BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – There were not too many positives for the Chicago Fire to extract from Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Orlando City SC, but the return to action of striker Mike Magee marked a pivotal moment in his road to recovery.
The 2013 MLS MVP has been sidelined for nine months following hip surgery last September, and his introduction for Matt Polster in the 83rd minute was greeted by widespread applause from the home fans packed into Toyota Park.
“It was absolutely incredible and made the nine months worth it,” Magee told reporters when asked about the crowd’s reaction to his first appearance of the season. “It was a rollercoaster, with a lot of ups and downs, and with Lamby our trainer [strength and conditioning coach Adrian Lamb] we warmed up three or four times during the game and walking by the stands and hearing people cheering, chanting, happy to see me back, and I’m equally as happy to see them. That was an incredible moment stepping on the field and hearing all that noise.”
Magee scored an impressive four goals in a 6-0 win for a second-string XI over the Fire's PDL side in a scrimmage the week before, to give head coach Frank Yallop an idea of what he has been missing in front of goal this year. Having proven his fitness in that game, Magee then went to Saint Louis FC for a brief loan in which he played 60 minutes of their 1-1 tie on May 30 against Louisville City.
“Everything felt fine, apart from the result, obviously, which is all that matters,” Magee said of his fitness after the Orlando game. “Obviously, after a long period out, it’s good to be back on the field. But you can’t really accept a result like that and be too happy with it.”
“It’s good to have him back on the field,” Yallop said in his post-match press conference. “Obviously, he has been out a while and to expect miracles from Mike right now would be tough, but we will slowly but surely bring him back to health and hopefully he can help us out.”
For now, Magee’s focus will be on improving his fitness, sharpness and stamina and doing his best to ensure Yallop finds it extremely hard to keep him out of his starting lineup.
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“I’m trying to make myself capable of starting games,” Magee added. “I’m not arguing when they don’t start me because I’m well aware my fitness isn’t perfect, so I’m going to try to make their decisions as hard as possible. Even though my fitness isn’t right, try to make it so that they need me on the field from the start. But I’d be happy with a sub role as well.”
While he has been a frustrated spectator up until now, Magee took the diplomatic approach to answering a question about where the team’s problems lay in the aftermath of their seventh defeat of the season.
“I think I’d be a fool if I came back in one game and tried to comment on the problems with the team,” he said. “We obviously have to work harder, close out games, but from my mouth it’s not the right time to be criticizing anyone. I need to keep working and get fit.”
Shane Murray covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com.
