Brown, RSL's No. 1 'D' meet Fire

C.J. Brown -- Getty Images

By Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com

The path leading up to former Chicago Fire defender C.J. Brown's MLS coaching debut came together quickly.

Following his retirement announcement toward the end of the 2010 season, Brown made it clear that he wanted to move on to the coaching side. Within a matter of months, he became an assistant coach for Real Salt Lake -- the team that ousted Chicago from the 2009 playoffs and went on to win its first MLS Cup under head coach Jason Kreis.

"This team has already been going in the right direction," said Brown, whose RSL team faces the Fire this Wednesday at Toyota Park. "By me coming in, I'm not making them better. It's my job to keep something flowing. Jason and the entire program have done it the right way. Our back line is a pretty comfortable group, working with each other."

Read more at ESPNChicago.com.

Fire suffer 'defensive meltdown'

The Chicago Fire looked out of sorts during their 4-1 loss to Toronto FC on Saturday at BMO Field as Chicago's three-game undefeated streak came to a close.

Toronto had a wind-aided strike in the first half, but the rest was entirely on the Fire's shoulders as Toronto's Chad Barrett tallied two goals against his former teammates.

The last time the Fire gave up four goals in league play was during a 4-1 home loss to FC Dallas on Sept. 21, 2008.

"It was a defensive meltdown," Fire defender C.J. Brown said. "I think the four guys in the back, we weren't sharp today. Just before the second half we thought putting a lot of pressure on them was going to be good for us, and it ended up biting us."

Read more at ESPNChicago.com.

Fire's Dykstra stating his case in net

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- With six games under his belt -- 20 percent of the MLS regular season -- this seemed to be an appropriate time to get inside the mind of the Chicago Fire's Andrew Dykstra and his first season as the team's No. 1 goalkeeper.

The preseason fiasco of the late switch with Dykstra taking over Jon Busch's previous role has died down, and the 24-year-old has had ample opportunity to get into a comfortable place as Chicago's last line of defense.

"My personal play, I feel it has been very good," Dykstra said Tuesday following the Fire's training session. "When you look at young keepers that start out, you typically see a lot of dumb mistakes. And I can probably only say I've had half a dumb mistake, and that was the one against San Jose."

Read the rest of this interview at ESPNChicago.com.