A new season, a new thread. The Fire and NYCFC kick off preseason matches this coming Saturday in what promises to be 90 minutes of soccer.
A quick look around the league shows some interesting developments. The number of DPs signed this winter is way down (only 4), not surprising given tight budgets and most clubs holding out for the post-pandemic window when sale price should be higher. But the lack of incoming DPs and a keen eye on the bottom line seems to have opened space for a bumper crop of homegrowns. Real Salt Lake is still searching for new ownership, and the Canadian clubs are setting up shop stateside for the time being (Vancouver in Utah, Toronto and Montreal in Florida). And the defending champions, the Columbus Crew, look a strong bet to repeat. They reinforced their squad well while some of the other top sides have lost key contributors to transfer or injury: LAFC, Seattle, & Philly. But every projection should come with a standard COVID caveat. Who knows how the next 9 months will play out.
And since I'm here, the 2021 Chicago Fire are looking to take a step forward. After the disappointment of just missing the playoffs last season, qualifying this season is the minimum expectation. The current roster makes that look likely. Top-scorer Robert Beric is back for his second season, as is the squad's lynchpin, Gaston Gimenez. Stojanovic and Kappelhof return from injury-shortened seasons, with the latter hopefully relegating Francisco Calvo to the bench. There are also 2 true wingbacks on the roster - Navarro and Espinoza - which should facilitate a switch to Wicky's favored 3-4-3 formation. Early experiments with 3-in-the-back were a disaster last year, so the bulk of the post-tournament season was spent in a conservative, counter-attack-based 4-2-3-1. Too often, this left Beric isolated up top and progression getting stalled out on the wings. Having in-cutting wingers and overlapping wingbacks appear to be Wicky's preferred solution, but the team will have to be much more tidy in possession to make it all work.
There's also depth at every position now, which wasn't the case going into last season. So much so that the Fire have a raft of homegrowns signed a year ago that will struggle to see the pitch unless there's a rash of injuries. Some of these kids will end up at Forward Madison (a good excuse to buy one of their always awesome jerseys), whose manager is part of the Fire's camp to scout and help develop the young'uns. Finally, a pipeline is starting to emerge.
Last season's breakout rookie, Mo Pineda, spent the winter in USMNT camps (and still is now), which is very exciting. Pineda's current weaknesses are physical strength and reading the game from the CB position. This is understandable since Pineda played CB, CDM, and CM in college, meaning his technical and passing skills are very well developed for a defender, but he's not as practiced at the position as many of his peers. (I also have sympathy for Pineda for having to play next to Calvo. Anyone who has ever shared a backline with an unreliable knucklehead knows that it shapes every decision you make - should I step up here or do I need to hang back in case numb nuts screws it up?) But being in USMNT camps, competing against great players, and receiving high-quality coaching in a tactical setup similar to the Fire's should really pay off for Pineda.
There's early buzz about new transfer Stanisolv Ivanov, a winger from Bulgaria, who looks to be the kind of incisive dribbler and direct threat that Djordje Mihailovic never became. If Ignacio Aliseda can build on his competent first season on the other wing, then the attack won't be so Beric-dependent again. We're talking about 20 and 21 year olds, so we'll see. But at least it feels like there are possibilities this season where there were few last year.
My starting XI
------------------Shuttleworth-----------------
-------Kappelhof--Pineda--Sekulic------
Navarro-----------------------------Espinoza
---------Gimenez------Stojanovic----------
Aliseda----------Beric------------Ivanov---
A quick look around the league shows some interesting developments. The number of DPs signed this winter is way down (only 4), not surprising given tight budgets and most clubs holding out for the post-pandemic window when sale price should be higher. But the lack of incoming DPs and a keen eye on the bottom line seems to have opened space for a bumper crop of homegrowns. Real Salt Lake is still searching for new ownership, and the Canadian clubs are setting up shop stateside for the time being (Vancouver in Utah, Toronto and Montreal in Florida). And the defending champions, the Columbus Crew, look a strong bet to repeat. They reinforced their squad well while some of the other top sides have lost key contributors to transfer or injury: LAFC, Seattle, & Philly. But every projection should come with a standard COVID caveat. Who knows how the next 9 months will play out.
And since I'm here, the 2021 Chicago Fire are looking to take a step forward. After the disappointment of just missing the playoffs last season, qualifying this season is the minimum expectation. The current roster makes that look likely. Top-scorer Robert Beric is back for his second season, as is the squad's lynchpin, Gaston Gimenez. Stojanovic and Kappelhof return from injury-shortened seasons, with the latter hopefully relegating Francisco Calvo to the bench. There are also 2 true wingbacks on the roster - Navarro and Espinoza - which should facilitate a switch to Wicky's favored 3-4-3 formation. Early experiments with 3-in-the-back were a disaster last year, so the bulk of the post-tournament season was spent in a conservative, counter-attack-based 4-2-3-1. Too often, this left Beric isolated up top and progression getting stalled out on the wings. Having in-cutting wingers and overlapping wingbacks appear to be Wicky's preferred solution, but the team will have to be much more tidy in possession to make it all work.
There's also depth at every position now, which wasn't the case going into last season. So much so that the Fire have a raft of homegrowns signed a year ago that will struggle to see the pitch unless there's a rash of injuries. Some of these kids will end up at Forward Madison (a good excuse to buy one of their always awesome jerseys), whose manager is part of the Fire's camp to scout and help develop the young'uns. Finally, a pipeline is starting to emerge.
Last season's breakout rookie, Mo Pineda, spent the winter in USMNT camps (and still is now), which is very exciting. Pineda's current weaknesses are physical strength and reading the game from the CB position. This is understandable since Pineda played CB, CDM, and CM in college, meaning his technical and passing skills are very well developed for a defender, but he's not as practiced at the position as many of his peers. (I also have sympathy for Pineda for having to play next to Calvo. Anyone who has ever shared a backline with an unreliable knucklehead knows that it shapes every decision you make - should I step up here or do I need to hang back in case numb nuts screws it up?) But being in USMNT camps, competing against great players, and receiving high-quality coaching in a tactical setup similar to the Fire's should really pay off for Pineda.
There's early buzz about new transfer Stanisolv Ivanov, a winger from Bulgaria, who looks to be the kind of incisive dribbler and direct threat that Djordje Mihailovic never became. If Ignacio Aliseda can build on his competent first season on the other wing, then the attack won't be so Beric-dependent again. We're talking about 20 and 21 year olds, so we'll see. But at least it feels like there are possibilities this season where there were few last year.
My starting XI
------------------Shuttleworth-----------------
-------Kappelhof--Pineda--Sekulic------
Navarro-----------------------------Espinoza
---------Gimenez------Stojanovic----------
Aliseda----------Beric------------Ivanov---
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