Fire Year-in-Review: Search for Tomorrow

Being a Chicago Fire FC fan over the past 15 years has been a painful experience. No playoff wins since 2009. No playoff appearance since 2017. The 2024 team was no where close to making the playoffs.

The Fire finished with the second-worst record in MLS and only San Jose had fewer wins. They have been progressively worse standings-wise every year under Georg Heitz as sporting director. The roster is in bad need of an overhaul as the Fire scored just 40 goals (tied for 4th-worst) and apart from goalkeeper (and maybe striker), need massive upgrades at every position. Things needed to change.

That’s where Gregg Berhalter comes in. He was announced as the new head coach and director of football on October 8th and this will be his first job since being coach. He held a dual role while at Columbus Crew and led them to MLS Cup in 2015. He will have more resources available here with the Fire courtesy of owner Joe Mansueto.

A new performance center is on the way in the New Year. There will be money at Berhalter’s disposal to make sign at least two designated players as well as overhaul the defense which allowed 62 goals last season (7th worst).

It goes without saying that the Fire need a central attacking midfielder to provide Hugo Cuypers with much-needed service. Cuypers can score goals, but could score more with a #10 which Xherdan Shaqiri was not and Brian Gutierrez is not. The defense will have a new look after Rafael Czichos is out the door and they will undoubtedly need to upgrade the back four both centrally and on the wings.

Gaston Gimenez is a target for a contract buyout and should open up more space for upgrades in defensive midfield to complement Kellyn Acosta. Back to forward, it would be nice if the Fire can add another striker that can score goals alongside Cuypers to avoid being team where if you shut down the main scoring option, you’ll shut down the team (and we’ll get to the Stars later).

In short, the Fire need winners. It’s what we said at the end of last season as Joe Mansueto needed to bring in people in the soccer operation that can return a winning culture in Chicago. Hiring Berhalter is a positive first step. Can he entice some current US National Team players to return Stateside and play for the Fire? Can they get a DP that, while not on the level of Lionel Messi, could be what Cuauhtemoc Blanco was while David Beckham was at LA Galaxy?

In the buildup to the Berhalter announcement, tomorrow began on October 8th for the club. Fans are desperate for a new day for Chicago Fire FC and away from the wilderness of North American Soccer and back to a point they were in the early days of MLS where they were regular contenders for trophies. It’s not only a search for winners, it’s a search for tomorrow and there’s where the drama lies.