Chi-Lights: Time to Reset

It’s a return to action for the Fire, a recess for the Stars, and a reflection for the Hounds as they once again fell short in the Eastern Conference Final. But first, how close were the Fire to landing Kevin De Bruyne?

DE BRUYNE:  As you know, De Bruyne ended up signing with Serie A side Napoli. According to a story by Sam Lee and Paul Tenorio in The Athletic, The Fire offered $20 million over two seasons, similar to Napoli. There would have been also an additional five million through commercial deals in the first year and roughly half that in year two.

Obviously, it would have been a huge coup for the Fire to land the former Manchester City man and Belgian international, giving the Fire a lot of attention this side of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. De Bruyne would have been attracted to all the sports in Chicago being a huge sports fan and was said to be ‘impressed by the sporting project’ that was going on with Gregg Berhalter as the Director of Soccer as well as being offered support with accommodation and education.

What swung the pendulum in Napoli’s favor was that they would be playing Champions League soccer by virtue of winning the Serie A title and that Antonio Conte was staying at the club despite reports that Conte was considering leaving. De Bruyne’s experience with a heavy fixture load at Manchester City would be helpful with Napoli who did not play in Champions League this past season. Once the decision was conveyed to Chicago, De Bruyne personally called Berhalter.

FIRE:  As for on the pitch, winning at home needs to happen and a 1-2-4 home record at present is not going to cut it. They can go a long way in moving up the table if they start to do the business at home as they have been on the road already winning their most away games since 2012. A win against a surprising Philadelphia Union would be a statement win and keep the fans coming as they are currently fifth in average attendance at over 26,000. Yes, that’s in part due to Messi, but better than previous years nonetheless.

STARS:  The Stars enter the NWSL break second bottom (because Utah is worse) and a paltry 1-9-3 (0-5-1 at home). No team has scored fewer goals and only Utah have allowed more goals. The attendance at SeatGeek Stadium has been pitiful. Take away the 26,432 that attended the doubleheader at Soldier Field with the Fire on June 14th, and the average is 2,948 for five matches in Bridgeview which would have been dead last by a mile.

Of course, Mallory Swanson’s pregnancy threw a spanner into whatever works this season had. The team has been playing better under interim boss Masaki Hemmi, but the roster is due for several upgrades. Some are coming with the coming arrivals of Kathrin Heindrich and Samantha Cary Angel–as well as extending Taylor Malham–but as it stands right now, the Stars lack a goalscorer to compliment Ludmilla given the absence of Swanson. It’s going to be another long year for the Stars and maybe longer to determine where the Stars play in 2026 with the lease at SeatGeek expiring after this season.

HOUNDS:  This was a heartbreaker. The Hounds were up 17-0 over two-time defending champion New England Free Jacks on tries by Chris Swiel and Noah Brown along with seven points from the foot of Chris Hilsenbeck. However, New England got back into the game outscoring the Hounds, 21-3 in the next 35 minutes. The go-ahead score was a try by Kyle Ciquera under the sticks which counts as seven points.

The Hounds had a chance to win with a penalty. However, Hilsenbeck’s kick would go off the upright and out and the Free Jacks escape to Rhode Island for the Final against the Houston Sabercats next Saturday at Centerville Bank Stadium (1pm CT, ESPN2/ESPN3).

After an 11-5-0 season and finishing just two points out of hosting the Eastern Conference Final at home, it will be viewed as opportunity lost as the season once again ends where the last season ended–at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, MA.

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