THOUGHTS ON THE FIRE: The most frustrating thing about the Chicago Fire these days is just when they take a step forward, they take two steps back. Last Saturday against San Jose was four steps back. Chris Wondolowski had not scored this season prior to last Saturday and after David Ousted’s howler that led to Wondo’s record breaker, everyone apart from Aleksadar Katai appeared to shut off.
If this is the mentality the Fire are going to take without Bastian Schweinsteiger and Nico Gaitan (the former of whom expected to return from a suspension), then why should anyone bother with this club? It was an embarrassing performance and the worst part about it is that there are no quick fixes.
Nemanja Nikolic does lead the team in scoring, but he missed two more sitters on Saturday and one wonder’s about his mental state when it comes to finishing chances. Just as we were praising Jorge Corrales after a good week, he regressed to the mean. Shouldn’t Djordje Mihailovic have started in the #10 role in the absence of Gaitan?
The Fire have to take some steps to rectify the state of this team. Otherwise, the Fire will stay below the red line for the rest of the season.
THOUGHTS ON THE RED STARS: The Red Stars have no such intensity problems. They got a vital away win at Houston on Sunday and are now top of the NWSL. Sam Kerr now has six goals on the season after another brace taking advantage of the Dash waiting until 15 minutes into the match to mark her. From there, the defense held firm as the Dash pushed for a point.
The Red Stars are a very deep squad and they have shown it with two wins without their four US National Team players. That depth will be tested further as Sam Kerr joins up with the Matildas while the Red Stars host an improved Washington Spirit side. It will be the first of potentially five matches without Kerr.
GOLD CUP SQUAD NEWS: Djordje Mihailovic (USA), Raheem Edwards (Canada), and Francisco Calvo (Costa Rica) have all been named to their respective preliminary squads for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. All rosters will be trimmed down to 23 on the first week of June. The Gold Cup begins on June 15th with the Final at Soldier Field on Sunday, July 7th.
SPEAKING OF SOLDIER FIELD: Nothing final has been announced in regards to the Chicago Fire moving back to Soldier Field in 2020. What may complicate matters is that they might be dealing with new personnel from the City as Lori Lightfoot was sworn in as the new Mayor on Monday.
When asked about a timetable for a potential move, the Fire reiterated club president and general manager Nelson Rodriguez’s statement from May 8th:
“We have been negotiating with Mayor Landek and the Village of Bridgeview for some time on an amended stadium lease, but we have not reached a final agreement, and until we do, I’m not able to comment further,” said Rodriguez in the statement.
