BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Fire may have been rooted to the foot of the Eastern Conference table for the past few weeks, but Shaun Maloney believes the players need to step up and start turning some recent positives on the field into points on the board.
The Fire (5-11-4, 19 points) enter Sunday’s vital clash with Western Conference leaders FC Dallas (11-5-5, 38 points) without a regular season win since the 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders on July 11. However, an impressive 3-1 U.S. Open Cup win over Orlando SC and a 2-2 tie at home to the New England Revolution, coupled with the return of key players and the signing of Brazilian striker Gilberto, suggests that things could improve just in time to mount a playoff run.
“We’ve been talking for the last three or four months about making the playoffs and I think it’s time we really start putting that chat onto the pitch,” Maloney told MLSsoccer.com this week. “We’ve obviously had a couple of bad results against Columbus, but we’re still only five points [off a playoff spot]. We can keep talking about how many points we are away or how many wins; we actually now need to go and do it.”
Maloney has missed eight games for the Fire after experiencing back spasms following his return from international duty with Scotland at the beginning of June. During that period, the Men in Red have lost six, won once, and tied another, but a win and a draw since his return to the starting lineup augurs well for an improved showing with 14 games, and 42 points, remaining.
“I feel a little bit sorry for him, and the fans and us as a club that he hasn’t been healthy for the last six weeks, but once you get him back you realize how good he is,” said head coach Frank Yallop. “He couples along with David [Accam] very well. they don’t always play together, but when they’re on the field we tend to look dynamic and a good team.”
Maloney showed his value and importance to the team with two controlled performances behind the main striker, prompting the team forward with purpose, and driving the tempo of the team’s attacks. He also took his goals tally to two with a first-half penalty against the Revs.
“I’m feeling a bit better,” said Maloney, who scored in Scotland’s 1-1 tie against the Republic of Ireland on June 13. “I felt pretty good physically first half against Orlando, tired in the second, and then the last game was pretty similar up until the last five or 10 minutes on the pitch, so this weekend I’ll be fully match fit.”
High-flying Dallas come into Sunday’s clash on the back of a six-game unbeaten run, with their fifth win on the bounce coming in a 4-1 rout of the Portland Timbers last Saturday. Maloney, however, insists that the Fire take the positives from recent performances and get a result to kick-start their season.
“The result against Orlando was a positive and the way we played first half, so there were positives there, but I think now we need to bring those positives into the league,” Maloney said. “To go 2-1 up against New England, who are a good side and outplayed us in the first half, to lose a goal so quickly was disappointing. So there’s a few positives in there but at the minute it’s the results that we’re looking for.”
Recent salary figures released by the MLS Players’ Union showed that the industrious Maloney is top earner at Toyota Park, and despite feeling some added expectancy as one of three Designated Players, he remains focused on lifting the team up from their current lowly position.
“I feel added pressure, but in fairness now in football whether it’s international or club level, there’s pressure in every game,” he acknowledged. “I’m not so sure it’s the pressure, it’s more the responsibility. When they brought me here we certainly wouldn’t have liked to be in this position in the league and we need to change that.”
