Fire coach Frank Klopas said Brian Gutierrez’s form is why he hasn’t started the past two matches.
Courtesy of the Fire
The Fire attack has sputtered the last three games, scoring once in open play. On Wednesday, coach Frank Klopas tried to explain why the offense has dried up.
“The one thing is to be way more aggressive in the final third,” Klopas said. We have a tendency once we are able to penetrate and break lines, our ability to accelerate the game, our ability to get service in the box, our ability to get more numbers in the box, it’s been a big focus. Not only this week, but also for the past week.”
Maybe one solution has been sitting next to Klopas for most of the last two matches.
Coming off a strong 2023, attacker Brian Gutierrez was expected to be a key cog for the Fire. But in his fourth MLS season, Gutierrez has been relegated to the bench for the last two matches, playing just a combined 50 minutes.
Though Gutierrez — after coming on as a substitute — scored the Fire’s lone non-penalty goal over their last 270 minutes in their April 6 win over the Dynamo, he found himself back on the bench for all but 30 minutes of the Fire’s 0-0 tie with the Red Bulls. In that game, the Fire (2-3-3, 9 points) were a man up for the entire second half but failed to capitalize, and New York looked more likely to score.
Perhaps increased playing time would’ve helped Gutierrez spark the attack. Klopas said Gutierrez’s absence from the starting lineup is “all about form.”
“We have to manage the whole team and it’s a long season and players go in and out of form,” Klopas said. “With [Gutierrez] as a young player, that’s also the case. Our ability to have much better depth this year in every position, that’s very important. It was very important going into the offseason to do that.”
Numbers aside (three goals, one assist), Klopas wants to see Gutierrez improve his sharpness and be more aggressive. To Klopas, that indicates Gutierrez is struggling with the mental side of the game, which might be caused by fatigue.
“The time that we’ve been able to just give him a little bit of rest and bring him off the bench where maybe it’s late in games and the game opens up a little bit and there’s less pressure on him, also, from the start of the game, that’s been good,” Klopas said. “It’s about confidence, also. At times when you get moments like that, you overthink things instead from an instinctive standpoint and just being more aggressive, which is his game.”
Whether the jolt comes from Gutierrez or elsewhere, the Fire need to be more dangerous, starting Saturday night at Soldier Field against Real Salt Lake (3-2-3, 12 points). One key will be giving striker Hugo Cuypers better service, which has been a problem all season.
“Ultimately, we need to get in those spots more and then have the courage,” winger Chris Mueller said. “It takes that risk of failure and daring to fail. The moment that you don’t have guys who are willing to unbalance teams by taking guys on the dribble or putting in a cross when it might be low probability at times, that’s what it takes to put those balls in those dangerous areas and score goals. That’s what we’ve got to be doing better.”