As his team comes face to face with one big opportunity after the next, Chicago Fire head coach Frank Yallop has a simple message for his side over the course of the next month:
“Never look too far ahead.”
On Friday, the Men in Red have a chance to secure their first-ever MLS regular-season win against the Portland Timbers (10 p.m. CT, UniMas) and, more importantly, earn another three points in their quest to climb the Eastern Conference standings. The following Wednesday, they'll stay on the road to face Philadelphia Union with a chance to reach the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final for the first time since 2011. Four days later, a second matchup with Philadelphia could offer another occasion from which the Fire could gain separation from one of its many competitors for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Confidence has hit a high for Chicago (6-11-4, 22 points) following a 2-0 win Sunday over FC Dallas, which arrived to Toyota Park as the hottest team in MLS. With the notable exceptions of Mike Magee (out, knee) and Lovel Palmer (questionable, knee), the Fire head into the weekend on a run of good health and will soon see their roster further bolstered by newly acquired Gilberto, whose aim is to meet his new club in Portland. Yallop hopes that Sunday’s win at home will lead to positive results on the road, which have been hard to come by in 2015.
“We’ve just had a great win at home, three points,” Yallop said. “Now we need to try and go to Portland and get a win there if we can or get something out of that game. I think you can’t get ahead of yourself. It’s a massive game next Wednesday for us as a club. We want to win that game, and we’ll do every effort to do that. [But] we can’t look past the Friday game, which is our next very important match.
“I’ll be watching Philly, and they’re a good side. We just jumped above them in the league, which looks better than it did before the weekend. Every team in our league, as we know, is capable of beating the other teams. Philly’s no different. We’re no different. Seattle’s no different. You can go on and on. We’ve got to be ready to play.”
Fortunately for the Fire, the upcoming three-game stretch will give them more rest than they were allowed for their previous U.S. Open Cup match. The quarterfinal against Orlando City SC was stuck between two regular season games that were just six days apart. This time, on the other hand, they’ll have 10 days to play their three matches.
The schedule may be more favorable, but Yallop said the mental preparation, which resulted in a decidedly determined performance against Western Conference power FC Dallas, will remain consistent.
“Focus-wise, it doesn’t change,” Yallop said. “Three points Friday, a final to get to Wednesday and another three points on Sunday. That’s what we’re looking at. We’re just trying to do that. That’s the only focus we have is getting points in those two league games and trying to get to a final in another game. Not an easy week, but it could be a good week if it all works out.”
