Saturday’s loss to the Montreal Impact has Chicago Fire head coach Frank Yallop and his team simultaneously searching for answers and focused on the future.
The Men In Red remain in need of a first road victory this season after a wild 4-3 defeat at Stade Saputo. Scoring three road goals and still leaving Montreal without a result made the outcome difficult to accept, namely because the club allowed four goals for the first time in 2015 across all competitions. The momentary lapses that resulted in Montreal goals have been a recurring theme despite the best efforts of Yallop and his side to prevent them.
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of everything,” Yallop said Monday via teleconference. “Sometimes the players themselves will figure it out. We should be able to see a game through and get it done. It’s been a frustrating point of why we’ve lost as many games as we have this season. We’ve just had that crazy spell in games where we look like we’re going to concede goals, and we do. It’s just very frustrating for the group.”
Of course, the Fire are hardly the first team around the world to concede goals to Didier Drogba, who showed Saturday night that he's brought his world-famous finishing ability with him to MLS. Yallop described the Ivorian striker as “a guy that was in unbelievable form on the night,” and it showed in his three goals off of seven shots.
Like many MLS teams this week, both sides were affected by international call-ups, particulary in the defensive third for the Men In Red. Moving forward, the Fire should be boosted by the return of Matt Polster and Joevin Jones, with Yallop expecting both to be ready for Friday’s match at New York Red Bulls.
“We’ve got to pick ourselves up and try and get a good performance and a win in New York now,” Yallop said. “We’ll keep going. It’s obviously a disappointing result. I felt we started pretty well as a group and did some decent things in the game. Scoring three goals is never easy, but conceding the four was the thing that obviously killed us.”
The addition of Daneil Cyrus should be a boost as well to strengthen a back line that has dealt with a lot of pressure over the last few games. The Trinidadian defender signed with Chicago over a month ago but has spent the interim managing paperwork issues before being called in to play for the national team against Mexico.
On Monday, Cyrus trained with the Fire for the first time. Yallop has spoken often with Trinidad and Tobago head coach Stephen Hart, who has told him that the 24-year-old can be effective at both right back and central defense. Regardless of where he’s put, Yallop hopes Cyrus can get acclimated quickly and make an impact sooner rather than later.
“It’s been kind of frustrating, but he’s here now,” Yallop said of the process. “He’s a young international player who’s done well for his country, and we’re trying to integrate him into MLS once we get him training with us and get him playing games. I expect him to see the field for sure. I don’t know exactly when. We just have to make sure he’s up to speed on everything. There’s no time like now, because we need to get a result Friday.”
