While the Chicago Fire struggle to get back into relevance in 2022, a tremendous story is unfolding for them in goal. Gabriel Slonina, otherwise known as Gaga Slonina, is the Fire’s number one and the next big thing in American soccer.
Hailing from nearby Addison, Illinois, with parents from Poland, Slonina chose the USA over Poland for his international affiliation. However, it’s not just national teams, but also elite clubs who are competing to sign him.
Having recently been coveted by Real Madrid, he’s currently sought after by Chelsea, and actually has been for some time. Who knows, had it not been for the change in club ownership, he might have become a Chelsea player already.
“He’s a very good keeper, but he’s a young keeper; he’s inexperienced so there’s a lot to work on, said Fire head coach Ezra Hendrickson at the Fire’s last home match.
“But, you know, he has all the tools, he has all the right tools. But he’s improving daily. Adin Brown is working really, really hard with him and from preseason to now, we’ve seen some improvement. You know, it’s easy sometimes when you don’t face a lot of shots in the game, you’re not active, to fall asleep, to go in a lull as a goalkeeper. But he finds some way to still be active and when he does get called upon, he answers.”
“Sometimes, maybe it’s not a shot, sometimes maybe it’s just organizing the back four, or maybe it’s a cross coming out and punching it, and he’s been very good at that. So, you know, there’s still more to work on but he’s on the right track and headed in the right direction. I like his progression.”
Just 18 years old, he has all the time in the world to improve, and plenty of room to grow. At age 17, he became the youngest goalkeeper to ever keep an MLS clean sheet, against the eventual MLS Cup champion NYCFC.
At age 14, Gaga Slonina became the youngest-ever Homegrown signing in Major League Soccer history, and it wasn’t long before he made his senior team debut, which came at age 16.
We caught up to him, for a semi-exclusive conversation, after his most recent clean sheet, which came in a 1-0 victory over the high flying Philadelphia Union.
“It’s the whole team, Slonina responded to a query about what keeps him going.
“Obviously when we see that our first defender, which is the striker, if he’s defending it adds motivation so I’ll send it back to contain the ship and continue to move our lines and obviously a lot of it goes into the communication organization. But it all starts with training. So I think the more we can train it and the more we can put it into the game then the better we’ll get at it.”
A lot has happened, and it’s happened quickly, for Gaga Slonina, so he discussed how he stays even keel about it: “Obviously, meditation is huge for me, I think I do pretty well to maintain focus, and be in the present moment.
“You never want to be too high on your career or get too low.”
It’s very possible that Gaga Slonina could end up becoming, one day, the next Tim Howard, or even better. Gaga doesn’t have a specific role model however.
“I think I try to learn something from every goalkeeper,” he responded to this specific question.
“I try to adapt to the modern game, which is, you know, obviously a lot of a lot of times now the goalkeepers are the eleventh player on the field. So I think the more that I can adapt to the modern game and continue to get these game minutes, I’ll continue to improve.”
He’s also drawn comparisons to Manuel Neuer and Gigi Buffon. At 6’4″ he sets a very imposing presence.
After registering his seventh clean sheet of the season a week ago, the youngster described just how much pride he gets in achieving them.
“It’s part of my job to keep the ball out of the net, So anytime we can keep the ball out of the net it’s big for us and our entire team. So I think the more we can keep clean sheets the better chance we have at getting better results,” he said.
His goal for this term is to break the MLS record for single season clean sheets. To match the current mark of 17, he needs ten more in the final 16 clashes of the MLS season.
Tyler Terens, the Chicago Fire FC play by play announcer, discussed all that Gaga Slonina brings to the table. You can hear that on this episode of After Extra Time, this website’s official podcast.
Fire defender Jonathan Bornstein discussed what Gaga Slonina brings to this team:
“You want to give him the credit because the goalie doesn’t score goals and doesn’t have that opportunity. But it’s definitely due to him, the defense and the team. It’s due to all of the work that all the guys put in on a daily basis.
But I love giving him the credit because like I said he’s never gonna score goals but that’s his stat that he can build. But he would also say it’s a team thing.”
Bornstein also described the talent level that Gaga Slonina brings, at just 18 years old:
“I’m not surprised by the work ethic that he has and the work that he has been putting in over the years. He is a very special player. A player like him comes along once in a very long time. He is young, he is still very humble and works hard everyday.”
Get out to see a Chicago Fire FC game at Soldier Field this season, as plenty of tickets are readily available.
You will then be able to say “I saw Gaga Slonina play back when he was just starting out…etc. etc.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.