Fire Notebook: Opportunities Beckon for Acosta, Brady

The Chicago Fire are heading south today as they travel to Central Florida to face a red-hot Orlando City team. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter spoke to the media yesterday as the Men in Red look to bounce back from a 3-1 loss at New York City FC last weekend.

Opportunity for Acosta

The Fire's central midfield has seen a rotation of five players for the last few weeks, with Brian Gutiérrez, Sergio Oregel Jr., and Mauricio Pineda typically making up the starting trio, while Rominigue Kouamé and Djé D'Avilla have come off the bench. Notably absent from match action has been Kellyn Acosta, the Fire's former USMNT star TAM player, who has not featured in MLS since April 26th in the 7-2 loss at Nashville SC.

However, things will change this weekend. Gutiérrez is suspended after a silly straight red card he received last week in New York, and Pineda is not 100% after an injury sustained at Yankee Stadium. It provides an opportunity for Acosta to either start or come off the bench in a meaningful capacity, even if D'Avilla's suspension for a second yellow card was lifted by the MLS Disciplinary Committee.

"He's been frustrated, no question about it, but I think he should be," Berhalter said. "He's a guy that has a ton of experience, played in the World Cup, been part of the National Team program for a long time, one of the leaders on the team, and to not get your number called is not easy."

"What I would say is he's been handling it well, and really, all players in that situation can do is make a case each and every day on the training field. That's the only thing that's in their control. And that's all we'd ask Kellyn, that's all we'd ask any player, is just show it in training and when you get the opportunity in games, prove that you should be playing. So when his opportunity comes, and I'm sure it will one day, he needs to be ready."

For Acosta, this is an opportunity he needs to take. Given his talent level and experience, he should be a starting caliber player in MLS, and he remains one of the team's highest earners. The chance to get important league minutes in Orlando could be a turning point in his season.

Chris Brady joins the USMNT

The biggest news of the week for Fire fans was the exciting revelation that 21-year-old goalkeeper Chris Brady had received his first call-up to the U.S. Men’s National Team. It was a long time coming for the homegrown shot-stopper, and serves as a reward for an excellent 18 months in which he has continued to grow and develop exceptionally.

Given the inconsistent performances of incumbent starting keeper Matt Turner and the clear deficiencies from other players in the position like Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen, the goalkeeper is one of the most wide-open spots in the USMNT pool. With the World Cup on home soil just a little over 12 months away, it’s now or never for goalkeeping hopefuls, and the hyper-talented Brady is looking to put himself forward as a potential alternative.

“It's great news for the club and great news personally for Chris,” Head Coach Gregg Berhalter told the media this week. “Every person aspires to take part in their national team, and this will be his first opportunity and it's a great moment for him. He's a great young goalkeeper. I think there's opportunity in that position in the player pool, and hopefully he'll make his mark on the team.”

When Berhalter coached the national team, he was open to giving opportunities at the goalkeeper position. Even as Zack Steffen had been the apparent number one for the first part of his tenure, Matt Turner and Ethan Horvath both got ample opportunity to prove themselves. Eventually, Turner permanently surpassed Steffen in the depth chart and has continued to be the go-to starter since Mauricio Pochettino took over the team last fall.

Brady is one of four goalkeepers in camp this week, which will incidentally be held at the Chicago Fire’s downtown training center before the team travels to Connecticut for a friendly against Türkiye next weekend. One of the four goalkeepers — meaning Brady, Steffen, Turner, or NYCFC’s Matt Freese — is expected to be cut from the roster before the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. With Steffen currently unavailable due to injury, it appears likely he will be the one to miss out.

If Brady indeed does make the final Gold Cup roster, he'll miss up to five MLS matches. For the duration of that period, Jeff Gal would be the #1 goalkeeper, with Bryan Dowd being the backup. Dowd is currently in roster slot 31 and can be named to four matchday squads – if the USMNT makes the Gold Cup final, he would need to be "recalled" from his loan to Fire II and would replace David Poreba on the supplemental roster, with Poreba being moved to the Season-Ending Injury list.

More national team action

Brady will certainly miss the June 7th match at D.C. United, and he won't be the only player unavailable for that game. As was revealed last week, Omari Glasgow will be with Guyana's national team for a pair of crucial FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Nicaragua and Montserrat. The Golden Jaguars will be well-positioned to advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the first time ever if they can beat Nicaragua at the national stadium in Managua, but it means Glasgow will be unavailable for one Fire game.

Two young Americans were also called up for youth national team camps, and both will be notable absences for the Fire next week. Sergio Oregel Jr., who's started all but one of the Fire's games this season, was summoned by U.S. U-20 Men's National Team Head Coach Marko Mitrović for a friendly camp as that group prepares for the U-20 World Cup later this year. Christopher Cupps was also called in for national team duty and will join Head Coach Gonzalo Segares' U-17 camp in Spain.

While Cupps will play with the national team this window, youth national team fans might not be able to bank on having Cupps available come the U-17 World Cup later this year, especially as it coincides with the start of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

"I'm not sure that a player, a 16-year-old that's playing first team football is actually going to benefit from playing U-17 soccer," Berhalter said last week. "I know other people don't share that opinion. But he's already playing adult soccer and he's with men, and he's with men that are making money and competing and are some of the top players we have in this league. So he's getting a ton of experience, and I'm not sure playing two friendly games at the U-17 level is going to keep developing him."