Chicago Fire FC Captain Rafael Czichos said it best, during our exclusive conversation on Monday: “last season was tough.” Indeed it was as the Fire’s postseason drought extended yet another year in 2022, bringing us to a half-decade now.
It may not sound like a major dry spell at first, but when you consider the high percentage of teams that make the MLS Cup Playoffs every season, it really is. The Men in Red were off for Major League Soccer’s opening weekend, with their season beginning on Saturday, against New York City FC.
Very little is expected of the Fire this upcoming campaign. ESPN FC ranks them dead last, of 29 teams, in their current MLS Power Rankings, with a snippet that reads: “Shout-out to the schedule gods for keeping the Fire’s record unblemished for another week.”
MLS Soccer.com ranks them last/29th too. Yahoo Sports put them penultimate, placing the Fire 28th.
Chicago finished 12th out of 14 in the Eastern Conference last season, as the only two teams behind them last term made significant improvements, so last-place finish looks very likely in 2023.
There are issues all over the pitch, but scoring goals is the primary problem. During the exclusive with The Sports Bank, Czichos expressed his hopes that they would go out and get another striker, after acquiring Kei Kamara “so that we have more options in the offense.”
The Fire announced the arrival of Kei Kamara, MLS’ third-leading scorer all-time, three days before this interview was conducted at the Season Kickoff Luncheon. The day after the luncheon, the Fire officially acquired forward Georgios Koutsias from P.A.O.K. FC of the Greek Super League.
The club badly needs more goals, and time will tell if these two most recent signings can fill up the net or not. The defense wasn’t that bad last season, it was actually pretty solid for long stretches. They badly need more offense though in order to break through.
The objective for this season is the playoffs, Czichos said: “we have to reach it.”
He will assume a main leadership role again.
“This is why the club wanted me, and I feel very comfortable in my position as a captain,” he said.
“It’s good to have more support (via the offseason acquisition of more veterans), so it is not only just me or (Xherdan) Shaqiri to lead the group and I think it’s going to be make it easy for me.”
Shaqiri didn’t provide the ROI that the Fire needed during year one in Chicago, but he did accumulate 18 direct goal involvements, which is pretty solid.
Struggling with match fitness at times, it is expected that his productivity will increase this season. But for him to reach his best he needs better finishers to work with.
Is that Keimara?
“I was very happy when I heard that we traded for him, tough to play against him, he scored twice against us,” said Czichos.
“This is what we need, a guy that works hard in the first row of the offense.”
A lot of experts are very down on the Fire this upcoming season because of all the talent they have lost. No. 1 Gaga Slonina went to Chelsea for a club record $10 million.
Then Jhon Duran broke that record again when he joined Aston Villa for $18 million.
“It shows a lot about how the club works and the quality of the players,” said Czichos, 32, who joined the Fire in January of 2022 from FC Koln of the German Bundesliga.
“It was a very good sign for the league, and American soccer that we can produce players with a high quality. We don’t like that they left the club but it was financially very important for the club.”
Exactly, the goal is not to be a farm or feeder club for the big boys. However, the money made by selling off that top tier talent will create major opportunities for rebuilding in the club.
And make no mistake about it, the Fire are indeed rebuilding. Yet again.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.