Chicago ended the year as potentially the best non-playoff team in MLS.  They caught “fire” and had a winning record for the final third of the season, almost stealing the tenth playoff spot from New York.  The same team that set the MLS record for draws in a season (which they tied with NY) gave interim head coach Frank Klopas the full time job this offseason based on their excellent finish.  Dominic Oduro finally lived up to his promised to finish with double digit goals while newcomers Sebastian Grazzini and Pavel Pardo were veritable finds.  Looking forward to 2012, the team looks like it could make a jump in the standings if it can carry over the momentum.

What do the Fire need to do to make the playoffs in 2012?  Chicago is up next in our “3 Questions” series.

1. Who will Klopas bring back from his European scouting trip?

Frank Klopas made a highly-publicized trip to Europe a few weeks back to search for, in his words, a midfielder and a striker.  He was looking for another forward to pair up front with Dominic Oduro as well as build a working relationship with La Liga’s Atletico Madrid.  This is a critical trip, as his depth up front may be thinner than when he left.  Diego Chaves has been in the media saying that he wants out and, while he underperformed last season, he was at least a viable threat up front.  Israeli youngster Orr Barouch was signed away from his Israeli club but he is not yet an every day performer that the team needs to make that next step.  Patrick Nyarko is more of a wing player and not as much a compliment to Oduro.  Kheli Dube, selected in the Re-Entry Draft, is depth and not a full-time starter.

The rumors have been flying about potential names, and the name(s) Klopas can come up with will be critical to this team’s success.  If they can find another forward or CAM to fit Klopas’ system, this could be a very dangerous team.

2. Sean Johnson: will he be a better keeper for the Fire in December 2012 than he was in December 2011?

There are two parts to this question.  The first is: will Sean Johnson be with the Fire next year?  He’s training with Everton currently and, while the Toffees have a decent keeper you may have heard of, Johnson may catch the eye of a European club looking for a new long-term solution in net.  This is however the curse of an MLS team with young talent.

The bigger question is whether he takes the next step and becomes a dominant MLS keeper.  Like DC’s Bill Hamid, Johnson has all of the tools to be the next great keeper but needs to improve his decision-making and leadership.  With the call-up to the national team, he certainly will be able to train with the best America has to offer and should be a much more polished keeper this time next season.  At least Fire fans should hope so.

They have no choice.  Their back-up is Jay Nolly.

3. Can the Fire recreate the magic of August and September 2011?

Luck was a lady dating the Fire last year.  Oduro finally began converting those chances he created, and Nyarko and Barouch grew up.  The overseas midseason acquisitions performed as well as could be expected.  Even the interim coach who had never been a head coach at the MLS level before made all the right moves.  The question this offseason is can Chicago retain the magic that made that run possible.  Can they acquire the right players without upsetting the balance of personalities?

More importantly, can they keep the joyous play they maintained last season? After their shocking 2-1 victory at DC United last year, I went to the locker room to interview Frank Klopas, and the atmosphere went beyond happy about a win.  It was CYO level of fun, just plain joy with the game.  This joy, this fun with the game, is hard to maintain over a season but to capture a little of it at key times will help Chicago make a run in the playoffs.

In the long history between these two teams (winners of the first five MLS Cups), there has never been an ending quite like this.  The Chicago Fired dealt DC United’s playoff chances a major blow while keeping themselves alive for a late playoff run by scoring two second half stoppage time goals to stun DCU 2-1.

Most of the action in this match took place late in the second half.  For most of the game DC aggressively probed the Fire defense for a goal, knowing they needed to win to take advantage of the New York and Portland losses. Despite creating a few good chances, DC had no shots on goal in the first half. Chicago, meantime, was content to sit back and hit DC on the counter, a strategy which almost paid off late in the first half. A Marco Pappa strike was bobbled by DC’s Bill Hamid but he recovered to prevent the follow-up shot.  The second half saw both teams have periods of dominance, but as it dragged towards the finish line the sense in the stadium was that one mistake could be the difference.

