5 Things We Learned: Chicago Fire vs San Diego FC
Chris Brady was back in net and Kellyn Acosta and Rominigue Kouamé were both in the lineup, but the Chicago Fire still fell short, falling 2-1 to Western Conference-topping San Diego FC at Soldier Field. Even if a narrow loss at home has become all too familiar to Fire fans in 2025, here’s five things we learned.
1. How loud Fire supporters actually are
An oft-repeated complaint about the atmosphere during Fire matches is that it's subpar compared with other venues around the league. Most specifically, it’s that supporters aren’t as loud – and therefore don’t impact the game – in the way they do at places like Providence Park in Portland or BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. While Soldier Field’s design isn’t doing them any favors (the sheer size of the venue, plus the fact that sound travels up and out, often making supporters sound louder from the press box than they do from the lower bowl), the team’s lack of sporting success has also done little to boost the ranks of people chanting and playing instruments.
Still: When Fire supporters staged a protest by remaining silent for the opening 15 minutes, facing away from the pitch, and leaving in the 80th minute, it was notable just how eerily quiet Soldier Field became. It wasn’t quite COVID-level – periodic cheers erupted from the rest of the fans in attendance – but it was an entirely different (and not better) vibe without the participation of the supporters.
2. The narrative is getting chiseled in stone
The game against San Diego was the Fire’s 10th league match at home, leaving just seven games left at home in the regular season. The Fire have won just two of those. That’s become a well-worn story for the team, but more than that, consider what Alex Calabrese wrote in this column after last away week’s loss in Cincinnati:
- Defensive lapses haven’t gone anywhere
- Gutiérrez’s inconsistency hasn’t changed
- Gutman can excel as an inverted wingback
- Unlocking a compact defense remains a challenge
- Berhalter isn’t afraid to go all-in
Against San Diego, in order, that’s “check, check, ehhhhh, check, check.” Against San Diego’s 4-3-3, we didn’t really see Gutman playing centrally in this one, but the rest of the list?
All of those were on my list of things to discuss from this match. First, Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said that the team conceded “two unnecessary goals,” caused by a miscommunication and lack of focus.
Skipping over Gutiérrez for a minute, and going straight to number four (against San Diego's 4-3-3, Gutman didn't tuck inside the way he did last week): Although the Fire had good pressure, by the time they actually got in a position to be truly goal-dangerous, San Diego were compact enough to get in the way of the final pass, or had enough bodies so that shots pinged off a shin before making it to Pablo Sisniega’s goal.
And as for Berhalter going all in: In the 86th minute, with the team down by two goals, he took off center-back Sam Rogers for forward Tom Barlow. That’s going for it.
Now as for Guti…
3. Brian Gutiérrez’s next step up might not be in red
Look, in the fourth minute, we saw Gutiérrez do this:
https://twitter.com/ufcolin/status/1944240082568749491
The save was spectacular but the important thing is that Gutiérrez got that shot away, from distance after taking just one touch to settle the ball down.
Less than four minutes later, however, we saw this:
https://twitter.com/acampbellsports/status/1944200626511978499
In this match, Gutiérrez mixed beautiful passes with periods of anonymity. Against San Diego, he had the most passes into the final third of all Fire players, the most passes into the penalty area, and yet no key passes – passes that lead directly to a shot on goal.
He was simultaneously one of the Fire’s best players, and yet also failed to be a real difference maker that evening. That’s the way it’s been for Gutiérrez in much of 2025: Performing well, but not impactful.
I asked Berhalter about his performance after the game, and he had this to say about the midfielder:
“He has quality, and he shows his quality. And what I really liked about Guti today is that he hung in there, and he kept working hard. He didn't stop till the end. It wasn't perfect, but what we saw that’s different than normal is [that he was] extremely focused for 90 minutes and the effort didn't wane at all as the game went on. As a matter of fact, it intensified. So, part of a young player is going to be making some errors, and we understand that. But overall, I thought he was able to hang in there during the game.”
There’s compliments in there, but you don’t have to read too deeply into it to see the criticism: That being focused for 90 minutes is the exception, not the rule. Stating that the player, whom the Fire are paying $950,425 this year “hung in there.”
Contrast Guti to another midfielder from the Fire’s academy, who did this last night:
https://twitter.com/MLS/status/1944490513425371613
That’s three goal contributions en route to seeing his team get a 3-0 win off one of the better teams in the league. Djordje Mihailović is a different player than he was when he left Chicago after the 2020 season.
That’s a trajectory that might be necessary for Gutiérrez, who, like Mihailović, has a talent level that hasn’t always translated into performances on the pitch. Mihailović took steps forward on the pitch – and, significantly, off of it – once leaving, and now finally looks like the player that many who helped train him always hoped he could be.
I’m not saying that Gutiérrez’s departure is imminent (and this isn’t based on any inside information that’s not public), but it’s clear that even with a much better team around him, he isn’t becoming the kind of “make him your centerpiece” midfielder that say, Diego Luna has become with Real Salt Lake.
It wouldn’t be at all unlikely to see Mihailović in a Fire jersey again, and even if Gutiérrez leaves, there’s still a real chance he could return to the Men In Red, but if he’s going to come close to his potential in the near future, it seems like getting him in a new environment, without many of the comforts – and distractions – of home may be the best way to do it.
4. We haven’t seen the best from Sam Rogers yet
Sam Rogers has been at fault for some of the Fire’s more notable defensive lapses in 2025. At times, especially early in the season, he struggled with the pace of the league – his first real time in the top flight after coming up through the Seattle Sounders academy before heading to Europe.
Quietly, the center-back has been growing. In the 17th minute, he had a great challenge on Hirving “Chuky” Lozano. In the 40th minute, he ran down Tomas Ángel and made a confident – and utterly clean – slide tackle in his own box to see the ball to safety.
He isn’t perfect – he was caught out on the buildup to San Diego’s second goal and you’d have wanted to see him get a toe on the cross that led to their first – but it’s still impressive. That’s especially true when you consider that when he was initially signed by the Fire front office, he likely was penciled in at the third spot on the Fire’s depth chart. Instead, he’s played just shy of 1,200 minutes and has looked increasingly good in many of them.
5. Haile-Selassie knows how to give service to Cuypers
John Thornton has said this multiple times on The Bonfire, but while Hugo Cuypers can score, his prowess isn’t really aerial. While the Belgian forward will score off headers on occasion, he’s far better scoring from his feet.
In fact, of the 22 goals that Cuypers has scored in a Chicago Fire uniform, just three have been off of headers. If you want him to score, the best way to do it is to get the ball to him on – or at least near – the ground.
Yet when the Fire are trying to create something off of set pieces, one of the areas where the Fire’s bite hasn’t quite caught up with their bark in 2025.
Maren Haile-Selassie gets it: In the 87th minute, he set up the Fire’s only goal when his service from the corner was an inswinging ball that was sent low enough for Cuypers to finish it with his right foot.
It was a one-touch move that gave the Fire signs of life with six minutes and a very lengthy stoppage time to go. Ultimately, it didn’t secure the Fire a result, but that’s still something the Fire will want to see more of if they want to see more goals from set pieces from Cuypers.
