In a week where the team traded veteran midfielder Justin Mapp and unveiled new Designated Player Nery Castillo, the changes keep coming for the Chicago Fire- yesterday, the team announced the acquisition of midfielder Freddie Ljungberg from the Seattle Sounders.
Ljungberg, 33, brings with him one of the most impressive resumes in MLS. He rose to fame playing on the wing for Arsenal of the English Premier League, enjoying a legendary nine year spell for the Gunners. Ljungberg played an integral role in winning two league titles- most famously in 2003-2004, when the “Invincibles” went the entire league season without losing a match- and three FA Cups. He also scored 15 goals in a ten year career international with Sweden, captaining his country in the final two years before his international retirement in 2008. The midfielder impressed after coming to MLS last year as well, being named captain of the 2009 MLS all-star team.
by Sam Svoboda
Ljungberg has lost a step (or two) from his Arsenal heyday, but still possesses great vision and intelligence to go along with his bags of experience. The Fire are hoping that these attributes, combined with Castillo embracing a change of scenery and rediscovering his goal-scoring form, will make the new-look attack much more effective.
And if this situation feels familiar at all to Fire supporters, it’s because the 2007 Fire team had a very similar mid-season transformation. A little comparison:
– Just like the current squad (17 points through 14 matches, 4th place in the East), the ’07 Fire had a very mediocre first half of the season (15 points through 14 matches)
– In 2007, the Fire signed Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who joined up with the team in late July. Similar to Castillo, Blanco was a Mexican national teamer who was struggling to find top form, and many thought the move was as much about marketing as it was about soccer.
– Blanco also had a tendency to complain constantly on the field, something that Ljungberg has been accused of and is thought to have been a factor in Seattle trading him.
– After bringing in Blanco, the 2007 squad signed forward Paulo Wanchope. Like Ljungberg, the Costa Rican had been very successful in the Premier League, but- also like Freddie- was on the wrong side of 30 and had struggled with injury problems.
So what was the end result in ’07? The new squad turned it on after the All-Star break, surging into the playoffs by earning 25 points in their final 16 matches. As a 4th seed in the playoffs, the Men in Red took down top-seeded DC United in the first round, only to fall to New England in the Conference Final on a Taylor Twellman bicycle kick.
In fairness, this spark was more because of Blanco- who seemed to be involved in either the buildup or the finish of nearly every Fire goal- than Wanchope, who scored a few goals but struggled with bad knees. But still, even with only one of the two signings hitting top form, the Fire transformed from a middling team into one of the best in the league and were nearly Eastern Conference Champions. Can Castillo and Ljungberg do the same for the Fire this year? Stay tuned, because we are likely in for a very interesting second half of the season.