East preview: Riding top form into final
Fire, Real Salt Lake preparing to attack for coveted MLS Cup berth
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"When it all started, everyone had the dream to get to MLS Cup," Chicago head coach Denis Hamlett said. "Now it's down to two teams trying to represent the Eastern Conference. We're going to prepare for that opportunity."
Both teams earned their shot at the Eastern Conference crown by sending Columbus and New England home in the conference semifinals. Now the scene is set for one decisive match between two in-form teams willing to go out and grasp their chance to advance instead of passing the time waiting for the other side to make a mistake.
"I really am looking forward to the game," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "It's two teams that are playing very well right now. It's two teams that aren't playing with a lot of fear. Both coaches and both teams just want to go out there and play. We'll find out who the better team on the night is."
In preparation for the winner-take-all affair, a thorough review is in order as the Fire and the Claret-and-Cobalt tussle for the right to face either Houston or Los Angeles next Sunday.
(2) Chicago Fire vs. (4) Real Salt Lake
The skinny on ChicagoConference semifinals in a sentence: Cuauhtemoc Blanco's 83rd-minute goal ensured the Fire would overcome a first-leg defeat and eliminate New England for a second consecutive season.
Blanco shines: The Mexican international playmaker drew plaudits from just about everyone after his performance in the Fire's 2-0 victory over New England at Toyota Park. In this sort of form, Blanco can pull the strings and cause problems for any MLS defense. Kreis certainly took notice of how Blanco orchestrated the Fire attack on Saturday night and how he can impact the game when he has the time and space to do so.
"He's an extremely talented player," Kreis said. "He's the type of player that sees passes and makes plays that other players don't see and can't make. He's also a player that isn't asked to defend a lot. Because of that, he can go find space and cause you trouble if you're not aware of where he is at all times."
Home-field advantage returns: After taking a significant amount of flack for their indifferent home form (5-4-6) during the regular season, the Fire have reeled off two consecutive victories at Toyota Park in arguably their two most important home matches of the season.
"Our guys still believe that if we have one game to play to move on, we'd rather play at home," Hamlett said. "I think that's shown in our past two home games when we've needed a result to move on to get into the playoffs against Chivas USA and being a goal down against New England in the (Eastern Conference Semifinal Series) and needing to score two goals to move on."
Return to health leads to a return to form: Blanco wasn't the only midfield cog to make his mark in the New England series. John Thorrington returned from a lengthy absence with an unspecifiable injury in time for the decisive second leg and scored the opening goal as part of an active night in central midfield. Daniel Woolard also hopped off the bench to give Hamlett a natural option at left back.
Only time will tell whether Wilman Conde, Gonzalo Segares and Tim Ward will be healthy enough to feature or whether Brian McBride can shake off the knee injury that forced him out of the series clincher. Even with those injuries, Hamlett said his side is starting to find its rhythm as the injury list continues to shrink.
"The key for us now is that we're starting to hit our stride," Hamlett said. "We're starting to get some bodies back healthy, which is always good because your training sessions become competitive and you have confidence because you have most of your group back together. We know what it was like when we did have our whole group together because of the way we started the season. Confidence is high when you have that."
Keep an eye out for ...: ... how the Fire cope with Real Salt Lake's speed over the top. New England played directly in the second leg, but humped most of its long balls toward Edgaras Jankauskas when it couldn't find outlets in the wide areas. Instead of looking for an aerial target, Real Salt Lake will try to use Fabian Espindola and Robbie Findley -- with Yura Movsisyan a likely option in reserve -- to get in behind the Chicago defense. Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said his side knows how to handle the threat after watching New England trying to get its wide players in behind during the Eastern Conference semifinals.
"They've got some speed and Andy Williams hits a great through ball," Busch said. "It's very similar to what we dealt with (against New England), especially in the first half. New England has some fast guys up top too, so we got a little bit of a preview."
The path to Qwest Field: Chicago will have to start quickly and keep its foot on the throttle to ward off a Real Salt Lake side that is capable of coming back from a significant deficit. Blanco will have to work his magic in the empty spaces on the flanks while Thorrington and Logan Pause must make life difficult for Javier Morales and Williams in the center of the park. If the midfield can keep the ball and the back four can ward off those runs over the top, the Fire might just make their first MLS Cup appearance since 2003.
The skinny on Real Salt Lake
Conference semifinals in a sentence: Determination at home and endeavor on the road propelled RSL to a shocking pair of wins against Columbus and a date with Chicago.
Grace under Fire?: Real Salt Lake never suffered from a lack of talent even as they scraped and clawed their way to the playoffs with a win against Colorado in the final game of the regular season. After ousting the Crew despite falling down by two goals in the first half, Kreis tried to pinpoint why his team responds so well when it faces adversity.
"I can't say for sure, but it's my feeling that our guys typically respond to the biggest games," Kreis said. "Every time this year we've played an opponent that we've had a lot of respect for, we always played well. We may not have always gotten the results, but we played very, very well. When our backs were clearly against the wall and there was no more breathing room, we played well ever since that FC Dallas game (a 3-0 loss in Frisco on Sept. 26)."
Midfield strength fuels RSL resurgence: Part of the reason for the pickup in form stems from the effectiveness of the RSL midfield. After spending some time in a three-man midfield during the summer months, Kreis returned to the narrow four-man diamond that worked so well during the stretch run in 2008, but faltered early in 2009 as the performances weren't up to par. That isn't the case any longer with Morales impressing in Columbus and Williams turning back time to stamp his authority on games over the past two months.
"Our midfield's been the engine of the team for the past nine or 10 games," RSL defender Nat Borchers said. "They've been absolutely phenomenal in their work rate and their class with the ball. It's going to be a really nice battle between their midfield and our midfield to see who is better. I think personally that our midfield is one of the best in the league."
Pressure on fullbacks: The narrow midfield diamond might help RSL in possession, but it tends to leave fullbacks Chris Wingert on the left and either Tony Beltran (if he can shake off the quadriceps injury that sidelined him in Columbus) or Robbie Russell on the right isolated against the opposing team's wingers. With Chicago boasting a pair of dangerous wide players in Marco Pappa and Chris Rolfe, the RSL fullbacks will have plenty to do if the Fire can get the ball wide early and often.
"With the way we play, we ask our wide defenders to mark and defend one-versus-one a lot," Kreis said. "We think that they're capable of it and that they've shown that they are capable of it over the past four or five matches."
Keep an eye out for ...: ... the underdog mentality. Real followed a circuitous and occasionally criticism-filled road to the Eastern Conference Championship. Few expected RSL would reach the playoffs entering the final weeks of the season of the regular season or possess the wherewithal to overturn a poor road record to advance in Columbus. RSL has used that lack of external belief to stoke its self-confidence as the season has progressed and the hype surrounding Chicago's chances to reach MLS Cup may just motivate the visitors even further.
"We feel like throughout the whole year that we've had a lot of critics," Borchers said. "It's been valid at some points in time, but at other points in time, we've played very good soccer and gotten the results we deserve. It does fuel us. We know we're underdogs in Chicago. We like that position."
The path to Qwest Field: RSL will have to weather the inevitable early storm better than it did in Columbus and carry through the resiliency and determination it showed in that match in order to pull off another upset. If RSL can keep the ball fairly well, limit Blanco's touches in dangerous areas and find ways to spring Findley into space to run at the Chicago defenders, the Claret-and-Cobalt's renaissance could carry them all the way to the Emerald City.
Kyle McCarthy covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com and serves as a contributing editor for Goal.com USA. Kyle can be reached at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com.