On a normal night, one mistake would have.  Santino Quaranta was taken down in the box in the 90th minute and Dwayne De Rosario converted the penalty to break the scoreless tie.  DC players had gone down in the box all night, so to them the penalty seemed like poetic justice.  However, almost immediately after the goal, things fell apart.  The DCU defense, which had overall played pretty well, gave Sebastian Grazzini some space and allowed him to score on a rocket in the 92nd minute.  Less then two minutes later, it was deja vu all over again as Gonzalo Segares, who had committed the penalty on Quaranta, beat an offside trap and used his yards of free space to send in a perfect cross from the left, finding Diego Chaves at the back post.  The replay above shows that Perry Kitchen kept Segares onside while the rest of the defense settled in hoping for an offsides flag.

“You kind feel bad, a little bit for [DC United], but that’s how the game is,” said Chicago manager Frank Klopas after the game in a boisterous lockerroom.  ”For us, it was a great comeback and a great feeling… for our guys.”

The win keeps Chicago’s small playoff chances on life support.  They need to win their final game and hope New York loses theirs by a lot.  Regardless, this is the kind of win that can give a team and fans some positive vibes heading into the offseason.  It’s hard not to see a sense of excitement about a team that was a finalist for the U.S. Open Cup and made a late playoff run after firing its manager midseason.

On the other side of the pitch is DC United, a team that had its playoff destiny in its own hands.  It had a favorable schedule and games in hand.  Now, with two games this upcoming week, they join Chicago on playoff life support.  They need to beat Portland on Wednesday and Sporting Kansas City Saturday, then hope that New York, Chicago, and Portland lose out (note: the great DC scribe Martin Shatzer breaks down DC’s playoff chances better than I do).  Not impossible, but the play of the team of late doesn’t suggest this team is making a run.  The team has lost its last four games, including to lowly Vancouver, and would need to win back-to-back games for the first time since 2009 to even think about the playoffs.  It’ll be an interesting last week, and this game made it even more interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJaCi4FOOXE

On Tuesday night at Century Link Field in front of a record crowd of 35,615, history was made when Seattle Sounders won their third US Open Cup in a row and showed why they have dominated this tournament since their promotion to MLS from their days down in the USL 1st Division (formerly Division 2 of US Club Soccer).

It was a scoreless first half as both sides gave their opposing keepers tons of problems in the penalty areas, but somehow both Sean Johnson and Kasey Keller were able to shine. The real scare for the Fire came in the second minute of first half stoppage time as Fredy Montero ripped a hard shot that nailed the post and sailed away.

Second half got off to a flying start and both sides looking hungry to get that elusive first goal of the match. In the 53rd minute Michael Fucito had an excellent chance to be cheeky, as he chipped Johnson who came off his line, but the ball hit the near post and away.

But finally the goal came for the Sounders as they continued to pepper Sean Johnson every single time they had possession. In the 77th minute the Fire’s defense helped out their keeper after all the saves he made and finally cleared the ball away.

But in the back end of that minute the goal came from a rebound off a set piece. Seattle sent a corner from the far side into the Chicago area and a great header from Fucito forced a save by Johnson, but lurking for the rebound was Montero and he put the Sounders ahead.

The Fire never gave up after allowing that goal. They continued to put on pressure trying to find a way to get that equalizer and somehow get into extra time. Sadly for Chicago the final nail in their coffin would be in sixth minute of second half stoppage time.

The man who has scored clutch goals time after time for the Sounders is Osvaldo (Ozzie) Alonso and when he faked out his defender along with the keeper, he was able to convert his tally into an open net and that was the end of the 2011 US Open Cup season.

Give a lot of credit to Frank Klopas and the Chicago Fire for having a fantastic run that started in US Open Cup Qualifying and got them into their sixth final, but sadly not equaling the five cup championship level with Bethlehem Steel or Los Angeles Maccabi SC.

For the Seattle Sounders they have won their third consecutive US Open Cup championship that matches the same feat made by Stix, Baer and Fuller/St. Louis Central Breweries (same club, different name) from 1933 thru 1935 and the New York Greek American Atlas from 1967 thru 1969.

