts on Sporting KC's recent form?
I wrote about them in my column (on FourFourTwo.com) and able to talk to Jacob Peterson after the win (vs NYCFC). Anyone around MLS knows that it's a league of spurts. It's a league where everyone is going to have their run of bad results and the measurement of a team is its ability to get out of that as quickly as possible and then to recover and put together some positive results. Because Sporting KC has such a solid core of MLS veterans, you're starting to see that resolve come through in the last five games. The key now is if you're Sporting KC is that you can't allow yourself to fall into another extended rut because the Western Conference is so good and so competitive. I think you're also seeing the quality as well. Four starting quality centerbacks is a really good dilemma that not many MLS teams have. To replace Graham Zusi at the last second with Brad Davis is another luxury not a lot of MLS teams have and to bring a guy like Jacob Peterson into the starting lineup and to have him play the way he's played or to see the rotation the forward rotation working a little bit better, that is all about the depth this team has. The one comment that stands out to more more than any from Jacob Peterson is they understand this is a team that is growing older in its core and there is a window to get results, get the wins, and get the championships. The players recognize that and they want to win now. I think that's driving a lot of guys on that roster.
What are your thoughts on Wednesday's match?
I think the big challenge for the Fire is not to get caught sitting too deep in its own end like they did at Toronto FC. Because of the way Sporting KC likes to press, it can be become difficult to work your way out and play just through transition. If you play the ball direct and don't win it, you're right back in your own end again. I would expect Sporting KC to come out high cylinders as they often do and try to create some mistakes at the back. I think that's a key for the Fire to make it a fun and competitive game, for one of its midfielders to step up and be a facilitator. That's going to probably have to be John Goossens or Arturo Alvarez. Against Sporting KC and what they do so well, I think the most important thing for the Fire is to exploit the wings as much as you can. For Sporting KC, I think its about quick play through the middle of the field and to try to take advantage of defending the midfield area that's been a bit of a weakness the last couple weeks for the Fire.
Finally, what Chicago Fire players will pose the biggest threats on the attacking side against Sporting KC?
It starts with Accam. To me, he is a top 10 player in the league that nobody talks about. If you put him on any team in the league, he'd be one of the best players, if not the best player on the team. I think Rodrigo Ramos, the Brazilian right back, has been really good in the last four or five weeks. His overlapping runs and direct play can be really dangerous. His service let him down in Toronto but the three or four games previous to that, what he was doing on the right wing was unlocking a lot of teams. He's definitely a threat. I think John Goossens has been the one guy in midfield who's shown an ability to connect the back line to the forward line and be that link in play going forward. Lastly is the newest face, Michael de Leeuw, who scored a lot of goals in the Dutch league and was the leading scorer at Groningen. He makes really smart runs and causes a lot of problems for defenders. He just has a real knack for being in the right spot to find the ball. While he didn't score against Toronto, I think he showed his quality and is going to be score goals in this league. I think he's going to be a real problem for any back line the Fire face down the stretch.
