Three words said it all for Frank Yallop after Wednesday night's U.S. Open Cup win.
“I can smile,” the Fire head coach said as he sat down for his post-game press conference. “That is my opening statement. That’s it.”
On the heels of two regular season defeats to Columbus Crew SC -- one slightly more lopsided than the 1-0 score indicated, the other perhaps more even than the final 3-1 margin -- Chicago's well-deserved 3-1 victory over Orlando City SC in the Open Cup quarterfinals was supremely satisfying. Here are some of the takeaways from a very solid performance:
Regardless of position, Eric Gehrig, Razvan Cocis and
Matt Polster provide quality and tenacity.
Gehrig played plenty of centerback during his four seasons in Columbus but spent most of the early portion of 2015 at outside back. In the wake of Jeff Larentowicz' injury, Yallop has called upon him to move back to his original spot. But no matter his place in the XI, Gehrig provides more than his share of goal-saving tackles and last-ditch clearances. Free from focusing on getting forward or the quality of his service into the box, Gehrig's intensity and effort at centerback seems to breed frustration in the minds of opposing forwards. We saw that Wednesday night.
As for Cocis, you won't see a much higher work rate than his of late. The Romanian took charge in this game, picking his moments to push upfield and always ready to track back in the blink of an eye when he did. Fully recovered from early-season injury, he’s shown to be a 90-minute solution for Frank Yallop, a quiet leader worthy of wearing the captain’s armband.
And what can you say about Polster? First a fixture in the center of the midfield and later a sometimes-centerback, Yallop has tested him at right back and seen him quickly grow more comfortable there. On Wednesday, he was disruptive on the back line and a nuisance going forward against Orlando City.
“Matt is the sort of player who can play anywhere,” Yallop said. “Maybe not striker, but I think you could play him in a lot of positions and he will find a way to get it done. He is very athletic, and he has good, clean feet. He listens to the coaches and wants to learn any position he is in. I think that was a good position for him because he likes to get forward, and he’s got pretty strong crossing and finishing when he gets the chance to get in there, and he is very fit.”
The Fire are hungry to add to the club's tradition of U.S. Open Cup success.
The first meeting between Chicago and Orlando City this season, a 3-2 come-from-behind victory for the Lions, was defined by the events of the last 10 minutes. So too was Wednesday night's match, but with roles reversed. Frank Yallop's second-half insertion of David Accam and Kennedy Igboananike changed the game in the home side's favor, with the two combining to create the go-ahead goal and Igboananike icing the win late on. When Orlando City’s lone shot on goal hit the back of the net in the 56th minute, they weren’t deterred. They attacked more viciously, and it paid off.
The Men In Red were on a mission. This tournament clearly means a lot to the Fire -- not just because of the hardware that comes in the end, but because performances like these can spur them on across all competitions.
“This win, although it was in the Open Cup, it was against a very good opponent,” Yallop said. “I hope it lifts our spirits and we have a great performance on the weekend and win, and it just lifts us all and we can go on a good run and make the playoffs. That is the plan to do very well in the Cup. … I think we have done well to get to this stage. We have had a couple tricky ties at home. Forget the opposition. If you look at some of the results in the Cup, a lot of teams go through that are lower-league. We stuck to it. We got through. It was a big, big game tonight.”
We may soon see the results of a full-strength Fire side.
The last time Chicago had all three of its Designated Players out on the field in the same game was nearly two months ago. The result? A 3-0 thrashing of Montreal on May 30 in which Accam, Igboananike and Shaun Maloney combined for 11 shots. Since then, Accam and Maloney have been injured or on international duty while Igboananike has been searching for consistency.
On Wednesday, all three made significant impact in their respective shifts.
“I thought Shaun was excellent in the game,” Yallop said after Maloney put in a tireless 66 minutes of work in his first appearance since June 16. “He and David have not played much, but Shaun’s not done anything for five weeks. To put that performance in – wonderful.” Add to that another goal by the resurgent Patrick Nyarko, a first-rate performance by Matt Watson and the return from Gold Cup duty of Joevin Jones, and the signs of what may come with all pieces at Yallop's disposal are there.
Of course, the nature of soccer is that there will always be a selection of players on the mend. Among the notables missing Wednesday were Mike Magee, still recovering from a slight knee injury (and also from the welcoming a baby boy on Tuesday), while Jeff Larentowicz continues to inch closer to his return as well. Yallop said his team needs to go on a run. Seeing the roster come as close to full strength as possible will give them the best chance to do so.
