Tuesday’s vs. Orlando City is make or break for some
The Chicago Fire have two games in two days to end the team’s week-long stay in Bradenton. According to assistant coach C.J. Brown, Tuesday’s match vs. Orlando the Fire coaching staff plans to mainly look at unsigned players against the USL-Pro side.
“We’re giving our trialists an opportunity to show in a big field and in a big game with our system, said Brown. “Seeing how well some of those guys deal with our system and seeing where their fitness is and their work on the ball.”
Watch Tuesday’s match on Chicago-Fire.com beginning at 7:00pm CT.
Cuts Coming?
With Phase Two of preseason camp ending Wednesday and the team’s 16-day stay in Tucson looked at as the final shaping of the side heading into the 2014 season, Tuesday night’s game could serve as the final audition for unsigned draft picks and trialists.
The Fire currently have 28 signed players, plus Orr Barouch who seems set to re-join the team in Tucson after rehabbing an injury. The team also has nine unsigned players in Bradenton so it’s safe to say spots are limited as the team heads to Arizona.
As a Reminder, Available Players for Selection...
Signed Players:
Goalkeepers (3): Sean Johnson, Alec Kann, Kyle Reynish
Defenders (8): Austin Berry, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Hunter Jumper, Steven Kinney, Lovel Palmer, Gonzalo Segares, Bakary Soumare
Midfielders (11): Yazid Atouba, Dilly Duka, Benji Joya, Brendan King, Jeff Larentowicz, Alex, Patrick Nyarko, Logan Pause, Victor Pineda, Chris Ritter, Harry Shipp
Forwards (5): Quincy Amarikwa, Juan Luis Anangono, Giuseppe Gentile, Kellen Gulley, Chris Rolfe
Unsigned Draft Picks (2):
Bryan Ciesiulka (midfielder), Marco Franco (defender)
Guest Players (7):
Freddie Braun (midfielder), David Meves (goalkeeper), Parker Walsh (defender), Tim Ward (defender), Grant Ward (defender/midfielder), Andrae Campbell (defender), Daniel Jackson (forward)
Wednesday, more of the same vs. D.C. United
Though they just played each other on Saturday, the Fire coaching staff will then plan to use Wednesday morning’s friendly vs. D.C. United as for the first team players against a more competitive opponent.
“The DC game the next day will be for our first group again to ramp their minutes up more so when we go into Tucson they’re able to a full 90 minutes,” Brown said.
Injury Report
Unavailable for selection on Saturday due to minor injuries, Fire defender Lovel Palmer and midfielder Yazid Atouba have trained the past two days and will be available for selection in either of this week’s matches.
