Once more with continuity.
2020 Record: 5-10-8 (11th in East, 22nd overall)
Head Coach: Raphael Wicky (2nd season)
Key Additions: Jhon Espinoza, Stanislav Ivanov, Chinoso Offor
Key Departures: Djordje Mihailovic, CJ Sapong
So will they be a year better? That is the hope of Georg Heitz and Raphael Wicky after Chicago Fire FC kept the squad mostly intact from last season. Last season saw just about everything new in terms of ownership, leadership, technical staff (except Frank Klopas), the logo (which will change again in 2022), and the on-the-pitch product. What didn’t change from 2019 was that the Fire spurned tons of scoring chances and found creative ways to drop points and lose games.
They will already be behind the 8-ball a bit with new signing Stanislav Ivanov out for 4-6 months with a knee injury. Fabian Herbers, Ignacio Aliseda, Elliot Collier, and Miguel Navarro are also nursing injuries.
This team has some potential. Robert Beric can score goals. Gaston Gimenez and Alvaro Median can dictate the tempo in midfield. Mauricio Pineda is a burgeoning ace of a central defender. Johan Kappelhof is back healthy and so is Luka Stojanovic.
As far as what this team needs, Francisco Calvo needs to show the form he does when playing for Costa Rica. Miguel Navarro needs to cut out the errors like the one in the last game of last season against NYCFC. Ignacio Aliseda, once healthy again, needs to justify his Designated Player status.
I said last season that in order for them to rise from the ashes of their time in Bridgeview and a lost decade, they have to get off on the right foot on the pitch. They did get off on the right foot both at the MLS-is-Back Tournament and initially during the resumption of the regular season before shooting themselves in the foot towards the end. They need to cut out those mistakes and take more chances at goal to make the playoffs this season. Otherwise, it shouldn’t be just the logo that undergoes massive change for next season.
