Fire's Larentowicz ready to play, no matter where
Jeff Larentowicz is a team player. If Chicago Fire coach Frank Klopas wants him to play up front, that's what he'll do.
That's not likely to happen, of course, considering he's spent most of this season playing defensive midfielder and it's been about 20 years since the 30-year-old played forward. If anything, Larentowicz might move back.
With center back Bakary Soumare suspended for Saturday's home match against Montreal (7:30 p.m., Channel 50), Klopas has a choice to make.
Klopas could move Larentowicz to that spot, as he did when Soumare picked up a red card in the first half of last Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Columbus.
“I felt fine,” Larentowicz said after training Tuesday. “I played there for a long time, and ... once the first couple of minutes went by it was like I never really left. It felt OK, and at this point I'll do whatever the team needs me to. If that's what it is, then that's what it is.”
Larentowicz is a veteran and a team leader, and Klopas might like having his presence on the back line in the middle of the playoff chase.
That Montreal brings in MLS scoring leader Marco Di Vaio and his 18 goals also could factor into Klopas' decision.
“We have to be focused,” Larentowicz said. “Last time we played them at home we dealt with them pretty well. Toward the end of the game we were hanging on, and that's something we can't do this weekend. We have to score goals, we have to continue to push the game because they're a team that's fighting as well.”
But moving Larentowicz would open another spot on the field — a spot that could be filled by Alex, Daniel Paladini or team captain Logan Pause — and the last time Soumare missed a game Klopas said he preferred to bring in someone off the bench instead.
That someone was second-year defender Hunter Jumper, who responded with the game's only goal in a 1-0 victory against Sporting Kansas City. That remains the Fire's only shutout since June 2.
“I'll try both in training,” Klopas said. “... We have two more days just to see some things out here. Obviously, Jeff showed that he can step in in big games. He's played there before and he's comfortable. We'll just have to see what makes the most sense.”
Another, unlikely option is for Klopas to move Jalil Anibaba to the middle and find a new right back, likely Pause, Michael Videira or Wells Thompson.
Either way, the Fire wants to show better than it did last weekend.
“It shouldn't happen that way,” Larentowicz said. “We all said before the game we knew that the Columbus game was just as big as the week before, and if it happens every week they're only going to become more and more important. I don't have an answer for why it happened, but we certainly have to make sure it doesn't happen again.”
Added Klopas, “As bad as you feel you just have to put that behind you the next day — feel bad that night — and you just have to focus and get ready for this game Saturday.”