Chicago Fire 0, Charlotte FC 2 | Player Ratings

After a 4-1 win against Inter Miami saw the Fire gain control over their own post-season destiny, the team threw it all away after losing 2-0 to Charlotte with one game to go. After Ashley Westwood put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute, all it took was a Karol  Świderski penalty to put the game to bed in the 58th minute. Here is a recap of the Fire’s individual performers.

*Players are listed in the order they lined up, followed by substitutes in the order they appeared

Starting XI

Chris Brady (7.5) – One of the few players who showed an inkling of passion for the club, Brady had a performance as good as any. The homegrown made three saves against Charlotte’s seven shots, with five of those having been on target. Westwood’s goal was fairly spectacular, and Brady is not known for his penalty-saving ability, so there could not be much more expected out of the goalkeeper.

Miguel Ángel Navarro (5.5) – In a performance that mirrored those of his earlier days with the club, Navarro absolutely dropped the ball against Charlotte. The defender showed zero offensive end-product (zero successful dribbles and not a single accurate cross out of four attempts), was dormant in defense, and gave away a cheap penalty to Charlotte to force the Fire even deeper into the hole. Miggy was substituted for Alonso Aceves in the 69th minute.

Rafael Czichos (7) – The Fire’s captain individually had a good performance, but was unable to lift his teammates into doing so. Czichos held a team high passing accuracy at 94.3%, won two tackles, and engaged in seven duels, which all show his high level of quality on the night, but in terms of his leadership, Rafa never got his guys going in a game that could serve to make or break the season.

Wyatt Omsberg (6) – Omsberg had been in great form during his last spell of starts, however in this last match he was not up for the task of stopping Charlotte. Omsberg won three of his seven total duels, did not win any tackles, and only had a a 69.2% pass accuracy. Omsberg was just not the presence he has shown himself capable of in a match that demanded it. Omsberg was substituted for Carlos Terán in the 69th minute.

Jonathan Dean (7) – The fullback looked energetic and ready to go, however when it came time to finally execute, the majority of the squad could not match Dean’s desire to get three points. JD created two goalscoring opportunities and posted five passes into the final offensive third, and on the defensive he entered into six duels alongside four clearances.

Gastón Giménez (6.5) – Against Charlotte, Gastón put in a shift on both ends of the pitch in what seemed like an attempt to pick up the clear slack created by his teammates. Tonga led the team in tackles with four won, engaged in four duels, and at times was the only connection between the backline and the front four.

Ousmane Doumbia (5.5) – Considering his role in the midfield is to play as a six, Doumbia’s defensive involvement came down to just three actions total; two duels and a single tackle. Given that the Fire were outpossesed and let Charlotte complete 101 more passes than them, its clear that defensively the team, and Doumbia, were just not good enough to make a dent on Charlotte. Doumbia was replaced by Maren Haile-Selassie just after halftime.

Brian Gutiérrez (6.5) – Interestingly enough, the homegrown continues to outperform the team’s two offensive high-salary designated players even when his own performance is nothing to write home about. Guti created an expected goals and assists of 0.48, which is impressive given the Fire collectively only yielded one expected goal. The youngster’s dribbling and crossing was poor in comparison to his usual self, but its not like his teammates did much themselves either.

Xherdan Shaqiri (4) – He’s back. Nope, not the guy who scored a brace midweek. The guy who walks around for 90 minutes and overdribbles every time he gets the ball. Shaqiri created a lone chance, zero accurate crosses on six attempts, was dispossesed three times, and generally just looked as if he did not care what happened in this match in the hopes that his month long vacation to Ibiza could start on time. The DP experiment has failed once again, but here is to hoping Heitz and Pelzer get it right on their fifth try when their contracts are extended.

Fabian Herbers (6) – Fabi oddly had some very good and some very bad spells this match. Randomly in moments the German looked at the top of his game, and then in others it looked like he was still playing sunday league. Herbers overall passed well (88% accuracy), but did not complete any dribbles or crosses.

Georgios Koutsias (6) – Koutsi failed to make any major impact against a Charlotte defense that is going to finish the season with a negative goal difference. Koutsias ended his tenure on the pitch without a single shot, and never looked as if he was going to make an impact even with his off-ball movement. After only 17 touches in 45 minutes, Koutsias was substituted for Kacper Pryzbyłko.

Substitutes

Kacper Przybyłko (5.5) – Apparently the best option at striker off the bench, Kacper came on after halftime to help the Fire make an attempt to equalize. The fact that this was our first offensive substitution while chasing a game should say something about Georg Heitz’s roster building abilities. Kacper missed two solid goalscoring opportunities, and that was really all to his performance.

Maren Haile-Selassie (6.5) – After an insane super-sub appearance against Miami, Maren came on for Doumbia in the 46th minute and provided a decent amount of creativity to an attack that functioned as well as a flat tire. Maren completed 82% of his passes and honestly should have came out of this match with a goal contribution.

Alonso Aceves (5.5) – Replacing Navarro in the 69th minute, Alonso Aceves failed to make an impact on either side of the pitch. Aceves only completed 67% of his passes, which included zero accurate crosses and a sole completed long ball. In defense, the loanee was only involved with two defensive actions, which comes out to one every 13.5 minutes.

Carlos Terán (5.5) – Why we are subbing on a center back while 2-0 down amazes me, but Terán got some time after taking out Omsberg in the 69th minute. Terán got on the ball 16 times, but only completed two accurate passes. The center back did register two blocks and sveen duels, but overall this performance will get lost in a sea of others.

Manager

Frank Klopas (6.5) – Before this game Klopas was being heralded as a great hype man, which has seen to be mostly true, however in potentially the team’s biggest game of the season, the team looked flat for a full 90 minutes. The Fire never got going, and with playoffs in reach for the first time in a long time, the team took three steps backwards instead of a step forward.