This being Kasey Keller’s last season in MLS, it looks like his swan song has started very well for him and let’s see what this side can do in the MLS Cup Playoffs. But for the US Open Cup that has played in its 98th tournament, this was a historical one as two great sides played their hearts out and made it proud.

The anticipation is building for tonight’s 2011 US Open Cup final between Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders. Will Seattle be able to win three back-to-back titles, or will Chicago win a record fifth title?

Watch the following video to add to the excitement of the 2011 US Open Cup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zii7t13O23g

The game will be shown live on FOX Soccer at 10pm ET.

H/T MLS Rumors.

Photo by Daveblog

In the land of draws, the Chicago Fire are kings.

Last night, La Maquina Roja looked well on their way to their third win of the season after dominating DC United at home for about 70 minutes. Sebastian Grazzini had given the home side the lead early in the second half and United’s attack looked spent.  However, two second half substitutions by DC coach Ben Olsen turned the game as the visitors were able to grab a goal and hold on for a point, etching Chicago’s name in the record books.  The draw was Chicago’s fifteenth on the year (out of 24 matches), setting an MLS record for most ties in a season.

Both teams are original MLS franchises and have a healthy rivalry, so the game was electric from the start.  The 15,000 plus at Toyota Park witnessed their team get off to a quick start with Dominic Oduru consistently getting behind the DC defense and setting up some quality scoring chances.  But, in a statement that I could cut and paste repeatedly for the description of this game, Oduru could not finish his shots and failed to take advantage of the space he created.  As such, Chicago abused the DC defense but failed to score any early goals.  Also hindering their efforts was the solid play of DC keeper Bill Hamid, who made a great save on Marco Pappa in the 30th minute and was a solid presence in net.  However, in the final seconds of the first half, Hamid strained his hamstring on a free kick and was forced to leave the game at halftime.

Grazzini made DC pay in the 59th minute and finally scored after so many chances.  Patrick Nyarko beat Dejan Jakovic on the right and sent in a cross that Daniel Woolard couldn’t clear.  Grazzini had no such troubles and sent a shot that went off backup keeper Steve Cronin’s hands and into the net.

To start the match, Ben Olsen had made the curious decision to start midfielder Steve King atop his midfield diamond instead of Santino Quaranta, who had been playing well of late.  Olsen, seeing the need for a change of pace, made this switch in the 71st minute and two minutes later it paid off.  DC had begun to threaten the Chicago defense after Sean Johnson had basically been able to lounge in the first half, when MVP candidate Dwayne De Rosario found Quaranta atop the Chicago box.  The midfielder made a pass over the top to second half sub Josh Wolff (who had come on earlier for an ineffective Charlie Davies) and Wolff sent a rocket to the top of the net for DC’s only shot on goal and only goal.  Replays showed Wolff was likely a step offside but it was a very close play.

The result for the Fire was another draw and devastation.  Chicago dominated the match, outshooting DC 14-6 and they looked like they were on their way to only their third victory of the season.  They were undone by absolutely atrocious finishing in the first half and poor defensive attention in the second, a combination Fire fans have seen over and over.  Even with nemesis Hamid out of the net in the second half, the Fire had really only a few scoring chances and failed to definitely put DC away.  This one will sting for a while.

DC, on the other hand, has to be happy with the result.  After being dominated for most of the match, they get a valuable point and move into a tie with New York for fifth in the East.  A win against Kansas City on Sunday could move them up to third in the conference, and they still have games in hand against most of the teams ahead of them.  But there were two troubling results from this game for DC.  The first is the health of Bill Hamid; he was in serious pain after the first half and does not look like he will play Sunday.  Cronin, who has been erratic at best, now looks to be the starter in a very critical match against KC.  The second troubling issue is the disappearance of Charlie Davies.  The forward was absent most of the sixty minutes he was on the pitch and the few times he got himself into scoring position, he could not do anything productive with the ball.  Either his confidence or an unseen physical ailment is hindering him, and either is a major concern for DC.

