Didja like what you've seen so far? If you answered "no" then it probably won't get much better than that. In this package of brilliance, you will find the inaction shots of Milos Kocic, 2010-workhorse-2011-goat Dan Gargan and the biggest endorsement 'miss' going of the not-yet-Harvey's sponsored Torsten Frings.

In case you missed it, the Chicago Fire defeated Real Espana 3-1 in Saturday night's international exhibition. Video highlights, goal scorers, and Fire starters are after the break. The team has a recap with some quotes from Klopas up on the website. The local paper, The Times-Picayune, had a good recap too.

The signing of Rafael Robayo is now official but still very surprising. Most club observers, including myself, assumed that the top priorities for Chicago's 2012 off-season were finding an elite strike partner for Dominic Oduro and a backup fullback for Gonzalo Segares and Dan Gargan. Robayo can not be confused as an option for either of those roles.

The Chicago Fire declined to participate in yesterday's weighted lottery for Lee Nguyen. Of the six teams that did enter, the Vancouver Whitecaps ended up as the lucky winners. Vancouver will be getting somewhat of an unknown product but Nguyen did dominate when he played in the V-League and he'll always have some USMNT call-ups in 2007 to his name.

Houston's Danny Cruz could be an easy selection for the Impact tomorrow. (Getty Images)

I've already given a mock draft based on my predictions of each MLS club's protection lists and now that the real lists are out we can get a better sense of who could be actually taken tomorrow.

Every team released their protection lists yesterday evening with a few surprises listed Montreal should come away with a decent start to their expansion campaign.

Ok, I am in a strange place mentally today.
Imagine that Toronto FC had instantly become the Barcelona of MLS and everything they had ever done had turned into football gold. Expansion draft day arrives for Montreal and their leadership says we must pick up all the ex-TFC players that we can, since their castoffs might still have some of the Toronto magic to them.

Dan Gargan -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
The Chicago Fire and other Major League Soccer teams submitted their 11-player protected lists Monday in preparation for Wednesday's MLS Expansion Draft for the Montreal Impact.
Among some of the Fire's noteworthy players left unprotected are forward Diego Chaves, midfielder Daniel Paladini, and defenders Dan Gargan, Josip Mikulic and Yamith Cuesta.

Today is the big press releases full of protected players day. Personally it feels like a healing balm to help with the festering burn wound that was yesterday's Cup final.

Here is your creamy filled list of protected goodness:

Sean Johnson - GK
Cory Gibbs - DEF
Jalil Anibaba - DEF
Gonzalo Segares - DEF
Pavel Pardo - MID
Logan Pause - MID
Marco Pappa - MID
Sebastian Grazzini - MID
Orr Barouch - FWD
Patrick Nyarko - FWD
Dominic Oduro - FWD

Join me for some frothy instant analysis after the break.

When Frank Klopas took over as interim head coach of the Chicago Fire back at the end of May, it appeared as if he would only be leading the club until a permanent solution was found at the end of the season.

Turns out that permanent solution was him.

On Thursday afternoon, the Chicago Fire took that interim label off of Klopas, making him the sixth head coach in club history.

For the second straight year, the Chicago Fire are not participating in the MLS Playoffs. Despite a valiant turn around in the final games on the season, most notably the stunning comeback against DC United, the Fire came up just short. As we enter the long and dark off-season the Fire have many questions to answer before kicking a ball in 2012.

I was at RFK Stadium last night. I was at RFK Stadium last year when the Fire won on the backs of two goals after the 80th minute. I certainly did not expect to see a repeat two-late-goal performance after Dwayne De Rosario converted his 89th minute penalty kick. A fairly blah game turned into a story for the ages when Sebastian Grazzini scored a scorcher of a goal and Diego Chaves finished D.

Cory Gibbs -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Now that the playoffs are more or less out of the picture, the Chicago Fire are simply looking to finish out their final two matches on a positive note.
But the Fire (7-9-16, 37 points) will be dramatically shorthanded when they face Eastern Conference foe D.

The mid-week games saw Dallas get back to their winning ways while Vancouver took down DC United. Playoff hopes were diminished for both Eastern Conference teams. Here's Pedro Gomes with the mid-week recap.
Chicago Fire 1, FC Dallas 2
Dallas traveled to Chi-Town looking to cement a place in the post-season against a recently resurgent Chicago Fire squad who were looking to keep their play-off hopes alive.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Much has been made in recent weeks of the games in hand at D.C. United's disposal. But as the club has learned, those extra matches aren't particularly helpful if you lose them.

In what coach Ben Olsen called an "unacceptable performance," United fell 2-1 Wednesday at the Vancouver Whitecaps, dropping crucial points against the league's worst team.

