Today I’m going to start with an important question. Are the Fire cool? Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading Chicago Fire twitter too much lately, but it seems like there is some buzz surrounding the team this season. They are expecting one of the club’s largest crowds for a home opener in team history on Saturday, 23,000+ at the time of writing, and it feels like a good performance could go a long way towards creating some momentum and interest that hasn’t been there in a very long time.
So let’s take a look at what makes the Fire potentially cool and evaluate how likely that aspect of the team will stay “cool.”
Ranking System (created by middle school students because who knows how to rank and judge coolness better, or more harshly, than middle schoolers)
Lit (best thing ever)
Fresh (classic and clean)
Hipster (cool to those in the know)
Awesome (Wow factor)
Fad (cool for now, but might not age well)
Playing Style
If you think about iconic teams in any sport most of them have a specific playing style that creates an identity and gives them some sort of appeal. Attacking teams are more likely to earn plaudits for their playing style but a stingy defense can also create a cool factor in some circumstances. (85 Bears anyone?)
One game is too early to make any definitive statements about playing style but the first half in particular had some promising signs.
Starting with the first minute of the game Fabian Herbers forced a turnover in the attacking third and the one pass later Kacper Przybylko received the ball in a good position to shoot, but unfortunately sent it high and wide. The Fire again created a really good chance in the 30th minute after forcing Miami into a turnover at midfield and a couple passes later Stanislav Ivanov had his shot ricochet back off the post before being cleared by Miami.
It’s too early to say for sure, but it seemed intentional that the Fire were looking to get the ball forward quickly after any turnover of possession in the middle or attacking third. Whereas, last season they were more likely to attempt to keep the ball and circulate it through the back line.
Again, it’s early and the Fire didn’t exactly pressure Miami to the extent that say a New York Red Bulls team would but if they can manage to create turnovers high up the pitch and feed Xherdan Shaqiri that will go a long way towards making a more potent attacking team.
Coolness Score: FRESH: This is still TBD but for now the attacking intent is there, lets see if they can do it for a whole game this week.
Star Players
The obvious answer here is Xherdan Shaqiri. He is one of the top five biggest names in MLS this season and the Fire will continue to grab headlines in Chicago as long as he plays well. The other big star name is Jairo Torres who will arrive in May, but if those two players can get more eyeballs on the games, then there are a few other players who have some star potential with Chicago Fans.
A name who isn’t a household name yet but will be soon, is 17 year-old Goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina. He had a solid game last week and has an extremely bright future. Right now he looks to be the next in line for the USMNT.
Rafael Czichos is the team captain and I thought he was the man of the match against Inter Miami last week. The 31 year-old center back is a solid presence in the back and will hopefully bring some consistency to that position.
Federico Navarro arrived for the second half of last season from Talleres in Argentina and was the one bright spot in an otherwise very depressing end to the season. I think that this season he has real breakout potential. He covers tons of ground in midfield and is always snapping into tackles. Hopefully his tenacity can help the Fire stay on the front foot and maintain pressure on their opponents.
Honorable Mention: Jhon Duran (hopefully I’ll be writing more about him in the near future as he earns some more minutes)
Coolness score: LIT for Shaqiri
HIPSTER for the rest
Vibe
The new, new crest looks great! The jerseys are still blue instead of red, but that’s changing someday… There’s a new coach, and some new big name players. The vibe around the team feels pretty good.
Soldier Field isn’t the ideal venue but Saturday feels like the first true test to see what kind of atmosphere a sizable crowd can produce. Ultimately, the hardcore fans wil always be there but in order to bring the rest of Chicago along the team needs to perform. If the team strings together a few wins and Soldier Field begins to feel like home then the coolness factor will really start to increase.
Coolness Score: AWESOME: A big crowd, star player and new look should make the vibe for opening day Awesome, but there is definitely some fad potential if the team doesn’t produce on the field.
So there you have it. The Fire are Awesome, Fresh, and Lit and so are you if you read this far!
