BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – As the assembled press corps filed into the Chicago Fire locker room after Saturday’s 3-0 victory over the Monteal Impact, head coach Frank Yallop was intently perusing the revised standings and pointing to an upward trajectory for his side.
The Fire (4-5-2, 14 points) climbed to sixth in the Eastern Conference on the back of the resounding win, and with three games in hand on leaders D.C. United (25 points) and the second-place New England Revolution (21 points), Yallop knows a good run of results could see his side climb into contention at the top of the East.
“Obviously I keep a close eye on the table and games played and all that stuff,” Yallop told reporters on a conference call Monday. “I wish it was that easy, just win the next three and you’ll be two points behind, but we’ve got to make sure we don’t lose to teams that are above us, for sure, because that creates a bigger gap. We’ve got to get on some kind of run pretty soon where we start to catch up.
“Those games in hand are important, conference games are important obviously, but if we lose three in a row, we’re in no better spot and those games are gone. But if you win three in a row, we’re right up the table. Montreal was a big game for us. We had to win that game, and we did.”
The Fire now face an important stretch of games against conference rivals, starting on the road Wednesday against D.C. (6 p.m. CT; CSN Chicago Plus) and continuing at home Saturday against Orlando City and June 13 at New England.
Chicago’s preparations have been disrupted by the expected call-up of Designated Player Shaun Maloney for international duty with Scotland and the looming departure of fellow DP David Accam for Ghana’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Mauritius on June 14. Maloney will miss three games, while Accam is expected to miss the New England match.
However, Yallop believes he has enough depth and enough quality to absorb the loss of such key players.
“We’ve got a good squad, so we will be using guys; we have to,” Yallop said. “I hate to use the word, ‘using them,’ because they are players that want to play. Right now, the team that played against Montreal did a nice job, the subs did a great job off the bench, so: much of the same.
“I’ve chopped and changed a little bit this season. I like what went on last Saturday, but we’ve got a big, big game on Wednesday, big game next Saturday too, so I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page as a squad, as a group. The guys that haven’t been playing can’t wait to get on the field, and the guys that are playing right now don’t want to give up the shirt either.”
One player who could soften the blow of their absences is Mike Magee, who played 60 minutes with St. Louis FC in their 1-1 tie with Louisville City on Saturday as he nears the end of his rehab from hip surgery last September. Despite returning “a little tired and sore,” the former MLS MVP could see some game time in the upcoming stretch.
Shane Murray covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com.
