Apparently, McBride is now fully prepared to help the Fire in their last nine games of the Major League Soccer regular season.
While in the midst of a very crowded scene for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, the Fire play two-time defending champion the Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium on Sunday. The Fire (10-6-5, 35 points) stand two points behind New England and Columbus in the Eastern Conference standings.
But they enjoy the league's best road record at 6-2-3, which includes consecutive road wins at Los Angeles and New England. They are 2-0-1 in their last three road games and have lost just once in their last nine games.
In preparation for the Dynamo, the Fire are also at near full strength with the return of Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Gonzalo Segares and Marco Pappa from national team duty.
However, Blanco and Segares are expected to be called back for World Cup qualifiers Sept. 6 and 10. Pappa's status with Guatemala is less clear, though he played well as a reserve against the U.S.
Also, McBride has completed two full weeks of training, including the past week when the weather was near perfect, to prepare for the final two months of the season.
It seems all systems are go for the Fire.
"We have had a good week of training," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "We took two days off after the L.A. game, and the reserves played in the (exhibition) game against Veracruz, which was good for those guys, and now we get back at it this week."
While the Fire are hot, the Dynamo are about as strong as a team can be, despite coming off a surprise loss at New York last week. The Dynamo are 8-5-8 (32 points) and stand five points above the crowd in the mostly disappointing Western Conference. Prior to the New York game, the Dynamo had a league-best four-game winning streak.
"It is important from the standpoint that points are important right now," Hamlett said. "We are close to the two teams ahead of us. It is a big game from that standpoint. Every point is precious. This is a great opportunity for us."
The Fire are still getting accustomed to their new look, which is really only new at one position. McBride, the former English Premier League star who has returned home, is certain to hold down the forward spot for the Fire the rest of the season and looked like he was fully adjusted to the switch in practice Friday.
"We knew it was going to take some time for him to get used to our guys, and the other way around," Hamlett said. "He does all the little things we thought he would do."
"I'm enjoying the training, and trying to get to know all the guys," said McBride, who did not look like a 36-year-old as he ran through the two-hour session. "I'm getting a good understanding of the team."
McBride played the second half in his first game back against D.C. United, then played the entire game against Los Angeles last week. Thanks to the Sunday game schedule, he has had a full week to prepare for this conflict.
The Fire are relatively healthy. Defender Daniel Woolard is just now getting back into running after suffering a knee sprain, and forward Patrick Nyarko is also fighting a knee sprain that came almost immediately after he returned from a concussion a few weeks ago.
But other than that, Hamlett had a full squad to work with and a full squad to choose from for this game. "That's why you have a 28-man roster," Hamlett said. "This is a chance for everybody to step up."
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