Former TFC defender Dan Gargan and his Chicago Fire side can greatly help TFC's Champions League ambitions Wednesday evening when they play FC Dallas in MLS action.
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Seattle had an answer for the few riddles Chicago threw at it. The Fire could have given up 3 or 4 goals as the Sounders hit the post twice on offense. That isn't to say Sean Johnson had a poor night. In fact, he made six saves overall including some lightning fast reflex moves we have come to expect but are still extraordinary.

It is easy to get the sense that Tuesday night's US Open Cup Final is an important match for the Seattle Sounders. If you follow their various social media platforms you've been flooded with tweets, Facebook posts, contests, videos and more. On the radio they started purchasing advertising weeks ago.

Dominic Oduro -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
The Chicago Fire do not have any time to savor one of their biggest victories of the season at Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.
Chicago heads into Saturday three points behind the New York Red Bulls, who currently hold the final wild card spot with 39 points.

What in Hristo Stoichkov is going on around here? So the Fire walk in to Salt Lake City and punk the uh Royals (?) at their once impenetrable fortress. Against their first choice eleven even. That happened without the midfield's security blanket Sebastian Grazzini. Wait a second do we actually have a good squad now that can win anywhere?

By THOMAS FLOYD

The last time D.C. United recorded back-to-back league wins, Tom Soehn was the coach, Josh Wicks was in goal, and the attack was led by Ben Olsen, Christian Gomez, Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno.

That was June 2009. Needless to say, a lot has changed for United and now-coach Olsen in the past 27 months, but the lack of any sort of winning streak has continued.

By Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
The Chicago Fire garnered a signature win when they absolutely needed it. And most importantly for Chicago, the team now finds itself in a realistic position to catch a playoff spot with only four regular-season matches remaining.
The Fire won for the fifth time in their past six matches and were led by midfielder Marco Pappa's hat trick en route to a 3-0 victory against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium in front of 20,762 at Sandy, Utah.

Frank Klopas is going with a heavy lineup for tonight's game:

Sean Johnson; Dan Gargan, Josip Mikulic, Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares; Marco Pappa, Pavel Pardo, Logan Pause; Daniel Paladini; Patrick Nyarko, Dominic Oduro

The U.S. Open Cup Final isn't until Tuesday so there's no reason to worry about overextending these guys.

Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Dan Gargan, Josip Mikulic, Jalil Anibaba, Gonzalo Segares; Marco Pappa, Pavel Pardo, Logan Pause ©; Sebastian Grazzini (Baggio Husidic 25'); Patrick Nyarko (Diego Chaves 66'), Dominic Oduro (Orr Barouch 77')

Substitutes not used: Jon Conway, Yamith Cuesta, Corben Bone, Daniel Paladini
New England Revolution: Matt Reis; Kevin Alston, Franco Coria, Darrius Barnes, Chris Tierney; Ryan Guy, Benny Feilhaber, Shalrie Joseph ©, Kenny Mansally (Kheli Dube 57'); Milton Caraglio, Zach Schilawski (Diego Fagundez 71')
Substitutes not used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Otto Loewy, Zak Boggs, Pat Phelan, Ryan Kinne
Scoring Summary
CHI - Sebastian Grazzini (penalty kick) 5'
CHI - Dominic Oduro (Sebastian Grazzini) 9'
CHI - Patrick Nyarko (unassisted) 30'
NE - Ryan Guy (unassisted) 90'
NE - Ryan Guy (Milton Caraglio, Diego Fagundez) 92'+
Misconduct Summary

NE - Franco Coria (Caution; Reckless Foul) 27'
NE - Darrius Barnes (Caution; Dissent) 46'+
CHI - Dan Gargan (Caution; Delaying a Restart) 76'

CHI - Baggio Husidic (Caution; Tactical Foul) 86'

Referee: Michael Kennedy

Referee's Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry, Paul Scott

4th Referee: Jasen Anno

Attendance: 14,567

Highlights and quotes after the break

Highlights

Quotes

Frank Klopas, Chicago Fire interim head coach
On the result:
"In the second half, being up 3-0 and tough stretch ahead of us, I had the opportunity to give some guys a break and get everyone involved in the game.

Welcome to the New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire live game thread, on a Sunday afternoon in September because whomever is in charge of scheduling for MLS should be fired and blackballed from the industry for the rest of his or her born days. You would think that someone over there would have looked at the schedule and said "You know, putting two of the worst teams in MLS up against a full slate of NFL games might be bad for ratings," but apparently that level of reasoning is absent in Garberville.

