A quote from Mr. White's agent, Jose Manuel Sanz (from mlssoccer.com)

"Sanz also represents Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who is currently in camp with the Mexican National Team in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. He would not rule out a possible return for the former Chicago Fire midfield leader.

The Fire resume MLS league play on Sunday by travelling to Los Angeles to take on the best team in the the league so far this season. The Galaxy are atop the standings and in command in the race for the Supporter's Shield on 40 points with an impressive 12-2-4 record. Fortunately, the Fire may be catching them at an opportune time.

The Fire outplayed the MLS Cup champions for the better part of the match but came away empty handed again due to one of the familiar themes that have plagued the team so far this season.....an inability to finish. Incredibly, Steve Kinney provided the Fire's best chances to score while hitting the post twice in the second half.

Comments on the KC game from mlssoccer's Greg Lalas

"Fire and Rain

Okay, I'm flummoxed. I have no idea what to make of this Chicago Fire team.

At moments, they are a flowing, languid example of why it's called the beautiful game. At other times, they make even the guy who wrote Soccer for Dummies shake his head.

The MLS Player's Union has released this seasons list of player salaries.

The Fire's list includes rookies, minimum salary player increases, and raises for some of last years players.

Base Salary Guaranteed Compenstion

CHI Banner Michael D $ 40,000.

The last five regular season matches between the Fire and the Crew have ended in 2-2 draws. This one also could have ended in the same manner if the Fire had not blown several chances to at least put a shot on goal and make Columbus goalkeeper Will Hesmer work. The Fire managed a total of 16 shots but only 2 of them were on goal.

Injuries continue to be a big issue ahead of the Eastern Conference Final rematch tomorrow night against Real Salt Lake. Brian McBride is questionable with a leg injury although he did participate in light running today at training. If McBride can't start, which seems likely, Stefan Dimitrov will get the nod against RSL.

A furious late comeback from two goals down is wasted as the Fire surrendered a deluge of corner kicks and practically unchallenged header opportunities. The last corner kick chance was the deciding factor as CJ Brown failed to mark Brian Ching in the 85th minute. An insane second half which saw six combined goals provided some entertainment but little in terms of redemption for an awful defensive performance.

A bad start to a season is not necessarily an indicator of what the remainder of the year holds for MLS teams (Houston started last season 0-2-2 while Columbus started 0-2-5) but dropping points at home against one of the weakest teams in the league is not a good sign by any stretch. The Fire continued their maddening habit of sloppy and frustrating performances in front of large home crowds by losing to San Jose 2-1 in front of twenty thousand plus at Toyota Park.

Sam Stejkal's Patrick Nyarko article on mlssoccer.com

http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/nyarko-dazzles-otherwise-dull-chicago-start

http://www.chicago-fire.com/news/2010/04/fire-announce-comcast-deal

It's official. The deal with ComcastSportsnet has finally been announced. Another TV station will carry 8 more games and will feature the Kelly/Doran broadcast team complete with post game show.

The press release mentions that Comcast will provide the first ever post game show for the Fire, which is not entirely accurate.

http://www.chicago-fire.com/news/2010/04/chicago-fire-challenge-ac-milan

Nice.

Last week mls-daily.com published this piece comparing the average attendance of the five major sports in America http://www.mls-daily.com/2010/04/mls-attendance-moves-past-nba-nhl.html . It correctly listed MLS ahead of the NBA and NHL in terms of average attendance for each sports most current seasons.

There are four MLS games tonight. Wednesday night regular season games are a terrible idea for a whole variety of reasons. Regardless, I'll be watching Kansas City take on DC United on ESPN2 at 6:00 (because I'm sick like that).

My thoughts on the four games:

Kansas City 1 DC 0 - Emilio is back but DC is still terrible.

From Sam Stejskal's piece on mlssoccer.com.

Trialists Benjamin Kabongo and Stavros Glouftsis are in training with the Fire.

De Los Cobos Comments on Giuly

From Sam Stejskal on mlssoccer.com, Carlos De Los Cobos acknowledges the Fire's interest in PSG winger Ludovic Giuly and his desire for a central midfielder.

Ward, Thorrington, and Carr

A recap of the Fire's injury situation.

MLS

Saturday's slate of seven matches featured plenty of goals and some surprising results.

The Los Angeles Galaxy showed why they are the best team in the league this season by beating the Crew in Columbus 2-0 without Buddle and Donovan. The Crew controlled the game and outshot LA 21-3, but Bruce Arena has put together a very disciplined side that just doesn't make mistakes and capitalizes on the opposition's errors.

The match wasn't particularly pretty but the result was exactly what the Fire needed. After a winless May the Fire's 3-3-4 record pushes them to fourth place in the Eastern Conference table ahead of New England. Philadelphia enjoyed stretches of possesion but could not break through until Danny Mwanga's extra time goal pulled the Union to within one.

The Fire continue to struggle at home despite outplaying Colorado for large portions of the match. Two defensive lapses resulted in two Colorado goals while Matt Pickens performed heroically in net for the Rapids. The constant and repetitive mistakes resulting from a lack of concentration is grating on both fans and the organization.