“It is what it is” says Thierry Henry every time I attend New York Red Bulls training at Montclair State University. And it is what it is with this club with another draw after ninety minutes — for the thirteenth time this season. And this was against the side that is dead last in the Eastern Conference, Chicago Fire.

It looked like the Fire were about take the full three points, but in the sixty-third minute Joel Lindpere earned the equalizer as he redirected a great cross from Dane Richards inside the far post as the gaping hole was begging to be filled. But afterward Lindpere went after referee Jair Maruffo and cursed him out for missing a hand ball in the Chicago area and earned himself a booking for dissent.

It really started out well for New York in the first half as Richards and Dax McCarty were creating near the area. In the ninth minute Richards laid the ball off to Thierry Henry and he bent his shot inside the far post as Sean Johnson had no chance to get it.

The problems with scoring the first goal of the match is very simple — defensive break downs continue to come back to haunt the club and it was seven minutes later that the Fire got the first equalizer. But the man in goal wasn’t Frank Rost who is out with a right quadriceps tear, or Greg Sutton who is on loan with Montreal in the NASL. It wasn’t Bouna Coundoul who came back very late from Senegal national duty, or Alex Horwath that got one match in late March and has been training with the club since then. It was Chris Konopka from Toms River, New Jersey that got the nod after a week of training and he looked a bit shaky.

The Red Bulls defense allowed the Fire to remain onside as Patrick Nyarko brought the ball down the far side. A solid cross to Dominic Oduro found the back of the net — even with a slight touch from Konopka’s left arm that was not enough to keep it out. It looked like black cloud came back to the club and in the twenty-fourth minute it wasn’t getting better.

Marco Pappa caught the Red Bulls napping on defense and gave a nice chip to Oduro who was looking for his second of the night. A hard shot was pared down by Konopka, but the rebound was right there for Sebastian Grazzini and he smacked it in for the lead.

“Same thing, started well thought it was going to be a good game for us and then in a space of five minutes it was two one,” said Thierry Henry, “The crowd got us back into the game, but if you saw those goals, those were the ones that could’ve been avoided.” But once again those types of goals were not avoided and the Red Bulls end with another draw.

While there are certain results that have and haven’t gone the Red Bulls way, currently they are still in the third automatic bid spot in the East to make the playoffs. Depending on what the Dynamo do against the Timbers on Sunday that match could get them knocked down to the wild card spots and playing a extra game is not what this side needs right now.

When you have a club like the New York Red Bulls who has a full slate of world class players and some talented youth players on their roster from the MLS Super Draft and their Academy, you would think that winning the US Open Cup is a serious thing. When you are traveling to Chicago and taking on the Fire for a spot into the Semi-Finals, you would think Backe wanted to exact some revenge in the league tie a couple of weeks ago.

But as always the four time US Open Cup Champion Chicago Fire takes this tournament seriously and the ownership showed everyone at Toyota Park why they wanted to win this domestic cup competition. It all got started early in the 7th minute when Dominic Oduro was able to rip his chance at Bouna Coundoul and it went off his gloves and inside the top part of the net.

All first half the Fire peppered the Red Bulls net and Coundoul made some big saves to keep the deficit to a single goal and at the end of the first half, New York looked to be lucky by escaping being behind by that goal. But once the second half got started, it all went downhill for good. The Fire finally showed their will to win and did it well.

Yamith Cuesta in the 48th minute headed in a great corner that was delivered by Daniel Paladini and the destruction was halfway done. Then Orr Barouch earned his first brace in US Open Cup play by converting in the 52nd minute and his second in the 69th minute. Originally it was heard that Barouch’s first goal was offsides as the flag did go up, but because it was deflected by the defender, the referee decided to waive it off and allowed it to stand.

What does this say about Hans Backe priorities when it comes to the US Open Cup? It says that he would rather care more for a pre-season friendly tournament traveling to Arsenal and allowing Thierry Henry being celebrated by that famed London club, then fighting for a chance to win a real trophy and earning one of three ways to enter the CONCACAF Champions League.

