Patrick Nyarko’s listing as a forward in last Saturday’s
match at New York turned a few heads. Not necessarily because the Ghanaian was
incapable of playing up top, he did come into MLS as a forward from Virginia
Tech and played in that position most of his first two seasons with the Fire.
It had just been so long, or felt that way at least. Nyarko
has after all played almost exclusively on the left or right flank for the last
year and a half.
The shift up front was apparently a last minute switch as
even the starting lineup the club put out on Facebook had Nyarko listed as a
midfielder.
“The idea came to the staff really late,” confirmed Nyarko. “On
the day of the game they decided to make that switch. It was about the
personnel New York had and trying to take them out of their comfort zone. I’m
versatile, I can play a number of different positions so they decided to move
me up there to cause trouble for the Red Bull defense.”
In partnership with Dominic Oduro, the Ghanaian tandem’s
speed proved troubling for the Red Bull backline, with the two combining well
for Oduro’s 16th minute equalizer. They continued to look dangerous
together through the end of the half but Nyarko, who was ill going into the
match felt much worse at the break.
Despite feeling sick, Nyarko came back out at halftime but
quickly made way for Orr Barouch in the 56th minute after it was
judged that he couldn’t continue in the game.
“We were defending the lead at that point and they didn’t
want to take any chances leaving me in the game. It’s unfortunate because we
possessed the ball really well and did well creating from the back. I think we
did a good job of unsettling them with pace and movement and created a lot of
chances in the first half. I thought we had a great chance of winning that
game.”
With the 56 minutes he put in during Saturday night’s game,
Nyarko became the 19th player in club history to appear in 100
matches across all competitions.
“Just the 19th?” a surprised Nyarko asked. “I think it’s gone
by really quick. I’ve been blessed with the guys I’ve met here and all the
staff that has confidence in me. I’ve been working hard since I came to
Chicago, I never take a day off and I think that’s been a pay off. I feel
blessed to not have had serious injuries that kept me out for longer periods and
I can stay on the field and try to help this team. I’ll do anything I can to
help this team go up. I know it’s going to take a lot of games to catch Logan
and CJ but I’m going to give it a try, hopefully stay healthy and keep playing.”
As for Thursday night’s clash with DC United (LIVE on ESPN2
at 8pm CT), Nyarko echoed the same mantra of the past two weeks as the team
continues to fall further away from the league’s final playoff spot.
“We need to win. DC’s also fighting for their playoff lives.
If we win Thursday night we’ll be closer to them, we can go on a run here and
we’re back in the mix. Everyone knows we’re desperate, everyone knows it’s that
time of the year where you need to grind out results, where you need to find a
way to win games, especially on your home field. We’re going to come out
pressuring, trying to take the initiative tomorrow. We have nothing to lose
now.”
Nyarko is still recovering from illness but says that he
feels better than he did going into the New York match and is “prepared to last
as long as I can.” As for playing up top, Nyarko is ready to play wherever
interim head coach Frank Klopas decides is best in order to beat United.
“I’m comfortable playing either position and I think I bring
a lot to the table in both spots – creating, causing trouble for the back line
and trying to set up goals.”
Jeff Crandall is the
Team Writer for the Chicago Fire. Follow him on Twitter @JefeCrandall.
Tickets are still available for tonight's match vs. DC United. Visit ticketmaster or call 888.MLS.FIRE for more information.
