Editor’s Note: MLS Footnotes takes you inside the key speaking factors across the league and throughout American soccer.
Pop quiz: What’s the one crew within the historical past of the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB or MLS to win a championship in its enlargement season?
It’s the Chicago Fire, which really took house each the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup titles to cap its file setting maiden marketing campaign manner again in 1998.
The Fire — which meets Atlanta United on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1 and FOX Deportes) — gained three extra Open Cups and made two further appearances within the league finale over the subsequent eight seasons. But the once-proud membership has turn out to be an afterthought within the Windy City through the years since, qualifying for the playoffs simply twice within the final 13 seasons and getting bounced within the first spherical each occasions.
Chicago final reached the postseason in 2017. The Fire completed twenty fourth total standings final 12 months regardless of investing in gamers like Swiss World Cup star Xherdan Shaqiri and hiring Ezra Hendrickson, some of the extremely regarded assistant coaches in MLS.
Hendrickson was at all times going to wish time to show issues round in Chicago. Lately, issues have been trying up. After taking simply two factors from their first three video games in 2023, the Fire has posted a 2W-0L-2T file of their 4 most up-to-date outings.
Last week’s 2-2 tie in opposition to the defending Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Union nonetheless felt extra like a loss; the hosts have been main 2-0 within the second half earlier than Philly got here again to steal a share of the factors. It marked the second time this season that Chicago squandered a two-goal lead at house, having additionally completed it in a 3-3 stalemate with Cincinnati final month.
“We’re at a point where we feel like we’re playing well, but we can do better,” Hendrickson informed FOX Sports earlier this week. “We definitely feel like a couple of those ties should’ve been wins for us.”
“We don’t want to dwell on it,” added veteran ahead Kei Kamara. “We want to build and learn from those mistakes.”
Getting key gamers again within the lineup ought to assist. Shaqiri has began simply two of the Fire’s seven video games to date due to harm. The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich ahead got here off the bench for the ultimate 25 minutes final weekend.
“Shaq is eligible for selection,” Hendrickson stated. “He’s in training full, so there’s a possibility he will be on the pitch on Sunday.”
Fellow designated participant Gastón Giménez can also be anticipated to be accessible for the journey to Atlanta, as are midfielder Federico Navarro and defender Carlos Terán. Forward Jairo Torres stays sidelined. “The guys are on their way back,” Hendrickson stated.
Still, Atlanta presents a formidable problem. The Five Stripes gained MLS Cup only a 12 months faraway from their 2017 enlargement debut, they usually’re again close to the highest of the East once more after two playoffs misses within the final three seasons.
Atlanta, which ought to have World Cup winner and early MVP candidate Thiago Almada again after Almada missed final Saturday’s 2-2 tie in Toronto, has secured the utmost 9 factors from its three house video games to date, outscoring foes 8-2 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It will not be straightforward. Buy a win, if Chicago can get one, might doubtlessly vault the Fire from eighth place to fifth within the convention — proper in the midst of the playoff locations. It would additionally do wonders for the squad’s psyche the remainder of the best way.
“This is a very important game for us,” Hendrickson stated. “It’s one of those games that could really propel our season forward.”
MLS FOOTNOTES
1. Kamara nearing milestone
With each Fire tallies in a 2-1 win over Minnesota United April 8, Kamara, 38, pulled inside 4 objectives of second place on the all-time MLS listing. He now has 142 profession common season objectives to Landon Donovan’s 145. Kamara has averaged higher than a purpose each three video games by way of his virtually 400-match MLS profession and will transfer previous Donovan earlier than the summer season if he stays wholesome. The former Sierra Leone worldwide was cleared to play this weekend after being launched from concussion protocol and coaching along with his teammates on Friday.
Chicago is the tenth MLS cease for Kamara, affectionately nicknamed “grandpa” by a few of his a lot youthful Fire teammates. He spent the 2022 season in Montreal however has lengthy had his eye on the Fire. “I did have my agent reach out to Chicago last year and ask if there was any interest,” Kamara stated. “Obviously there wasn’t [then], so I’m happy to be here now.”
Kamara has helped the Fire behind the scenes, too. “He is a leader in the locker room,” Hendrickson stated. “We have a lot of young players that he’s always talking to, that he’s always encouraging.
“Off the sphere, he is an extension to the teaching workers”
2. Almada switch watch in full swing
Atlanta’s hot start would look downright searing had Gonzalo Pineda’s side not conceded a stoppage time equalizer to Toronto FC’s Brandon Servania north of the border last weekend. But the Five Stripes’ MLS Cup hopes are more likely to hinge on what happens this summer.
Italian Serie A champion-in-waiting Napoli reportedly wants to pry Almada away from MLS when Europe’s transfer window opens in July, almost certainly for a transfer fee higher than the record $27 million Newcastle paid Atlanta for Miguel Almirón in 2019. And as some have noted, there’s no guarantee that Napoli would let Almada stay stateside until the MLS season ends. Losing perhaps the league’s best player midyear would deal a fatal blow to Atlanta’s chances of winning a second title this fall.
3. St. Louis leads the sphere
Expansion facet St. Louis City’s record six-game win streak out the gate ended with consecutive defeats, but the newbies’ magical first season got back on course with last week’s emphatic 5-1 victory over FC Cincinnati.
St. Louis now sits atop the Supporters Shield standings. LAFC, which has played one fewer match, is second with 17 points to City’s 18. St. Louis plays at Colorado Saturday, while LAFC visits Nashville.
4. A new Revolution
New England deserves love in this space after a 5W-1L02T start that has the Revolution leading the East on goal difference over Cincinnati. Maybe the Revs consistency so far shouldn’t be a surprise.
Although Bruce Arena’s team missed the playoffs last fall, the Revs are less than two years removed from shattering the league’s single season points record with mostly the same roster. New England ought to collect another three points Saturday as winless Sporting Kansas City – which has managed just two goals all season — travels to Foxborough.
5. Deadline Day approaching
The league’s solely different remaining winless squad is the LA Galaxy. As such, the five-time champs figure to be among the clubs looking to bolster their ranks before MLS’s primary transfer window slams shut on Monday — especially with a ban on foreign arrivals, punishment for breaking roster rules, looming later this summer. That won’t help Chicharito & Co. this weekend, when Austin FC comes to Carson, though the fact that Austin has just one goal in four games should.
Most teams will wait until July to add bodies. The secondary MLS transfer window is aligned with the first half of Europe’s, meaning many more potential recruits will be available then. Count Chicago among the patient.
“We do not actually need to rush,” said Hendrickson. “We’ve tried to make some strikes. A pair issues fell by way of. So, at this late hour, until one thing modifications drastically, it will in all probability be the summer season window earlier than we get some reinforcements.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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