Chicago Fire: 5 Reasons Wednesday is a Must Win
The 2016 campaign has been a struggle for the last-place Chicago Fire, but Wednesday’s Open Cup match against Fort Lauderdale marks their most important match of the season.
The Chicago Fire remain a bottom feeder in MLS with just 17 points, sitting in last place in the East again after this weekend’s 3-1 loss to FC Dallas. The Fire will take on the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers in a US Open Cup quarterfinal Wednesday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.
With the way this season has gone for the Fire, this match provides an opportunity for redemption. But it also provides an opportunity for disaster. Here’s why the Fire absolutely need to beat Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday.
1. It’s the only opportunity for a trophy and a Champions League place
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The Fire have shown some improvement lately in their play, and they’re only six points out of a playoff spot, but let’s be realistic here. Chicago just doesn’t look like a good enough team to make a consistent run at a playoff spot, let alone a trophy or Champions League spot through MLS play. With the win-or-go-home format and constant drama of the Open Cup, anything can happen, and all eight teams could have a shot to lift the trophy. Plus, it’s really all the Fire have to play for at this point. The Fire have also made the semifinals of this competition each of the last three seasons, so if they’re going to be successful somewhere, this would seem to be the place.
2. They’re one of the only MLS teams that actually seems to care about it.
Count on a few MLS teams who are competitive in the league, such as Philadelphia, Dallas, and LA, to field a lineup that isn’t quite what they’re capable of putting on the pitch. Though the Open Cup does grant a team a place in the Champions League, the MLS Cup is still the main trophy that everyone is gunning for. These Open Cup matches are in the middle of the week in between two MLS matches for these teams, who will be looking for maximum points in each of those. These squads will want to rest their best players for those matches. Meanwhile, teams like Chicago will be putting their best foot forward to try to win this competition. Losing at this point in the competition, where they are trying and other teams are not, would be a big blow to the organization, and would be pretty much the end of the season for the Fire.
3. Coach Paunovic needs to build trust in the fanbase
Coach Veljko Paunovic is in his first year as coach, and obviously, things haven’t gone so smoothly. While it is a rebuilding job, most Fire fans would have expected to be somewhere other than last place at this point. Paunovic has accepted that this competition is a huge deal for this franchise right now, and left normal starters Sean Johnson, David Accam, and Jonathan Campbell at home for Saturday’s 3-1 loss to FC Dallas. This means Paunovic is expected to field his best possible XI Wednesday, which makes it imperative that he finds a way to get a win and get the Fire to the semifinals. If he fails to do that, he could very well start hearing it from the Fire fans.
4. It is against lower-level competition
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers are an NASL club, the only one left in the tournament. As an MLS club, the Chicago Fire need to show their superiority. As mentioned earlier, the Fire will likely be putting out their best XI for this match, so a defeat to a club like Fort Lauderdale would make the entire season a disaster, and demoralize the club and its fans. A win, however, could give the Fire even more confidence, as they have been building it up with some solid MLS play.
5. The U.S. Open Cup is what the Chicago Fire hang their hat on.
The Fire have won four U.S. Open Cups, tied with Seattle for the most among MLS clubs. They have reached the semifinals in each of the past three seasons, even while being a not-so-great team in MLS play. The U.S. Open Cup is something that the organization prides itself on doing well in. They need to show that they can still be a force in this competition with a convincing win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers to instill some pride back into an organization that has been a laughingstock throughout this campaign.