The Chicago Fire will travel to Chester, Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Union with a spot in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final on the line. The game will beed on U.S. Soccer’s Youtube page with Kick-off scheduled for 7:30 PM.
The Union, with a win, will be looking to return to the final to avenge their loss in the final last season to the Seattle Sounders. For Chicago, a win on Wednesday would give them their first berth in a Cup final since 2011. These two teams have only met once already this season in Chicago when the Fire won an ugly game, 1-0, against the Union in late March.
“We have a good opportunity in front of us to get to a final game,” Philadelphia Manager Jim Curtin said on Tuesday. “If we take care of business at home, if Kansas City takes care of business at home in their game, we get the opportunity to host a final in this building. Something that, about one year ago, we set the goal to get back to, and now we have the chance to do that tomorrow with a victory.”
The Union reached this Semi-Final with wins (in order) over the Rochester Rhinos, DC United and New York Red Bulls. However, two of those games (against Rochester and against New York) featured a Union win after a penalty kick shootout. In addition to penalties, the Union also played down a man for the majority of the games versus DC and New York as well.
The Fire beat (in order) Louisville City FC, the Charlotte Independence and Orlando City to reach Wednesday’s Semi-Final at PPL Park. The Fire only had to go into extra time in their fourth round matchup against Louisville. By reaching this year’s semi, Chicago has now been in four of the last five Open Cup Semi-Finals. A key stat that will be troublesome for the Fire is their record on the road in their last 19 games in 0-15-4. Yes, you read that correctly, ZERO wins on the road. Their last road win came last year in Foxborough, Massachusetts against the New England Revolution
With the history out of the way, what will be the keys for the Union to come away with a spot in the Final?
Keep Cristian Maidana in the number ten role
On Saturday, Curtin opted to play Maidana on the left wing and place newly-aquired Tranquillo Barnetta in the number ten role. Granted it was only his second game in MLS, but Barnetta did not impact the game as many expected. With Barnetta central, Maidana did not have his usual impact on the game for the Union. Once Barnetta was subbed out in the 60th minute, Maidana went back to the ten role. Once returned to his natural position, the Union offense, which, until then was lacking, performed better with many great chances to score.
The knocks on Maidana are his lack of real speed and below-average shooting. His lack of speed is not conducive to him being a winger. While his shooting is subpar for a number ten, Maidana makes up for it with his field vision and great passing ability. Maidana’s field vision and passing ability serve him better as a Central Attacking Midfielder, who moves out wide to receive the ball on occasion, rather than a winger who cuts into the middle of the field to get the ball.
Get the Counterattack Working
The Union are a counterattacking team, despite any attempts to say otherwise. This team will regularly concede possession battles but look to spring quick, dangerous counters which catch the opposition out. If their counterattack is working, the Union are a scary offensive team. However, that ability to counterattack can only be started when the central midfield can find the right outlet pass. This means that Brian Carroll, who is having an indian summer season in holding midfield, will need to continue his form and look to find Maidana, who will, in turn, start the offensive counter by finding a winger with a correct pass. When the Union cannot counter, not only do they concede possession but they cannot get much offense going at all.
Additionally, the Union will be without Vincent Nogueira in their midfield for at least the majority, if not the entirety of the game. Nogueira is still recovering from a quadriceps injury, but participated in practice on Tuesday and Curtin will look to use him in a reserve role. If Nogueira can give the Union 10-20 minutes at the end of the game, he will certainly help the Union counterattack as well as their chances at a win.
Union Must Do Better with Corner Kicks and Overall Chances
In addition to the counterattack, the Union also need to take advantage of corner kicks. Matthew De George of the Union Tally/Delco Times wrote about how poor the Union have been on corners, and the numbers are staggering. One key stat from De George’s piece is that over the last year and a half in all games (Open Cup included), the Union have only scored off of five corners out of 411.
Philadelphia has weapons for corners such as 6 foot, 5 inch tall defender Steven Vitoria and 6 foot, 2 inch Richie Marquez. Both will need to get forward on set pieces in order to give the Union an advantage in that area. Given Chicago’s offensive weapons such as David Accam and Shaun Maloney, Philly will need to do better with any chances they create, not just those created by set pieces.
Outside of the U.S Open Cup, both teams currently sit at the bottom of the table in MLS. With most likely the Open Cup either team’s only chance as hardware this season, expect a passionate game with the players leaving it all out there.