In part three of Dave Greeley's interview with Crain's Chicago Business regarding the Fire and their presence in the Chicago market, the team president also addresses the diversity of the Fire's fan base and potential audience. This is interesting since it is a topic that has been discussed here in the comments sections.

With a the World Cup buzz it's easy to overlook the fact that MLS resumes play this weekend. The Fire travel to New England on Sunday night, with the early injury report being released today.

CHICAGO FIRE -- OUT: FW Calen Carr (R quad strain); MF John Thorrington (L quad strain)

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION -- OUT: DF Darrius Barnes (R ankle sprain); GK Preston Burpo (R leg surgery); FW Taylor Twellman (concussion)

Tim Ward is no longer on the injury report but John Thorrington's frustrations continue.

According to the Fire's Facebook page a Designated Player announcement will be made tomorrow. Details to come.....

It's official. Cuauhtemoc Blanco will not be returning to the Fire this season. Blanco confirmed on live televsion (Fox Soccer Espanol) this evening that he will be playing for Irapuato.

Greg Lalas' reports that the Fire have traded midfielder Justin Mapp to Philadelphia for allocation money.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/midfielder-justin-mapp-traded-philadelphia

The amount of allocation money has not been made public but the move allows the Fire to free up $245,000.

The Fire announced today that team President Dave Greeley has resigned to "pursue other opportunities". Greeley will stay on as a consultant until the end of August.

Javier Leon will oversee operations and begin the search for Greeley's replacement.

Greeley has served as President for the last two seasons after also working for six seasons as the Chicago Bears Chief Marketing Officer.

Sold out crowd, big cities, ESPN, and five designated players make this one of the most highly anticipated MLS regular season matches in recent memory. The game should mark the debut of Nery Castillo and Rafa Marquez as MLS players while former Arsenal teammates Freddie Ljugnberg and Thierry Henry make their first appearance with their respective new clubs at Toyota Park.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Conde, Brown, Robinson, Segares

M Pause, Husidic, Pappa, Castillo

F Ljungberg, McBride

Subs : Dykstra, Kinney, Krol, Banner, Lowry, Nyarko, Carr

Dynamo

GK Onstad

D Mulrooney, Boswell, Cameron, Hainault

M Cruz, Obodai, Palmer, Mullan

F Ching, Oduro

Subs : Hall, Chabala, Cochrane, Robinson, Davis, Ngwenya, Weaver

The Fire have issued a release promising a "major player announcement" tomorrow. I'm not sure yet if it's a new addition or an announcement regarding a current player's status.

I'm guessing the press conference hasn't been called to announce the signing of Bratislav Ristic.

If there is such a thing as an American soccer icon, Brian McBride is it. Before Landon Donovan and last minute heroics, there was McBride paving the way as an example of how the game should be played. Fearless and relentless, he was also the very first draft pick in the inaugural MLS draft.

San Jose is still fighting for their playoff lives and the Fire are just hoping to salvage something from 2010 before some difficult decisions will need to be made. The pill becomes harder to swallow after acknowleding the fact that former Fire 'keeper Jon Busch is now the main man in goal for the Earthquakes and Tim Ward is the starting right back.

The Fire usually announce their annual award winners during the pre game festivities of the first playoff match. There will be no such opportunity this year but the awards will be doled out anyway. Here's my take on the team's Rookie of the Year, Defender of the Year, and Most Valuable Player for the 2010 season.

At the midway point of the season the Fire sat in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-5-5 record. They had just completed a 3-2 win in Los Angeles, they held a 3 game in hand advantage over most playoff contenders and the arrival of Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo , and Gonzalo Segares provided some hope that the second half of the season would result in a big run.

Rosters have been expanded from 24 to 26 players but only if clubs fill the spots with "home grown" talent.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/mls-expands-roster-encourage-youth-development

As expected the Fire is close to finalizing the deal with Deris Umanzor. Paperwork is holding up the official annoncement.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/fire-close-finalizing-deal-umanzor

Update: Univision is reporting a two year deal has been signed.

From Sam Stejskal's mlssoccer.com article. Croatian midfielder Flip Tapalovic is getting a trial.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/fire-bring-croatian-midfielder

Logan Pause is questionable for the opener. John Thorrington is still out.

One of my favorite days of the year involves reaching into the mail box and finding the year's season ticket package has arrived (I'm easily amused). This year's version comes in a neat booklet with coupons for the "Meet the Team Event" and a Fire knit cap. Also included is a postcard promising that season ticket holders will receive an exclusive scarf in 4-6 weeks.

Here's an excerpt from Steve Davis' "Talking Tactics" column on mlssoccer.com. He addresses the same issue with the midfield spot that we've been discussing here.

"New Chicago Fire manager Carlos de los Cobos wants more passing and possession at Toyota Park. I like the way he's thinking, but does he have the right personnel?

Here are are few Fire related items of interest :

Fire on TV

Courtesy of En Fuego:

Collins John will be appearing on tonight's Final Word sports recap show on Fox Chicago. Fox is actually one of the few local media outlets that has shown that they will cover the team with any regularity.

All in all the 2-2 draw was probably a fair result. After an uninspiring first half the Fire rebounded to outplay Colorado in the second half although it wasn't exactly attractive attacking soccer by any means. Of major concern is the gaping hole of non productivity currently being provided in the middle of the pitch by the Fire central midfielders.