The other sad thing to hear was that Hans Backe did not travel to Chicago for this match as he allowed assistants Mike Petke & Carl Robinson earn some training time as they led a weak side to face the Chicago Fire. The supporters who traveled to Chicago were basically slapped in the face as they wanted to see their side attempt to reach their fifth semi-final match.

This club either as Metro or Red Bulls has to understand that this tournament is just as important as the league season and the MLS Cup playoffs. Right now they have lost a chance to win a cup. Backe has said that winning the Supporters shield is the most important cup to get, yet at the moment the club looks like they will miss that chance as well.

While it was a decent ride to see the baby bulls get a chance at some glory, it all falls on the lap of Hans Backe when you have failed to advance to the next round, regardless of what MLS wants you to be. The face of the league in England means sacrificing a cup. Look at Manchester City as they didn’t care which cup they wanted to win, just as long as they wanted to win one of them and got their FA Cup.

(NOTE:) This match was originally scheduled at 8:30PM EDT – 7:30PM CDT but was pushed ahead to 6:00PM EDT – 5:00PM CDT due to a Lightning storm that knocked out the lights at Toyota Park and over 800,000 customers. The Video stream was unavailable and only got audio.

It was a magical night in the Pacific Northwest as another member of the triangle finally opened up their home end of their scheduled at the refurbished and the re-named Jeld-Wen Field (formerly PGE Park) as the Portland Timbers finally came home to their fans in league play and had a fantastic home opener. It was a rain soaked season opener and there was plenty of excitement all around the former minor league baseball stadium.

The Timbers originally had a goal taken away as the corner was delivered on the near side, it looked to be bending over the end line and returned in play as Kenny Cooper thought he scored the first home tally for the club in the 11th minute, but in the 29th minute history would finally be made. Jorge Perlaza got a great ball from the midfield and attacked the net. He held up to catch Sean Johnson running off his line and converted. His second of the match came at the start of the second half, as the pouring rain came down all night long. Wallace along the near side would cross a strong ball that was spilled by Johnson and Perlaza came out of nowhere to stuff it home.

Rodney Wallace who suffered an injury plagued year with DC United in 2010 made his impact for the Timbers in 2011. In the 38th minute Jack Jewsbury sent a free kick from the near side that was cleared halfway by the Chicago defense. Wallace made a run on the long rebound and with a hard shot got a deflection and buried it into the back of the net. But the Fire decided to make an attempt to ruin the party as Marco Pappa tried to come back with some success. He forced Eric Brunner to get an own goal in the 66th. And then in the 81st he bent a high curling ball that Jake Gleeson tried to parry over the crossbar, but it still found the back of the net.

But the fourth goal came for the Timbers in the 84th minute as Dasan Robinson accidently knocked the whole ball completely over the goal line. Some replays showed that it should’ve been whistled down against Portland’s Kenny Cooper for a hand ball, but Ricardo Salazar was late to the scrum at the net and the referee’s assistant was on the far side.

The atmosphere was electric and had that European feel to it; I compare this crowd in Portland to the many German Bundesliga games I watched on GOLTV. The flags were always waving; the crowd was always singing and did a good job with the National Anthem. Timber Joey was a pleasure to watch every time there was a Timbers goal; he flashed the chainsaw and sliced off a piece of that giant log.

This former minor league baseball stadium has been truly transformed into a soccer stadium that can be compared to some of the top stadiums in the world and can rival Red Bull Arena. The location is perfect, the supporters are hungry and honestly this will be one of the toughest clubs in Major League Soccer that will challenge any side for years to come. The Northwest rivalry is definitely here to stay.

Photo by SGFsoccer

Team: Chicago Fire
Coach: Carlos de la Cobos
Last Year’s Finish: 4th Eastern Conference, 10th Overall, 9-9-12

Last year’s Chicago Fire were going through a transition regardless of the tumultuous offseason they’ve had.  With the retirement of U.S. legend Brian McBride and MLS veteran C.J. Brown, the team would have had to adjust without its legends.  But management, seeing a mid-table finish in a weak Eastern Conference, decided a rebuild was in order and jettisoned some of its bigger (read: more expensive) names.  To replaces the likes of Freddie Ljungberg and Collins Johns, the team has turned to some international signings and a youth movement.  In an Eastern Conference that is again weak this year, even a rebuilt Chicago team could be a playoff contender again.

