Chicago copes without Kubik; it struggles to close out games
In dealing with an injury to star defender Lubos Kubik, the Chicago Fire has again illustrated that it is one of the league’s deepest teams. The Fire has been unable, however, to halt a troubling pattern of conceding late goals.
Kubik, who was named to the league’s Best 11 each of the past two seasons and won the award for the league’s top defender in 1998, left a May 20 match against New England with a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. It was initially hoped that Kubik could return within two weeks, but that prognosis stretched to eight or 10 weeks and the imposing Czech may not be available until mid-July.
Over the course of nine MLS games without Kubik, Chicago averaged 2.11 goals against, up from 1.60 with him in the first 10 games. The team has gone 4-3-2, enough to maintain a grasp on first place in the Central Division.
But the Fire has surrendered 17 goals in the last 30 minutes of games, more than any other team. On six occasions, those goals have cost Chicago a lead and resulted in a tie or a loss. During its most recent trip to California, it happened twice. Los Angeles converted an 89th minute penalty kick to earn a 1-1 draw and San Jose scored off a corner kick in stoppage time to bring about the same result.
“That’s been our whole season,” a miffed Coach Bob Bradley said after the game in San Jose. “I think we’ve played well, but we’ve given away a ton of points. We’ve had an awful lot of games where we’ve played well and probably should have won the game, but didn’t.”
After Kubik went down, Bradley initially tried 34-year-old veteran Tom Soehn, but has since turned to fourth-year pro Andrew Lewis at central defense. Bradley said Lewis’ pace allows the defense to press forward more and play a more zonal system of marking.
Lewis, who played for Bradley at Princeton, primarily has been a marking back in his professional career.
“It was an easier transition for me because I played quite a bit in the middle during preseason,” Lewis said. “I’m familiar with the role and I’ve been on the team for a while, so I’m familiar with the players. … Certainly, Lubos can do a lot of things that I can’t do, but he doesn’t necessarily cover as much ground. When Lubos is back there, there’s not as much passing of players going on.”
C.J. Brown, whom Bradley prefers to play on the right side, said the defense tends to play more direct without Kubik. Carlos Bocanegra has locked down the left back spot.
“We tend to play it simple and get the ball off our feet as quickly as possible. … When you have Lubos back there, you know if you get under pressure you can dish it off to him and let him do something,” Brown said. “Andrew can cover a lot of ground. He cuts off the gaps pretty well and it takes off a lot of running from me and Carlos.”
The Fire has yet to register a shutout without Kubik in the lineup, but it could not have gotten much closer than it did against Los Angles and San Jose.
“It’s disappointing because we dominate games, but we always manage to give up a costly goal,” Brown said.
by Soccer America associate editor Will Kuhns