Chicago Fire fans were ready to dream under new owner Joe Mansueto but those hopes will be dashed if he keeps head coach Veljko Paunovic.
For the first time in more than a decade, fans of the Chicago Fire had hope.
About a month ago, the Men In Red formally announced that owner Andrew Hauptman had finally sold the rest of his stake in the club to Joe Mansueto, making him the new majority owner in the process. Fans could not have been happier with this news.
Hauptmann had been slowly killing the club ever since he took over back in 2007. But now, with new ownership and an upcoming move to Soldier Field set to be finalized, it seemed like a new dawn was on the horizon for Chicago.
However, this new-fangled hope is all at risk as recent reports have indicated that Mansueto will be keeping Fire head coach Velkjo Paunovic in Chicago for at least another year. If true, that would simply be an unacceptable decision.
The main reason why the Chicago Fire missed the playoffs this past season was Paunovic. He was given a roster stacked with talent, one of the brightest attacking units in the league, and was largely expected to improve the team from 2018’s disappointing campaign. That would not be the case. Instead, Paunovic’s inability to coach was exposed time and time again.
The Fire slipped up on a number of occasions, dropping too many points in the process. They hit rock bottom during a four-day span in July, losing to last-place FC Cincinnati before failing to beat the Columbus Crew, both disappointments coming at home.
Paunovic’s woeful record on the road also continued. The Chicago Fire only won two games away from SeatGeek Stadium. Things weren’t any better in the U.S. Open Cup as the Fire were eliminated in the fourth round by USL side St Louis FC.
Chicago finished the year in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, three points off the final playoff spot even though they had a goal differential of +8. They just couldn’t get the job done when it mattered most, with a 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution proving to be the final nail in the coffin. The season ended in disappointment and Paunovic is the man responsible.
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His biggest issues relate to his curious and abrasive man-management. Paunovic has gotten into disputes with so many players over the course of his tenure that fans have become well aware of his ‘doghouse’. As soon as someone does anything that he doesn’t agree with, the player is stuck on the bench for weeks or even months at a time.
Things were no different this time around. It started with David Ousted, who was quickly dropped from the team after making a few errors early on. Even though his replacement Kenneth Kronholm somehow managed to be worse, Paunovic refused to give Ousted another chance in goal, with the Dane likely leaving this upcoming offseason.
Then there was Aleksandar Katai, who went from being a key player in Chicago to just another bench warmer in only a few months. Admittedly frustrating at times, that doesn’t take away his game-changing ability. Katai can completely alter the complexity of a match in the blink of an eye, but Paunovic did not like him for one reason or another, so he was forced to make his impact as a substitute for most games down the stretch.
However, the player who suffered the most under Paunovic was Djodje Mihailovic. Starting the year off with the USMNT, the homegrown signing scored on his international debut. Chicago Fire fans were eager to see what he would be in MLS. However, politics off the field ruined things. Reports began linking Mihailovic to a move abroad. It is no coincidence that the player was dropped from the line-up after this news broke. It quickly developed into a lose-lose situation as Mihailovic had a year of his development wasted, while the Fire were left a man short in midfield.
No matter how many quality players the Fire give Paunovic, his track record suggests that he will eventually ruin most of them. The Fire really had the chance to start fresh this offseason. They had already secured a new owner and a new stadium, with new players also on the way. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Nemanja Nikolic were set to leave and a new era could begin. All the club had left to do was get a new head coach. But it now seems that Chicago has stumbled and fallen flat on their faces at the final hurdle.
If keeping Paunovic goes as badly as many expect it will, Chicago Fire fans will have all the right in the world to turn on Mansueto only a few months into his tenure.