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Fire Thu Apr 09 2009
No Thorrington Means Midfield Shuffle
The Chicago Fire travel to San Jose for a match against the Earthquakes Saturday afternoon at 3pm. The big question isn't if they'll remember how to play in non-frigid temperatures. It's who is going to replace John Thorrington.
The Chicago midfielder is suspended due to his red card against New York last week. While two of the Fire's star players, Chris Rolfe and Cuahtemoc Blanco, are looking for their first starts of the season, neither one of them quite plays the same role as Thorrington. It highlights the one area where the Fire lack depth - central midfield.
Hamlet has a few options. He could start Blanco in place of Thorrington and hope the rest of the midfield can provide enough defensive cover. That's how the Fire played at the beginning of last season, with some success. He could also ask Chris Rolfe to stretch his versatility even further, playing him in the center of midfield to go along with his previous stints as a striker and wide midfielder. Or he may add another defender and move Wilman Conde or Tim Ward into the midfield. If that happens, the question is, who's going to complain louder: Blanco or people on the Internet?
FireExaminer / April 10, 2009 9:47 AM
How's about Pappa in the middle and Rolfe out right. Then Rolfe, Pappa, and Mapp could interchange though out the match?
http://www.examiner.com/x-4910-Chicago-Fire-Examiner~y2009m4d10-San-Jose-Earthquakes-v-Chicago-Fire-Preview