The Flawed Fluke Argument

I had a conversation the other night with one of those people who swears up and down that Chicago Fire skipper Dave Sarachan is the worst MLS coach in history. These arguments typically rely on things like Dave "inheriting" Bob Bradley's players and subsequently not being a good judge of talent, despite the fact that Sarachan picked the Rookie of the Year in Damani Ralph and had another early season contender for the prize in Logan Pause.

So far, in two games this season, the "judge of talent" argument looks like it's taking on water, as both Chris Rolfe and Chad Barrett have looked promising. Not "savior of the team" promising -- at least not yet -- but Rolfe already has a goal to his credit, which is more than Nate Jaqua and Andy Herron combined.

Which means that the 2004 SuperDraft is the big issue, but when you look at it, were there any real runaway Rookie of the Year candidates? I don't think Clint Dempsey was exactly a shoo-in. Chad Marshall wasn't available by the time the Fire selected, and we don't need to really get into the whole Freddy argument. It was a weak class.

If Rolfe and Barrett do, in fact, pan out, then it almost has to follow that the Fire are successful. Forwards being successful means goals, plain and simple. Then it would follow from there that 2004 was the fluke for Sarachan and the Fire, not 2003. We'll be following this story as it develops.