Much of what coach Veljko Paunovic left behind when he was dismissed last November has been dismantled. Yet Paunovic’s last major acquisition - a player who never suited up for him - is making a key impact on the current Fire.
Signed after the end of the 2019 season but a month before Paunovic was sacked, midfielder Alvaro Medran has established himself as perhaps the Fire’s best all-around player. Entering Wednesday’s match at Minnesota United (6-5-5, 23 points), which is still scheduled despite an MNUFC COVID-19 scare, Medran has started every game and been a key piece in the middle of the field for coach Raphael Wicky.
“I mean, we all know the qualities of Álvaro, they’re above average, they’re amazing,” Wicky said. “He’s an amazing midfielder and a very, very important player for our team.”
Medran was intended to be an important part of Paunovic’s fifth season in Chicago, though that wasn’t meant to be. But Medran got past the initial weirdness of the situation last year and quickly accepted the change, a process that was furthered by a call from Wicky after he was hired in late December.
“[Wicky] cared about me. We talked,” Medran said through a translator. “This is a team sport. This is teamwork, so you just have to work through it as a team and that’s how you get successful.”
Recently, Medran’s successful contributions have been blatantly noticeable.
Medran’s score against the Houston Dynamo, when he took control of the ball in the Fire half and dribbled for over 50 yards through the opposition before a clinical finish, could be the team’s goal of the year. And on Sunday against DC United, Medran’s set-piece deliveries led to both goals in a 2-1 victory.
Performances like those show why Medran has spent time in the highest levels of Spanish soccer, and why Paunovic was eager to bring him to the Fire (5-8-4, 19 points). It also helps that Medran is in stride following a long spell between matches after last suiting up for Rayo Vallecano last spring.
“I never doubt his qualities, never,” Wicky said. “I think, since I’m here, he was an important player for us. He had a tough last year with not enough games, we spoke about him in the beginning of the year, he didn’t play since May 2019 until the friendly games in January, February. That’s a long time with no football and we had to bring him back to a level, and we’re bringing him back to a level. You see his performances, he’s a very good player.”
Now that he’s getting to play a lot Medran is showing his quality, even as Paunovic is an ocean away after getting fired and subsequently landing a job with Reading in the English second division.
“I’m a player that needs a lot of rhythm and to keep playing and continuity that I hadn’t had for a while,” Medran said. “As I’ve been able to get more and more continuity, I’ve been able to get better and better as the time goes by.”
