Four Fire Storylines to Watch for the Rest of 2024

With the Fire officially eliminated from postseason contention, in a macro sense, the season is over. That isn’t to say that there are no stakes for the team in the final weeks of the season. Here are some storylines for both the team and individual players to keep an eye on in the team’s two remaining games.

Point of Pride

Currently, the Fire currently have 30 points, which, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, ties the lowest mark in team history, set in the 2015 season when the team went 8W-16D-20L en route to the Wooden Spoon given to the team with the worst record in MLS.

A single point lifts them above that ignominious mark but ties them with the tally they set a year later, also earning the Wooden Spoon in the process. Can the team clear the point totals set in the Spoon Years?

After the team was eliminated, Fire Head Coach Frank Klopas said that he’s “looking forward to the next two games, preparing for that, and finishing strong.” Since the current era of the Fire started in 2020, the team has managed to average at least a 1.0 point-per-game pace. A win and a draw in the final two matches gets the team to that mark and would count as a strong finish despite difficult results along the way.

Have a Goal (or Two) In Mind

In a season that has been disappointing for Fire fans, Hugo Cuypers has been a bright spot, looking very much like the kind of talented center forward that the Fire have been searching for over the past few seasons. In addition to his goal-scoring, Cuypers has been influential in the build-up, and he’s the kind of player that can make the difficult seem easy, even natural.

While his ten goals may not be close to a Golden Boot pace this year (league-leader D.C. United’s Christian Benteke has 21 on the year), he’s the first Fire player to hit double digits since Robert Berić’s dozen tallies in 2020.

Can Cuypers meet – or exceed – Berić’s total in the next two games? Can the striker – the only player to score a brace for the Fire this season – become the first Fire player to score a hat trick since Nemanja Nikolić in 2017?

Do We Have a Deal?

Five players on the Fire’s roster have deals that expire at the end of this year with no option years on their contracts.

Rafael Czichos, Fabian Herbers, Ariel Lassiter, Wyatt Omsberg, and Spencer Richey all need to do whatever they can to make the case for their next deal – whether with the Fire, elsewhere in MLS, or further afield. On top of that, Allan Arigoni, currently on loan from FC Lugano, needs to adduce whatever evidence he can that the Fire should trigger the option to make the move permanent.

Several other players also have option years coming up, and players need to do whatever they can to show the incoming sporting director that they should be playing in red next season.

While backup keeper Jeffrey Gal is unlikely to see the pitch for the Fire first team, both Javier Casas and Jonathan Dean may have real opportunities to make their case for more time with the Fire on the pitch – the latter’s case no doubt already buoyed by his first MLS goal against Toronto last Saturday.

Role on Out

Frank Klopas has called the offseason “the most critical one for me in Fire history, because everything is lined up for the team to take the next step.” With a new sporting director incoming, there are likely few – if any – untouchable players.

Even players like Kellyn Acosta and Brian Gutiérrez, who are unlikely to be moved, need to make whatever case they can to have their desired role with the team next year.

For Acosta, who can play various positions, that may mean showing that his best role is as a No. 8 midfielder who helps move the ball forward rather than a deeper-lying No. 6 who is more defensively focused.

Gutiérrez was given a new deal in the offseason that saw his pay jump substantially, and while he’s often been one of the best players in the pitch for the Fire, he, at the same time, hasn’t made the case that he’s a top-level attacking playmaker in this league. Can he create some highlight-worthy moments in the next two games to show that he should be trusted as an offensive focal point, or might the new front office feel compelled to bring in another playmaking midfielder, pushing Gutiérrez, who is having a career year with six goals but who has just three assists this year, far fewer than previous seasons, to play on the wing?

The stakes don't just impact the team's stars: For young players like Javi Casas and Justin Reynolds, can they make the case that they deserve more prominent roles in 2025?

Questions around roles and whether a player should even remain with the squad next year likely touch virtually every player on the roster as the new sporting director comes in and takes a critical look at the team that has the longest active playoff drought in the league.