David Poreba and Why Fire Fans Should Be Excited-My Takeaways
Friday afternoon the Chicago Fire II announced the acquisition of 21 year old midfielder David Poreba on loan from Stal Mielic with an option to make the move permanent. Poreba, a Polish and American dual national who was raised in the Chicago area as a kid spent his youth career at Chicago FC United, as well as the Chicago Fire academy before making a move to Polish side Stal Mielec. Poreba spent his 2023 on loan from to Charlotte FC’s MLS Next Pro affiliate Crown Legacy FC. During his time with Crown Legacy, Poreba made 29 appearances and captained the side a total of 27 times. Poreba recorded 11 goal involvements and led the team in assists, recording five.
Poreba possesses an abundance of traits that can help a team around him. One of the best aspects of his game is his versatility as a player. He can play as a defensive midfielder as well as playing more advanced as an 8 or a 10 and creating chances for teammates in behind. With Crown Legacy FC he created 56 chances over the course of the season, the 6th most chances created in MLS Next Pro. For the efficiency of the article I will separate it into two parts, firstly about his play with the ball and in possession, and secondly without the ball.
In Possession
In possession of the ball Poreba shows an excellent ability to dictate and exert control of the midfield. He shows excellent calmness and composure with the ball at his feet even when he finds himself amongst great pressure from the opposition. When Poreba plays a deeper role in the midfield he shows a great ability to play his way out of pressure and look to switch the play or play a ball in behind. He plays well off of teammates but can also play out of pressure alone. He is a wonderful passer of the ball and is always looking to progress the ball up the pitch making him a great progressive passer and able to unlock defences. For me his greatest trait is his passing range and his ability to so quickly switch the play and change the focus of attack as well as playing so well off the turn. Statistics back this claim up as last season Poreba played 107 accurate long balls putting him in the 99th percentile for accurate long balls by other players in his position in MLS Next Pro.
As mentioned before Poreba is an extremely versatile player and despite often playing deep he also excels at getting making runs forward and appearing in the penalty area. He is also a shows success as a set piece taker with him scoring two penalties last season as well as a stunning free kick versus Inter Miami II.
However, despite everything mentioned above Poreba does show some signs of weaknesses in possession of the ball. Poreba is not the greatest dribbler of the ball and statistics back this up. Poreba only completed 12 successful dribbles last season putting him at the 60th percentile and had a dribble success rate of 57.1%. For me the the dribbling aspect of his game can be something for him to improve on but isn’t the end of the world simply because of how efficiently he plays off of others and plays one to two touch football.
Out of Possession
Defensively speaking Poreba looks very strong without the ball. He wins the ball back off the opposition very high up the pitch and puts them in uncomfortable situations. Poreba won possession in the final third 20 times last season with Crown Legacy. He is excellent in turning defence into attack by immediately playing in a teammate once he strips the opposition off the ball. He’s also superb at recovering and proventing counter attacks. Last season Poreba completed an incredibly high amount of recoveries with that number totaling 143 and putting him 94th percentile in the league.
On top of everything else Poreba shows great physical strength and possesses very positive defensive traits. For example Poreba won 37 tackles, 156 duels, and 44 aerial duels, and was 98th percentile for duels won and 85th percentile for aerial duels.
Why Should Fans Be Excited?
Despite Poreba only becoming a member of the Chicago Fire II for the 2024 season, success in 2024 could lead to Chicago making his loan permanent and eventually becoming a first team player. Poreba most definelty possesses the quality and skillset to become a first team player but first he must have a successful MLS Next Pro Season.
