Chicago Fire: Roster overhaul must make up for rebrand disaster

It’s been a busy offseason for the Chicago Fire. After a disastrous rebrand to start their preparations, the ongoing roster overhaul must be successful.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Since they failed to make the playoffs, the 2019 season ended on October 6th for the Chicago Fire. It has already been close to two months since they have taken to the field. And a whole lot has happened during that time. The offseason truly is in full swing.

It is an especially important winter for the Chicago Fire as they will be back in downtown Chicago, playing at Soldier Field, in 2020. They will need to get fans excited ahead of the new year if they want attendance figures to go up, and that starts with building a roster that can compete with the best of Major League Soccer. So, what’s happened so far?

Well, it all starts with the rebrand. Everything that can be said about the terrible new logo has already been said, so I will just link an excellent article written by John Carroll here and move on with things: Chicago Fire: No crowns; no kings. Essentially, the Fire wanted to start again, which is no bad thing, but their execution was off, wildly.

One change that was positive, however, came at the head coaching position. The Chicago Fire finally decided to sack head coach Veljko Paunovic, which had been a long time coming. The timing was odd as it had already been a few weeks since the season was over, but such was the desperation for Paunovic to be removed, fans weren’t too bothered by that.

Paunovic had proven that he was not good enough to be a coach at this level. He had continuously wasted players on a yearly basis and was not able to get the most out of a talented roster. He was the primary reason why the club missed the playoffs in the last two years and his failures were becoming too much to deal with. He had to go, and even though it took a while, the Fire finally made the right decision.

Now, however, they have to find a replacement. There haven’t been many names linked with the job so far, so nobody quite knows what Chicago is looking for in their new coach. Nevertheless, change at the position provides hope for the future, no matter who arrives as Paunovic’s replacement.

What will define the offseason for the Chicago Fire, however, will be their roster management.  There was an expectation that the roster would be overhauled this winter, but many didn’t think we would see this much of a clear out. World footballing legend Bastian Schweinsteiger retired days after the final game of the season, calling time on a truly iconic career. Many were upset to see him used at center-back for the Fire, but he was still the club’s best defender. His presence on and off the field will be missed immensely.

Designated Player Nemanja Nikolic was the next to go as he and the club decided to mutually part ways. There were talks of a contract extension being signed at points last year, but ultimately, the two sides could not agree on a deal. Nikolic was fantastic during his time in Chicago, winning the MLS Golden Boot in 2017, but many felt it was time to move on from the Hungarian.

Then came two trades with the two expansion sides. First, captain Dax McCarty was shipped off to Nashville SC, with the Fire receiving $50,000 in General Allocation Money, $50,000 in Target Allocation Money, and a second-round pick in the 2021 SuperDraft. Then Grant Lillard made way soon after. He joined Inter Miami CF for $75,000 in GAM. Those trades also came with a gentlemen’s agreement as neither expansion side took Chicago players in the expansion draft.

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The club lost a bulk of the roster a few weeks later when they declined the contract options for Diego Campos, Stefan Cleveland, Elliott Collier, Nicolás Gaitán, Aleksandar Katai, Cristian Martínez, Amando Moreno, David Ousted, and Richard Sánchez. For those who are too lazy to count, that’s nine players who left in one day.

The biggest names were clearly Katai and Gaitan, who were the main playmakers for the Fire last season. There’s still a chance they can both return, as the club can renegotiate a new contract with either player, but the odds are neither will be back in 2020. With all those talents now gone, the pressure is on the club to replace them, and there have been plenty of rumors.

The Chicago Fire signed Spanish midfielder Alvaro Medran at the start of the offseason, but since then, it’s all been rumor and innuendo. As per tradition, the club have been linked with a countless number of players across the planet without ever actually signing any of them.

Juan Fernando Quintero has once again been linked with a move to Chicago. Reports came out that at least one MLS club put in an ‘irresistible offer’ for the Colombian. Many assumed the club in question was the Fire, but it seems both Inter Miami and Atlanta United are also interested in the attacking midfielder. All that considered, Quintero is still a dream signing that will likely never come to fruition.

Speaking of dream signings, there are also reports that Chicago is still interested in signing Real Betis midfielder Andres Guardado. He’s a more realistic target than Quintero, however, with certain rumors stating that he would be joining Chicago any day now. As the days pass, the Guardado dream becomes increasingly unlikely to pass, but the Mexican would be quite a coup for any MLS team.

Perhaps the most exciting name that the rumor mill has spat out is Jose Juan Macias. Only 20 years old, he has already scored four goals for the Mexican national team in his first five appearances. Macias impressed many while on loan with Liga MX side Club Leon from Chivas Guadalajara. There have been links with a European move, which would likely see the Fire miss out, but as other young South American players have illustrated in recent years, an MLS move can help catapult your career. Perhaps Macias follows in their footsteps.

Mexican striker Alan Pulido has officially left Chivas Guadalajara with a move to the states seemingly imminent. The San Jose Earthquakes are the likely destination at the moment, but the Chicago Fire are in pursuit. Pulido has European experience, formerly playing for Greek giants Olympiakos, and could be prolific in MLS. However, he has had temper issues in the past and his character has been put under question as well, so some fans want to avoid bringing in Pulido.

What this all leads to is much talk and little action. And for a Chicago Fire that suffered poor PR from a much-criticised rebrand and is looking to move into Soldier Field, ideally with the intentions of the stadium not looking painfully sparse as they do so, they need to make a splash. An unsuccessful product on the pitch will not be tolerated, and at present, that is what the Fire are set to put out.

There is still a long way to go in this offseason. The Chicago Fire have time to make the necessary decisions. But whether they make the right ones, is a very different question indeed, and on that, the jury is still very much out.