In long term, McBride deal may not be all that good
The Chicago Fire's anticipated trade for forward Brian McBride is a near-term win and a long-term loss.
If all goes as expected - and at last word the only thing holding up the deal is McBride's signature on an MLS contract, a mere formality - the Fire will send forward Chad Barrett, a first-round draft pick and some allocation money to Toronto FC.
It's a deal the team had to make and a deal it will eventually regret making. Which puts a lot of pressure on the Fire to at least play in MLS Cup this season, if not win it.
Clearly McBride, an Arlington Heights native, is the better player in the deal. He's an American soccer legend, not to mention a hometown hero, and he showed with Fulham that he can still produce.
"It's great for us," said longtime Fire defender C.J. Brown. "It's great for the club fan-wise, it's great for us soccer-wise. He's a big target guy. He's good with the ball, and he's a great professional. He's going to be a good guy in the locker room. He leads by example. He's a family man, it's everything.
"If you look at him, he was the national-team man. He was the guy, and we've got him on our team. That's a good thing for us."
After consecutive scoreless draws, the Fire has to be drooling over that thought. This team is thirsty for goals. And if anyone can help fill Toyota Park, it's McBride.
McBride and Chris Rolfe could be a great pairing up front with their complementary styles of play, and midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco should be able to connect with a target player like McBride in a way he rarely could with the smaller Barrett.
"If teams don't pay attention to those two really, really closely, they could add up a lot of goals for us," Brown said. "Temoc loves to put guys through. McBride loves to make those runs through. He loves balls in the air. Temoc loves to put them in the air. You hope it's going to be a good matchup of those two."
McBride could make the Fire much more dangerous on set pieces also.
"We were never really an aerial team," Brown said. "We have a bunch of small forwards, so bringing him in brings us a little aerial game. He can hold balls pretty well. He's good at that and he's good at laying them off and getting back into the box. He's going to be a good outlet for us."
But after two months of negotiations, Toronto made sure its fans will be happy with this deal, too, even if it might have preferred Rolfe or Justin Mapp to Barrett.
In Barrett, it gets a 23-year-old good enough to play for the Olympic qualifying team, a player who works hard, a player who has 5 goals and 4 assists this season. It will get a second good young player in February's draft. And it gets a little cash to buy a good old player like, say, McBride.
In other words, Toronto got a lot.
"You have to give up something good to get something good," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "You want to make a run for it this year. But (McBride) probably can play more than this season."
But how much longer than that? In two seasons, Toronto could field three productive players from this deal. The Fire might have none. By then, the 36-year-old McBride might be enjoying retirement, content in the knowledge he gave his all on the field, and then some.
"My concern isn't his age," Hamlett added. "The guy's a good soccer player. He's shown it at the highest levels. ... He's a guy who can help us for sure in the short term, and I think with any player it's a year-by-year process."
One last thing: When we say this is a near-term win for the Fire, that comes with an asterisk. McBride is in Hong Kong preparing for next month's Olympics. He'll miss the next two to four Fire games, depending on how far the U.S. team advances.
In the meantime, the Fire will play without him and Barrett, who is in limbo until the deal becomes official. And Blanco will miss this Saturday's game after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
The goal drought might not be over yet, but the final couple of months of the season should be a lot of fun.