Key Roster Additions: To fill the role of veteran leader, the Fire picked up Cory Gibbs in the re-entry draft.  The defender not only will likely start on the backline but can help young keeper Sean Johnson reduce the 38 goals allowed last season.  To score some goals, Chicago turned to Uruguay and signed two forwards: Gaston Puerari and Diego Chaves.  The two were teammates at Motevideo Wanderers in 2009, so their familiarity should help coordinate the Fire’s attack.  Both have scored consistently in their domestic leagues and it behooves Chicago that they do so in the U.S.  An under-the-radar trade brings Jon Conway over from Toronto as a stable and veteran backup keeper to young Sean Johnson.

Key Roster Subtractions: Brian McBride’s leadership and veteran presence will be hard to replace, no doubt.  He finished last season with six goals and four assists.  In the case of addition by subtraction, Freddie Ljungberg made the highly-publicized move to Celtic this offseason after his contract expired.  His impact was not quite as expected so hopefully Chicago can put the money to better use.  Same for Collins John – another pedigreed international who just didn’t adjust to MLS.

Projected Starters: A guaranteed starter is Sean Johnson, who caught Bob Bradley’s attention and was invited to “Camp Cupcake” last month.  He looks to be another in the long-line of overseas-quality American keepers.  The backline will be renovated with C.J. Brown’s retirement.  Gibbs is almost definitely a starter, and could be joined by two newcomers: Josip Mikulic signed from Zagreb and Jalil Anibaba, their #9 pick in the SuperDraft from the University of North Carolina.  Returner Gonzalo Segares could be the other starter on the outside.

Carlos de la Cobos plays both a 4-4-2 and 4-5-1, but with so many new forwards he may play more 4-5-1 at first.  Last season’s leading goal scorer Marco Pappa (8) is likely to start on the right and Patrick Nyarko on the right.  The cooly nicknamed Baggio Husidic will start in the middle possibly flanked by last year’s starter Logan Pause, who has six caps for the U.S. in his career.  Depending on the formation, either Puerari and Chaves will start or the head coach will a midfielder while putting one of the Uruguayans up front.

Player to Watch: Guatemalan international Marco Pappa has three seasons with Chicago and is a key to the team.  Not only was he the team’s leading scorer last year, but he is in his fourth year with the club and is one of the more recognizable players.  With so many new players to the team in key positions, Pappa is a player who can carry the load while the others catch up to MLS.

Predictions: Chicago saw their future last season, and it was middling.  A team with big-name talent that couldn’t finish above the middle of the pack in a weak conference was not a long-term strategy, so management took advantage of McBride and Brown’s retirements to let Ljungberg and Johns walk.  These are definite improvements, but their replacements are unknown.  Will Puerari and Chaves be able to score more goals than the departed talent?  Can youngsters Johnson and Anibaba help reduce the number of goals allowed?  Can Gibbs provide McBride-esque leadership?  This is a team in transition that looks to have maybe less talent overall than last season, but might have more productive talent.  Productive enough to sneak into a playoff spot.

Best Case Scenario: The Uruguayans take to Major League Soccer and provide the goal scoring needed, which is supplemented by a strong and veteran midfield.  Gibbs stabilizes a young backline and they are defensively adequate.  Chicago grabs a playoff spot and makes a surprising run during the playoffs (whatever the structure looks like).

Worst Case Scenario: Same as last year- the international signings fail to come through and the team looks stuck in neutral.  The proud franchise misses another playoffs.  The team has to reassess its strategy the next offseason.

