Photo credit: Charlotte Thomas
If there are three words which can describe the Fire as they approach their March 10th opener against Sporting Kansas City, it’s “Still Under Construction.” Which means that the Fire are either keeping their cards as close to the vest as possible, or they are doing so after a pocket 2-7 because they may be able to plug in some holes in time for the March 10th opener.
Recall that the Fire traded goalkeeper Matt Lampson to Minnesota to draft up to pick up Jon Bakero who may need some seasoning in Tulsa this year. They also traded David Accam for $1.2 million worth of allocation money. That was a huge risk and one that won’t ease Fire fans unless they use that money to good use. It won’t be used on Juan Quintero as he signed for River Plate. Aleksandar Katai just arrived and began training on Friday. Alan Gordon is on trail at the club. Yes, that 36-year-old Alan Gordon.
There have also been injuries which have been unhelpful. Matt Polster sat out the last three preseason matches with a left knee injury. Daniel Johnson and Luis Solignac also have knocks. Jonathan Campbell will be out six weeks due to a facial fracture suffered in a preseason match with Nashville SC on Wednesday. This is on top of long-term injuries to Michael de Leeuw and Djordje Mihailovic (both ruptured ACLs).
The only bright spots so far on what has been an indifferent preseason otherwise is that Bastian Schweinsteiger looked good in his first 45 minutes of preseason action last Wednesday. Also, Mo Adams, Elliott Collier, and Albert Ruiz have show some potential in preseason.
The Fire will get one more preseason match on March 3rd against Tulsa at Toyota Park. It was supposed to be the season opener at Colorado, but due to the Rapids’ participation in the CONCACAF Champions League, the match was pushed back to June 13th.
Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez has always insisted on getting things right rather than fast, but even in the situation that the Fire is currently in, time’s-a-wasting. Again, the lack of news as it relates to potential additions to the Fire (which they need at every position right now) doesn’t mean lack of activity, but some activity needs to be made very soon or soccer fans in Chicago will be looking even closer into the proposed USL team in Chicago set to begin in 2020.
The Fire built up a lot of goodwill after the vast improvements made last season. With that said, there are still vast improvements to be made if the Fire want to be up there with the likes of Toronto FC, NYCFC, Atlanta, and Seattle. Even with the additional week before their 21st season gets underway, Fire fans are getting nervous and the Fire need to make some moves to help placate those nerves.
So in a way, the Fire are still working on their roster and in a way look incomplete at the moment. Thus, we won’t know for sure how the Fire will look perhaps until that March 10th home opener.
Chicago Fire
