BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire, a team already in the Major League Soccer playoffs, play their last regular season game Thursday against the New York Red Bulls, a team that is desperate for a win in order to make the postseason.
The Fire, with 43 points, would secure home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs with a win against the Red Bulls. They are tied with New England, which plays against Kansas City on Saturday, and the Fire hold the tiebreaker, so they really only need to match what the Revolution do to gain the advantage of having the second playoff game at home.
But it would be better for the Fire not to have to wait to see what happens Saturday to know where the games with the Revolution will be played.
That's it: every possible implication from Thursday's result at Toyota Park. Of course, Fire coach Denis Hamlett is going to tell you the victory is the thing.
"The most important thing is for us to get three points," Hamlett said. "(Home-field advantage) was a goal, after we made the playoffs, that we were trying to get."
Arguing the value of home field advantage in a two-game series is a great way to kill time. Some say it's better to play the first one at home to build an advantage that you can protect in the second game, but that assumes that the home team will automatically "win" that first game.
Hamlett has said for weeks he would rather be at home in the second game, hoping the game would be on the line one way or another and the home crowd would motivate his team to better performance.
But of far greater concern for Hamlett is the play of the Fire's defense, which is now tied with Houston for best defense in the league after giving up three goals in a 3-2 loss to Toronto FC on Sunday.
Although he had his best back four out there (Brandon Prideaux, Wilman Conde, Gonzalo Segares and Bakery Soumare) in front of Jon Busch, the Fire fell behind 3-1 by halftime and could not recover in front of TFC's rabid fans.
The Fire will not have Segares against New York due to yellow card accumulation. Diego Gutierrez and Daniel Woolard could serve as his replacement, although Gutierrez is dealing with a heel contusion. Marco Pappa could also start and the Fire could go with three in the back.
The Fire also have to be ready for New York, which will have perhaps more motivation to win than the Fire. With 39 points, tied with Kansas City and two points ahead of D.C. United in the wild card race, the Red Bulls would clinch a wild card spot with a victory.
"To begin, the game is going to be tight, but as the game progresses, obviously they are going to take some more chances," Hamlett said.
No comments:
Post a Comment