Chicago Shines on Premier League Tour
The Premier League’s preseason tour stopped by Chicago this summer, and Soldier Field played host to a pair of exhibition fixtures on Wednesday night. Manchester United were the headliner, taking the city by storm as they spent nearly a week in town, and were ultimately the best on the field, too.
While the hometown Chicago Fire were minimally involved in the festivities surrounding the footballing showcase, the event was a roaring success for the city, and demonstrated Chicago's quality as a host city that the world has been unable to experience for the last decade or so.
Fire get top marks
In a year where almost everything has been new for the Fire, the pristine Endeavor Health Performance Center near Little Italy has been by far the most expensive and permanent addition. The facility has been praised across the league by local players, national teamers, and visitors, but by far the most high-profile guest so far arrived this week in the form of the Red Devils.
“Where we’re training at the moment, it’s amazing,” United and England left back Luke Shaw told MIR97 Media on Tuesday. “The facility is so good. The pitch is so good. The recovery settings, the gym, everything is world class.”
“Before we came over, we had that conversation. Our director Colette (Roche) said that we’ve tried to put everything in place to make sure that we have the right facilities, the right things around every day to help us prepare for the season. And to be fair, they have, and it’s been really really good.”
Shaw, now 30, has spent the bulk of his career at United and is one of two Englishmen to score in a European Championship final. His complimentary words toward Joe Mansueto’s nearly $100 million investment will be very welcome to everyone at the Fire, who moved heaven and earth to get the facility done as quickly as possible.
If the stars of traditionally one of the biggest teams in the world raving about the training center wasn’t enough to satisfy the Fire, United manager Ruben Amorim also gave a shoutout to two key members of the club. Right back Leo Barroso and assistant coach Filipe Çelikkaya both got mentions in Friday’s Soldier Field press conference, bringing a smile to the face of one of European football’s most ascendant managers.
“Barroso is here, he's a right back and he started with us in Sporting,” Amorim said when asked about seeing familiar faces in Chicago. “I also have a big friend here, Filipe Çelikkaya, he was the coach of the B team at Sporting, so I know them.”
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American connections
While United has very minimal U.S. connections in its club, Bournemouth is quite the opposite. Part-owned by New Jersey-raised actor Michael B. Jordan, they have four first team players who moved from MLS to Europe. Three are Americans, and two represent the U.S. internationally.
Tyler Adams is, of course, the biggest of those names. He captained the U.S. at the last World Cup in Qatar and has remained a central figure for both club and country. Most recently, he started in the Gold Cup final at the start of the month, and joined the Bournemouth camp this week after he was granted three extra weeks off to rest after international duty.
Though he only got 15 minutes of action, having arrived in Chicago just two days before the match against United, both his manager Andoni Iraola and captain Adam Smith had glowing things to say about his quality as he looks to complete a strong campaign ahead of next summer’s World Cup on home soil.
“Last season, he finally managed to be available, and it’s a matter of availability with Tyler,” Iraola said last week. “He has performed really well, I think. For sure, we’re really happy with him.”
“I think he’s a natural leader for sure,” Smith said at the Endeavor Health Fire Pitch on Tuesday. “If I ever move on, I think he’s certainly going to be a contender for captain at this club. There’s a few candidates, but Tyler’s obviously a great help for the young ones as well. Just because I’m captain doesn’t mean other players can’t lead.”
Former MLS stalwarts Djordje Petrović and Julián Araujo both started the match, but it was a difficult outing for the pair as Araujo in particular was at fault for two United goals and failed to contain a red-hot Patrick Dorgu. U.S. U-20 international Matai Akinmboni missed out on the game through injury, but has traveled with Bournemouth this summer and is hoping to be back in time for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup.
“Matai is a lovely guy,” Iraola said. “He’s playing at home, he came here with the team even if he's injured, but still not able to train with his teammates. For sure, he would be the first one to enjoy the minutes playing here, but he will have to wait.”
“I think he’s someone who is still adjusting from MLS to the Premier League, but I’m sure he can make the steps and keep progressing.”
Raining goals
In terms of the games themselves, the fans who braved Wednesday’s adverse weather were treated to quite a bit of action at both goalmouths. In the first match, Everton jumped to an early lead through Idrissa Gana Gueye, but were pegged back by Brazil star Lucas Paquetá and Germany forward Niclas Füllkrug either side of the half.
After a short pause, the main event kicked off, and United jumped ahead early and never looked back. The Red Devils found themselves 4-0 ahead in the dying minutes behind goals from Rasmus Højlund, Patrick Dorgu, Amad Diallo, and Ethan Williams, before a Matthias de Ligt own goal gave Bournemouth something to take away from the match.
While there wasn’t much to write home about, and many of the roughly 50,000 fans abandoned their seats during the second half as the rain wore on, United’s fluid, attacking night did make headlines back home. Dorgu was a particular standout, notching a goal and an assist while being a dominant force on the left side.
Post-match, West Ham manager and former Chelsea boss Graham Potter took no issue with questions about the admittedly spotty surface at Soldier Field, but did repeatedly ridicule the Premier League’s decision to insert cooling breaks in both halves despite temperatures reaching just a mild 72°F (22°C).
“There was no injury from an injury perspective,” Potter said. “From a ball speed perspective it was challenging, and the wind was swirling around a bit. I have no idea why there was a water break. Someone needs to tell me why that was the case. If we want to promote soccer over here, why do we have water breaks in the middle of a match hoping to get players used to playing 45 minutes?”
Overall, however, the highlight of the experience likely came for the fans in Chicago, particularly of the three other teams besides United. While the Red Devils have visited the U.S. many, many times over the years, it was, for many of the supporters of Bournemouth, Everton, and West Ham a first opportunity to see their clubs play in person.
“I’m not surprised at all because I think the Premier League is so worldwide,” longtime manager David Moyes said of the fan presence. “I know we’re in America, in my experience I’ve been with teams and gone all around. In Asia, in Africa, Premier League football is hugely known there.”
“It’s grown and is getting bigger in the U.S., the football here is getting back better. You had a brilliant tournament here in the summer, and you’re about to have another next summer. So the U.S. is beginning to challenge to get all of the big tournaments and teams and top players coming. So it’s certainly a growing sport in this country.”
