BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- It was late May, and the Chicago Fire had just beaten the New York Red Bulls 5-1.
They were riding high, and were considered the most dangerous offensive team and the best defensive team in Major League Soccer. Fire coach Denis Hamlett was enjoying an embarrassment of riches on his roster, trying to find playing time for his deserving reserves when the starters were playing so well he couldn't find a reason to move them.
Then came June.
The Fire play their first MLS game of July on Saturday, when they face the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium riding a 333-minute scoreless streak and a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) that has pushed them down into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, in a tie with the New York Red Bulls at 20 points. At 6-5-2, they are desperately close to falling out of the top eight spots in MLS and the playoff picture.
Their last two positive results have come in Open Cup play, and included a 3-2 overtime win against Columbus July 10 in Peoria, on the campus of Bradley University. They also won their round-of-16 match last Tuesday, 4-1 against the Cleveland City Stars of USL2.
Where one month ago Hamlett was talking about his deep roster and wondering how he was going to use all of his available talent, now he is talking about his deep roster as he tries to find someone who can put the ball in the back of the net in a league game.
The Fire's problem has not so much been on the defensive side, where they still stand as the league's best defense by a large margin, with 11 goals given up in 13 games (Kansas City has given up 16 in 13 games, the second best total.)
The problem has been on the offensive end, where they have not scored in a league game since losing 2-1 to D.C. United back on June 7.
"Things aren't going well," Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco said. "We've got to look ahead."
In an attempt to shake things up against San Jose in their last MLS game, Hamlett put Andy Herron and Tomasz Frankowski on top in place of Chad Barrett, returning to a pair of strikers. Herron suffered a concussion after a failed bicycle kick and left the game after 16 minutes (Barrett substituted for him) and Chris Rolfe, who had been playing mainly wide on the right, came in at 65 minutes for Frankowski.
In Tuesday's Open Cup game, Rolfe and Barrett both started, but were eventually came off for Frankowski and rookie Patrick Nyarko. Herron is out for Saturday, as is midfielder Logan Pause (hip injury), and defenders Dasan Robinson (ankle injury) and C.J. Brown (hamstring injury). Hamlett's search for answers could bring him to start Calen Carr at forward, while Rolfe is likely to start while Pause is out.
Adding a complication for Hamlett is the schedule, which includes an Open Cup quarterfinal match against D.C. United on Tuesday. That is followed by a home game against Toronto FC next Saturday, and a home game against Real Salt Lake the following Saturday.
But, as Hamlett was quick to point out after Tuesday's Open Cup win, this is why a team wants depth at every position.
"We have a very good roster," Hamlett said. "This will be a test of our depth."
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