Hello everyone and welcome to Early Doors Football! We are back again with our weekly MLS Match Analysis. This week, the focus turns to New England Revolution vs Chicago Fire. In a week with multiple players missing for International Duty, both sides saw changes to their starting 11.
Lineups-
Both sides were missing their goalkeepers, with Edwards and Richey stepping in. Similarly, the Revolution and Fire were missing attackers Bajraktarevic and Shaqiri respectively. Bajraktarevic has been flying in the first few games, so he was a big loss for them. The managers maintained their typical systems despite the absences. Let’s jump into how the sides looked in and out of possession.
New England Revolution In Possession, Chicago Fire Out of Possession-
In possession, New England Revolution stayed in their 4-2-3-1, favoring the left-hand side to progress the ball. This graphic below from Soccerment illustrates this effectively. We can observe the average position and heat map for Caleb Porter’s side. There is a clear favoring of the left side (lighter areas represent zones with higher expected threat), as they wanted to utilize Jones’ (24) ability to bomb down the field from the full back position. Their lone goal stemmed from an attack down the left-hand side.
While the average positions do illustrate how the Revs looked in possession, I did want to add a caveat around the wingers, Chancalay (5) and Nacho Gil (21) swapped wings for a period. This may have pulled their average position more centrally; however, the structure still remains the same.
Polster and Harkes had similar roles in possession, often dropping into the backline to allow the full backs to get higher. They were a bit passive at times; I feel like they had a limited passing range.
In attacking transitions, there were a notable amount of misplaced passes. There were opportunities to really threaten the back line of Chicago, but with poor passing and a lack of penetrating runs, most of the Revolution counters were quelled by themselves.
Carles Gil was the creative hub, which is nothing new. Even in a match that was relatively lethargic, you can see the quality he has. The Spaniard had the most shot creating actions, progressive passes, and progressive carries on the field (FBref). Things haven’t quite come off for him (nor the Revs) this season, but he still is one of the premier creators in the league.
Chicago Fire In Possession, New England Revolution Out of Possession-
Although they held less possession, Chicago broke down the Revolution’s midblock efficiently on more than one occasion. Granted, they struggled to retain the ball in the final third, but there were some positive takeaways.
New England had a midblock of a 4-4-2, however, it often was a 4-1-3-2 due to how they dealt with the holding midfielder of Chicago. Chicago built roughly in a 4-2-3-1 as well, but there was a bit more fluidity in the midfield trio.
The clip above illustrates these concepts. With Harkes (14) jumping to press Gimenez (30), there is a huge amount of space between the midfield line and back line, which Polster must cover by himself. The gap allows a Chicago Fire forward to check in, before play breaks down on the final pass.
With the front line of the press, Vrioni and Carles Gil, being quite passive in this action, it allows Gimenez to be accessed easily. This was a recurring theme throughout the match, but like I said, Chicago did not capitalize on these opportunities.
Closing Thoughts-
From a New England Revolution perspective, this will be two points lost. They are still without a win this season, and facing the Chicago Fire at home would’ve been an ideal opportunity to get into the Wins column. Porter’s side have out possessed their opponents in their last four matches, but failed to pull away in any of them. If this form continues for much longer, some questions may start being raised.
Chicago Fire will be equally displeased with their start to the season, but with Cuypers finding the back of the net in two straight matches, there may be reason for cautious optimism. With their next match being away to Atlanta United, it will be a real test for them to go a third match unbeaten.
That is all for today. Thank you for reading, and have a great day.
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