Chicago soccer has seen problem after problem this past week and now, to end the week, the Chicago Fire will go up against the Philadelphia Union to continue their long home stand. After losing 1-0 to FC Cincinnati, the Fire are effectively on pace to win the Wooden Spoon. Not only that, but with 4 points in only 9 games, they might be on pace to match the MLS record for least points in a season (held by the 2013 DC United team who played 34 games for 16 points). And with an opponent like the defending Supporters’ Shield winners Philadelphia Union in front of them, it’s unlikely they snap out of that losing speed.
The Chicago Fire have no new injuries, but they will probably still be tired coming in from a mid-week game. Gaston Gimenez is still away for Copa America, but he did finally get some minutes. And while Przemyslaw Frankowski and Poland may have been eliminated from the Euros earlier this week, it is unlikely he’ll be back and ready in time for this game. For the Philadelphia Union, Daniel Gazdag remains out and both Anthony Fontana and Sergio Santos are still coming off of concussion protocol and may not quite be ready for the pitch yet.
Here’s what to expect from the game on Saturday:
Failed Experiments
One thing that the Chicago Fire can improve right away is that they need to stop trying to experiment for no reason. Last week, it was Carlos Teran suddenly getting his first start alongside Chinonso Offor finally getting his first chance as the target striker. On Wednesday, it was Jhon Espinoza being placed on the right wing instead of his natural fullback position and the continued usage of centerback Johan Kappelhof as a holding midfielder.
I can understand that when you’re losing, you need to experiment a bit to find what can work. But there’s experimentation to see what works and experimentation with little-to-no foresight. Of course the completely green Teran is going to get demolished by any level of skill when he hasn’t gotten enough prior game experience. Of course Espinoza isn’t going to be helpful in the attack if he is naturally a fullback. Of course Kappelhof will continue to struggle in a role that he probably hasn’t played in prior to this season. And when you make that mistake once, you don’t need to do it again. But the amount of times that coach Raphael Wicky has done this again and again is just unnecessary.
A House on Fire, A Rising Sea
This is a preview focusing on the team on the pitch, but what cannot be ignored is things happening off the pitch. The fan-base is in chaos with Twitter exploding after nearly every home match with some new controversy. None of this is helped by the play on the pitch, which is so poor that it seems to provide the opposite of escapism for fans.
In each of these previews I have spoken at length about how the business side of the club has put in such a massive amount of work to try to make this club look so much better than it is. And none of it means anything if the play on the pitch says this way. All the investment made by owner Joe Mansueto, all the improvements around the club mean nothing if no one wants to go to a game and watch the home team get destroyed while the supporters get into fights with eachother in the South End. Win games and fans will be less likely to fight eachother and more likely to actually show up to the game and get the attendance over 5,000.
Who Can Save Us?
With a lot of talk and discussion about firing Raphael Wicky, there’s a question that’s always left to the side: Who’s going to take over? And it’s not just a question of “Who would be the next coach,” there’s also a bit of discourse over who would even be the interim coach. Frank Klopas would be the expected interim, but he’s had his chance already coaching the Chicago Fire and failed to make waves. There are rumors that Patrick Nyarko, who’s been brought in for the Academy, might actually be the next interim.
But the main question is around who the next full head coach would be. And that is a very loaded question as there are countless possibilities in the the soccer world right now. Despite having countless former players becoming great coaches after retiring, the Fire have struggled to bring any back to Chicago. And in general, it seems like Chicago is almost treated as radioactive by the rest of MLS. This is unfortunate and concerning since there’s a growing contingent that, after seeing how Heitz and Wicky have done, believe that the best way to rebuild the club is to stick with those who have MLS experience.
Raphael Wicky is still the head coach of the Chicago Fire for now. But after this game and after every single game until it happens, many fans will be holding their breath for an announcement. And when that happens, this question will need to be answered.
Projected XI
Chicago Fire (4-2-1-2-1): Bobby Shuttleworth; Jonathan Bornstein, Francisco Calvo, Wyatt Omsberg, Boris Sekulic; Mauricio Pineda, Alvaro Medran; Luka Stojanovic; Ignacio Aliseda, Fabian Herbers; Robert Beric
Philadelphia Union (4-3-1-2): Andre Blake; Kai Wagner, Jake Elliot, Jakob Glesnes, Olivier Mbaizo; Jack McGlynn, Leon Flach, Alejandro Bedoya; Jamiro Monteiro; Kacper Przybylko, Corey Burke
How To Watch
Saturday, June 26th, 7:00PM CDT; At Soldier Field in Chicago, IL, on WGN and online on the Chicago Fire website