Know Thy Enemy: Revs at Fire "Playoff Push" Edition
No the 8 vs 9 game is not making the playoffs...but at least Chicago can actually say they're on track for that.
I am not going to linger on my disdain for the current MLS Playoff format. I think the play-in game is dumb, the three-game first-round series is dumber, and merely making the playoffs is not an actual accomplishment. And no, the play-in game is not the playoffs.
However, when you’re a team that has barely sniffed the postseason in the last 15 years, you take what you can get. Such is the case with tonight’s game with the 10th-place Chicago Fire hosting the 11th-place New England Revolution from SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL at 8:30 PM EDT on MLS Season Pass/Apple TV+.
The Fire have just two postseason appearances since 2010, a 4th seed finish and first round loss to Houston in 2012, and a 3rd seed finish and first round loss to RBNY in 2017 (both losses at home too).
New England on the other hand, a few years removed from a Shield win, gets no such benefit. The Revs trail the Fire by eight points in the standings, not counting Chicago’s game in hand, and the two old rivals will also meet on Decision Day on the league’s final weekend.
Not that the Revs should be talking about a playoff push, no not even you Richie Williams (but you know shoutout 5th place Revs II), but if we’re even going to entertain the notion of such silliness, the Revs need three points today.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a major ask for a team that has just three wins since the end of May. But having three players unavailable due to international duty just makes things harder with Leo Campana (Ecuador), Mamadou Fofana (Mali), and new signing Tor Durgeman (Israel) playing for his country before making his club debut. Yes, that was planned and makes a ton of sense but having one veteran attacker off the bench tomorrow would be nice.
On the bright side, the Revs are probably one more defeat away from getting a healthy dose of youngsters off the bench as setting up for 2026 is something the front office should be directing fairly soon.
Okay, time to settle a gripe with Chicago. No, this is not about your deep dish casserole this time, how have I never heard the name Philip Zinckernagel. You don’t even need to hard sell me on being a legend with Norwegian arctic circle kings Bodo/Glimt, just the name is enough.
Add in a double-digit goal-scoring season his first year in MLS and there should be t-shirts about Zinckernagel selling pumpernickel/snickerdoodle marble bread or something. No that doesn’t make sense but neither does your casserole. This is a bad job by someone and there should be a major push by the Fire clan to fix this.
As always we get to chat with our good friend Ruben Tisch of The Lantern on Patreon. Be sure to check out his site and subscribe if you want to read my answers to his questions.
TBM: Chicago had gone five unbeaten before an unfortunate 4-0 pantsing at the hands of Philly...what was going right during that streak and what went wrong against the Union?
RT: Nothing went wrong exactly. The fact of the matter is that the Chicago Fire aren’t on the Union’s level in a lot of small ways that add up. The defense was a half step slow to react to the Philly attack, and the Fire attack took too long to make moves which led to the Union being able to defend successfully. It’s kind of like this year’s Formula 1 season. The difference between McLaren and Haas may be less than a second in qualifying, but during a full-length race, they’re going to get lapped by the faster car. That’s what happened against Philadelphia.
As for the unbeaten streak, they played worse teams. Montreal, St. Louis, and the Red Bulls are all worse on paper than the Fire, and the results reflect that. The Fire have a clear glass ceiling this year. The only top team the Fire have beaten this year was Vancouver, and that’s when they were in the midst of their Champions Cup run, so they were compromised on the night. They’re going to need to address the lack of a superstar difference maker, along with better defenders, during the winter to get to the elite tier of teams. But considering where the team has been over the last decade, it’s been a massive improvement in quality and results.
TBM: The Fire have two games in hand on 9th-place RBNY., What are Chicago's chances on at least getting into the playoff game and the likelihood they can make a series out of three games against a top team in the East?
RT: The Fire are in the driver's seat for the 9 seed and the 8/9 playoff game. As you mentioned, they have 2 games in hand on the Red Bulls, but they also have one of the easiest remaining schedules down the stretch. Of the 7 games, the best teams they play are a Miami team that are running out of steam and a struggling Columbus Crew. What’s left is two games against the Revs, a game against Minnesota, TFC, and the biggest one: Home against NYCFC, which could decide which of them hosts the playoff.
If the Fire do get into the best of 3, I don’t have much hope. Like I said in the first answer, there’s a clear ceiling when it comes to this team, and it’s about 6th place. Success in the series would be pushing it to three games. If they can do that, they’ll have momentum going into next year.
TBM: Okay Hugo Cuypers I know of but how have I never heard the name Philip Zinckernagel before today? Talk about the Fire's two double-digit goal scorers.
RT: The first question is important and shows just how much juice the MLS All-Star game has these days. (He got an assist in the game). But in all seriousness, you’ve never heard of Philip Zinkernagel before because he was brought in, essentially, to be a backup for and maybe compete for minutes with Maren Halie-Selassie. Instead, he’s become one of the most important players in the attack.
With the left side of Jonathan Bamba and Andrew Gutman taking up a majority of the attention from defenses, it leaves Zinkernagel in one-on-one situations a lot, and he’s lethal if left to his own devices. It’s why Bamba has been a successful signing despite his lackluster numbers. He allows for the other players to take advantage of the space he creates just by standing there.
As for Cuypers, he’s benefiting from Berhalter ball as much as everyone said he would. If it weren’t for a cold spell in the middle of summer, he’d be right up there in the golden boot race, and he’s still on for a 20-goal season. He’s a classic 9, capable of finishing chances with both feet and head. He makes smart runs and can play a little with the ball at his feet. Frankly, with the barren nature of the striker market, I’m surprised he didn’t make a move in Europe.
PREDICTION
The Fire are going to win, but it’s going to be closer than people realize unless the Revs have decided to make sure Caleb Porter gets fired at the end of the year and stop playing hard.
3-2 final score.
Will be watching to see if the team is ready to sit this one out.