Maybe Next Year?
Last Saturday night, the Chicago Fire visited CF Montreal’s hostile environment and lost 2-0 to the Canadian side.
In a match of high importance and playoff possibilities at stake, the Fire did what they do best: come up short—way short.
They returned home with nothing to show from the road trip, a common theme over the past few years when they go and play away.
With only three matches remaining this season, a playoff appearance looks pretty impossible.
PHOTO: David Kirouac/Imagn Images
Montreal got things started pretty early, just 20 minutes in, when former league MVP Josef Martinez shined in a moment of brilliance. The Venezuelan striker made a great run in between defenders, received a ball over the top, brought it down with a smooth touch, and finished it past Fire keeper Chris Brady as cool and calm as can be. The Chicago Fire “controlled” most of the match, out-possessing Montreal for most of it. They also had an 87% pass completion rate. There were 12 shots for the Fire, but nothing to show.
Nothing was going forward, and there was not much quality in the back with a three-man line of Omsberg, Salquist, and Souquet. It was a recipe for a letdown, and the Fire did indeed let us down once again.
The men in red sit in 14th place of the Eastern Conference, just one spot ahead of last (the New England Revolution are currently in last but with two games in hand). They are seven points away from a playoff series play-in match; however, all five teams ahead of the Fire have a game in hand. Montreal is one of those five ahead of the Fire, which is even more reason Saturday night’s match had massive playoff implications.
A 3-point turnaround could have put the Fire on the brink of a playoff spot with just a few matches.
Instead, they will now have to win outright the rest of their matches (not sure when the last time the Fire had won 3 straight matches) and hope for tons of results to fall their way. In other words, the Fire’s last soccer match this season will probably be on October 19th, when they host Nashville.
Toronto, Charlotte, and Nashville are the Fire’s three remaining opponents. All three are still battling to stay alive. Needless to say, all three will be bringing their very best to try to capture one of those final playoff spots. Toronto sits in 8th, and they will visit us this weekend. They also played last night in the Canadian Championship final against Vancouver.
Let’s hope for some midweek matchup; tired legs come Saturday.
Charlotte is sitting nicely with 41 points in 6th place. However, they will take on first-place Inter Miami on the road this weekend, where it’s almost impossible to leave with a win. Nashville is in 12th place, just two spots ahead of the Fire. They’ve also had a pretty rough season, given what they have done the past couple of years. The bad news for the Fire is that Nashville plays last-place New England, where even a point out of that match will serve Nashville well.
Again, I don’t anticipate much happening for the Fire as we near the end of the season. The chances of postseason play are extremely slim, and assuming that the Fire front office will make drastic changes during the offseason is an extremely naive thing to do.
Not much has changed in the past few seasons besides the location of our home field and, um, jersey sponsors?
There has been one small rumor floating around the past week or so, which has to do with a man who can take over and is believed to be able to lead the club in the right direction.
I’m hoping I can elaborate enough on this mention soon, but for now, I’ll leave it at that.
PHOTO: David Kirouac/Imagn Images
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