Journeyman back Harrington helping Chicago Fire stay competitive so far

Michael Harrington might be the Chicago Fire player under the microscope this season, but he sees no reason to worry about it.

"No, not really," he said. "Not at all."

The Fire moved in the off-season to shore up the center of its midfield with Dax McCarty and Juninho - reports say the team also will very soon sign German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger from Manchester United - but the club didn't replace Brazilian right back Rodrigo Ramos on the roster when his loan deal expired after last season. Instead the club turned to the bench for the 31-year-old Harrington.

The Fire brought in Chad Barson and Ryan Taylor on trial to challenge Harrington this spring, but neither worked out. Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez said he will continue to look for players to improve the team, right back included.

"You do have to measure each individual, but you also have to measure it in the context of how the team is performing, what the results are," Rodriguez said. "I think the entire team can still improve. I thought we collectively did a good defensive job on Saturday."

The Fire hasn't been burned by the decision to go with Harrington through the first two games of the 34-game season.

"I think he's doing his best," Fire coach Veljko Paunovic said of the 11-year MLS veteran. "I think he's also adjusting to the role he has this year. At this point I think he's helping the team to win points."

Last week the Fire shut out Real Salt Lake, with new goalkeeper Jorge Bava having to make just 1 save, an easy one at that. The Fire tied Columbus 1-1 in the season opener.

"We have four points in two games, one goal against," Rodriguez said Tuesday. "We need to find competition in the right back spot. We try to have competition everywhere. Last year with Rodrigo with Michael and with Brandon (Vincent, the starter at left back), we de facto had competition from both outside back spots because Michael could take either one. We don't really have that."

For his part, Harrington is proud of his contributions to the team.

"It's going well." Harrington said. "I'm happy to be on the field and helping the team. I'm happy with what we're doing defensively. Proud of the shutout this week. Four points in two games here is a good start for us, and hopefully we can improve on that this weekend."

Harrington and the Fire defense will face their biggest test yet on Saturday (3 p.m., Unimas and streaming on Facebook Live) when they travel to expansion side Atlanta United. Atlanta spent heavily in the off-season to add talented attacking players such as Josef Martinez, Miguel Almiron, Kenwyne Jones and Hector Villalba.

The investments in the roster paid off last week when Atlanta broke out for 6 goals in the snow at fellow expansion side Minnesota United. Martinez was named MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters after scoring 3 goals.

"They've got some exciting attacking players that can put some numbers on the board if you're not careful. It's going to be a test," Harrington said.

"It's going to be a very difficult game for us," Paunovic added. "We are already preparing for high pace and a dynamic game. We know how sharp they are in attack, and we have to be ready to counter that."

If the Fire can counter Atlanta effectively, it will go a long way toward boosting the team's growing confidence.

"It's a good start," Paunovic said. "We are where we wanted to be. It's building confidence, but there is still a long way to go. We have to be very with our feet on the ground. Very optimistic, but also we know that this is a long season, just started."