Yes, I have faltered in the blogging TFC world in recent weeks. I was so discouraged by the August home game against San Jose that I stopped thinking and writing TFC for weeks. I had relatives in town, my beloved uncle from Los Angeles. He has been a soccer fan since his childhood back in England. We talk soccer all the time on the phone and get together annually - usually to watch the big games.

As summer winds down on the calendar, so does the Chicago Fire 2011 season. We all know that summer is already gone in Chicago but it officially doesn't end until next week. In a sense it is like the Chicago Fire playoffs chances: technically existing but officially extinguished in a matter of days.

That means you Ty HardenThe seemingly never-ending transfer/ roster freeze/ trade/ beaver pelt barter system that is MLS player transactions finally came to a close today... we think. Either way, it gave Toronto FC a chance to do one last little piece of business - a seemingly straightforward defender-for-defender swap which sees Dasan Robinson, who was apparently a member of TFC, go to Los Angeles Galaxy for Kyle Davies.

The Galaxy get the experienced Dasan Robinson, to bolster their defending corps for the run-in in a deal announced just after the 2 p.m. MLS trading deadline.

He was originally drafted by the Chicago Fire when current Galaxy Associate Head Coach Dave Sarachan was head coach there.

Robinson did not make an appearance for Toronto after being traded by the Fire in July for defender Dan Gargan and a second round 2012 draft pick.

The Major League Soccer Players Union has released their end of summer update on players' salaries. If you have wondered how much Sebastian Grazzini and Pavel Pardo are making, we have the answer and a full update to the Chicago Fire salary picture below. At least, we kind of/probably do. Let me explain after the break.

Source: Getty Images

By JOSE M. ROMERO

For three months, the San Jose Earthquakes either lost or drew in 13 consecutive MLS matches.

The cherished three points were not to be had, time after time.

By THOMAS FLOYD

When Freddy Adu, fresh off a breakthrough performance in the Gold Cup, signed with the Philadelphia Union last month, the 22-year-old playmaker was seen as the key missing cog for a team with lofty playoff aspirations.

But for a player whose club playing time in Europe has been sporadic at best over the past few years, gaining the fitness to contribute on a consistent basis has been a challenge early in his second MLS stint.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

If all goes according to plan in the nation's captial, the centerback pairing of Dejan Jakovic and Brandon McDonald could be in the early stages of a long, productive tenure.

Fire's Dan Gargan -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Defender Dan Gargan was a bit of a mystery man when he was traded to the Chicago Fire from Toronto FC on July 28.
Chicago appeared to have its defensive group set in stone. Rookie Jalil Anibaba and team captain Logan Pause manned the right back position, and Gonzalo Segares has been the season-long fixture at left back.

A video look back at Gargan's goal & celebration Sunday in Chicago, the 3-4-3, Frings at the back and will Dallas bring their 'A' game this week in the Champions League
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

What a glorious evening of soccer. Three points were taken at home! This, for me, was the best win of the season so far (he comments hopefully). It had solid play from the new comers, quality play in the defensive end, Sean Johnson being Sean Johnson, Marco Pappa playing defense (!), a coaching sub I agreed with, and most importantly NO TIE.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By JOSE M. ROMERO

The Chicago Fire are in last place no more in the MLS Eastern Conference, thanks to goals by someone who is expected to score and someone else who is not.

In other words, it's likely to be a good day at Toyota Park when striker Dominic Oduro is flying past his defenders and defender Dan Gargan, with one career goal, nets his second.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By JOSE M. ROMERO

The Chicago Fire are in last place no more in the MLS Eastern Conference, thanks to goals by someone who is expected to score and someone else who is not.

In other words, it's likely to be a good day at Toyota Park when striker Dominic Oduro is flying past his defenders and defender Dan Gargan, with one career goal, nets his second.

Chicago 2 - Toronto 0 The Chicago Fire got the win at home on Sunday night in an attempt to keep their dwindling playoff hopes alive. Dominic Oduro put the Fire up in the 16th minute, and Dan Gargan doubled the lead in the 69th. Sean Johnson kept the clean sheet against a Toronto squad that had chances.

Fire defender Dan Gargan (C) congratulated
by Logan Pause (R) and Marco Pappa (L)
-- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Toyota Park scoreboard was not a mirage.
The Chicago Fire finally found the win column for the first time in more than two months as they defeated Toronto FC, 2-0, on Sunday in front of 12,020 at Toyota Park.

Tonight it was torture by television. Toronto FC lost 2-0 to the Chicago Fire, allowing Chicago to go ahead of Toronto in the standings. It was an odd game, TFC showed a lot of ball control and did manage to hit the post twice, but overall they lacked any finish.It was fitting that Dan Gargan scored against Toronto.