Photo by SGFsoccer

Team: Chicago Fire
Coach: Carlos de la Cobos
Last Year’s Finish: 4th Eastern Conference, 10th Overall, 9-9-12

Last year’s Chicago Fire were going through a transition regardless of the tumultuous offseason they’ve had.  With the retirement of U.S. legend Brian McBride and MLS veteran C.J. Brown, the team would have had to adjust without its legends.  But management, seeing a mid-table finish in a weak Eastern Conference, decided a rebuild was in order and jettisoned some of its bigger (read: more expensive) names.  To replaces the likes of Freddie Ljungberg and Collins Johns, the team has turned to some international signings and a youth movement.  In an Eastern Conference that is again weak this year, even a rebuilt Chicago team could be a playoff contender again.

Key Roster Additions: To fill the role of veteran leader, the Fire picked up Cory Gibbs in the re-entry draft.  The defender not only will likely start on the backline but can help young keeper Sean Johnson reduce the 38 goals allowed last season.  To score some goals, Chicago turned to Uruguay and signed two forwards: Gaston Puerari and Diego Chaves.  The two were teammates at Motevideo Wanderers in 2009, so their familiarity should help coordinate the Fire’s attack.  Both have scored consistently in their domestic leagues and it behooves Chicago that they do so in the U.S.  An under-the-radar trade brings Jon Conway over from Toronto as a stable and veteran backup keeper to young Sean Johnson.

Key Roster Subtractions: Brian McBride’s leadership and veteran presence will be hard to replace, no doubt.  He finished last season with six goals and four assists.  In the case of addition by subtraction, Freddie Ljungberg made the highly-publicized move to Celtic this offseason after his contract expired.  His impact was not quite as expected so hopefully Chicago can put the money to better use.  Same for Collins John – another pedigreed international who just didn’t adjust to MLS.

Projected Starters: A guaranteed starter is Sean Johnson, who caught Bob Bradley’s attention and was invited to “Camp Cupcake” last month.  He looks to be another in the long-line of overseas-quality American keepers.  The backline will be renovated with C.J. Brown’s retirement.  Gibbs is almost definitely a starter, and could be joined by two newcomers: Josip Mikulic signed from Zagreb and Jalil Anibaba, their #9 pick in the SuperDraft from the University of North Carolina.  Returner Gonzalo Segares could be the other starter on the outside.

Carlos de la Cobos plays both a 4-4-2 and 4-5-1, but with so many new forwards he may play more 4-5-1 at first.  Last season’s leading goal scorer Marco Pappa (8) is likely to start on the right and Patrick Nyarko on the right.  The cooly nicknamed Baggio Husidic will start in the middle possibly flanked by last year’s starter Logan Pause, who has six caps for the U.S. in his career.  Depending on the formation, either Puerari and Chaves will start or the head coach will a midfielder while putting one of the Uruguayans up front.

Player to Watch: Guatemalan international Marco Pappa has three seasons with Chicago and is a key to the team.  Not only was he the team’s leading scorer last year, but he is in his fourth year with the club and is one of the more recognizable players.  With so many new players to the team in key positions, Pappa is a player who can carry the load while the others catch up to MLS.

Predictions: Chicago saw their future last season, and it was middling.  A team with big-name talent that couldn’t finish above the middle of the pack in a weak conference was not a long-term strategy, so management took advantage of McBride and Brown’s retirements to let Ljungberg and Johns walk.  These are definite improvements, but their replacements are unknown.  Will Puerari and Chaves be able to score more goals than the departed talent?  Can youngsters Johnson and Anibaba help reduce the number of goals allowed?  Can Gibbs provide McBride-esque leadership?  This is a team in transition that looks to have maybe less talent overall than last season, but might have more productive talent.  Productive enough to sneak into a playoff spot.

Best Case Scenario: The Uruguayans take to Major League Soccer and provide the goal scoring needed, which is supplemented by a strong and veteran midfield.  Gibbs stabilizes a young backline and they are defensively adequate.  Chicago grabs a playoff spot and makes a surprising run during the playoffs (whatever the structure looks like).

Worst Case Scenario: Same as last year- the international signings fail to come through and the team looks stuck in neutral.  The proud franchise misses another playoffs.  The team has to reassess its strategy the next offseason.