BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – His team may have relinquished the game from a winning position, but there was only one question to be asked when Frank Yallop presented himself after the
Chicago Fire’s 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution
.
Would Chelsea legend Didier Drogba be joining the Fire?
With a decision expected imminently on whether Drogba would be making the switch to MLS with the Fire, Yallop conceded that very little had changed in the Drogba saga from earlier in the day.
“I’ve no update on [Drogba] right now, I’ve just finished the game and I haven’t spoken to anybody,” Yallop commented. “There’s no real update until there is one, there might be one [Sunday}, but as of right now there’s nothing to add.”
And while there could be news by Sunday, Man of the Match
Shaun Maloney
repeated the mantra of many of his fellow teammates earlier this week when he insisted the Drogba speculation was having no impact on the players.
“Absolutely none, I’ve got to say,” the Scot said. “We’ve all been involved at clubs where there’s been speculation of players leaving and going and it’s not something that would have any detrimental effect on the team.”
The Fire began sluggishly on Saturday, perhaps still feeling some lethargy from their midweek US Open Cup victory over Orlando City, but an improved second half saw them go 2-1 up in the 75th minute and within touching distance of a badly needed three points.
However, a lack of communication or positional awareness saw Brazilian center back
Adailton
fail to clear a routine cross inside the six-yard box and allowed Revs substitute
Kelyn Rowe
to restore parity for the visitors. Despite scoring two own goals in the 3-2 defeat to Orlando on June 6, Adailton has been a steady performer at the heart of the Fire defense, and this was a rare lapse in judgment from the typically assured defender.
“I don’t think we played particularly well, but we got the goal and to give it straight back to them was just so disappointing,” Yallop said of the goal, which came just two minutes after
Razvan Cocis
had given the Fire the lead.
“It’s a huge error at the back so I’m gutted for the guys,” Yallop added. “As a group we got back into the game and we go on and score what I thought was going to be the game-winning goal, but the last goal’s not good. I’ve just seen it again, Adi’s [Adailton] got to clear it and he just lets it go. He just cost us the game.”
With the visit of Western Conference leaders FC Dallas on the cards next Sunday, the schedule does not get any easier for bottom-of-the-table Fire (5-11-4, 19 points).
“We’ve got to let this go and we’ve got to get three points next Sunday,” Yallop urged. “It was right there for us and it’s just disappointing that we didn’t get three points, which would have helped us. We would have had a good week then; semifinal of the Cup and three points in the league, and things are looking a little more up. But we dropped two points tonight, so we’ve got to try and get three next weekend.”
Shane Murray covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com.
