Season Preview

MIR97's 2024 Chicago Fire Season Preview

Alex Calabrese

23 Feb 2024 — 9 min read

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The 2024 MLS season finally commences this week, and after a thrilling offseason, the Chicago Fire are finally ready to kick off a new year. This season is marked by the returns of sporting director Georg Heitz and head coach Frank Klopas, as well as the arrivals of star signings Hugo Cuypers and Kellyn Acosta. And of course, the Men in Red will also be making their long-awaited return to, well, red.

2023 was a weird year for the Fire. It started with Ezra Hendrickson in the dugout, but the first-time head coach was let go just two months into the season and replaced by longtime club servant Frank Klopas. Under Klopas, a slow start turned into a resurgent summer, but the Fire came up just one point short of the playoff line. The team struggled to find any consistency in the final third, perhaps best represented by the fact that part-time starter Maren Haile-Selassie ended as the team’s top scorer with six goals in MLS. The Designated Players – Xherdan Shaqiri, Jairo Torres, and Ousmane Doumbia – all came up short of expectations, with Shaqiri only scoring three times from open play all year.

Cuypers and Acosta represent two of the most ambitious signings in MLS this offseason. (via Chicago Fire FC)

An area that the Fire lacked was depth, and this offseason, the roster was strengthened both in the starting eleven and the bench. The aforementioned Cuypers and Acosta were acquired in huge, eye-catching deals, with the former costing a club-record fee from Gent, and the latter choosing the Fire ahead of numerous contenders around the league. Andrew Gutman was also brought in via a trade, representing an immediate upgrade on Miguel Ángel Navarro, with Allan Arigoni also a boost on the right side of the back line. Long-term target Tobias Salquist was signed out of Denmark to start next to Rafa Czichos and add more composure and experience to the center of defense, and additions of Tom Barlow and Chase Gasper strengthen other areas of the team’s depth.

The Fire’s back line was a point of strength back in 2022: Rafa Czichos’ first year in the league was excellent, Wyatt Omsberg stood out for the first few months of the season, Carlos Terán stepped up in the back end, and Gaga Slonina remained firm between the sticks. Terán and Omsberg will now likely have to fight for rotational minutes following the arrival of Salquist, however, and Czichos has a point to prove after a 2023 season where he wasn’t as dominant. Between the sticks, Slonina’s successor, Chris Brady, had a breakthrough year in 2023 but has the opportunity to take his game to the next level in 2024. He’s still just 19 years old and is already one of the best goalkeepers in MLS, so his continued development will be a key point of emphasis for Klopas’ team. New signings Gutman and Arigoni both represent exciting upgrades on either side of the back line, and both are better going forward than the players they replace in Miguel Navarro and Arnaud Souquet.

The arrival of Acosta dramatically shifts the narrative around the Fire’s midfield. Now, it has an All-Star caliber player to depend upon in the center of the park, which should relieve pressure from both Gastón Giménez and Fede Navarro. Expect the two Argentines to regularly rotate their spots in the lineup, as they represent two very different profiles, that, depending on the opponent and gameplan, could both be effective. Mauricio Pineda, who had an incredible first team resurgence last summer under Klopas, could provide depth both in the middle of the park and at center back if need be. The aforementioned Giménez, who was previously a DP from 2020 to 2022, once again received the label as the Fire ensure roster compliance shortly before the February 23rd deadline.

Failure to find a solution to the Fire’s “8 Million Dollar Question” – how to get the most out of Xherdan Shaqiri – was one of the factors that led to the firing of Hendrickson in 2023, and Klopas will have ample opportunities to explore further options in the new season. Shaqiri has arguably been outperformed by 20-year-old number ten Brian Gutiérrez for about a year now but has held his spot in the middle when they’ve both been available, shifting “Guti” out to the left wing. Klopas tried different ways to get them both on the field together last season, including a run in a 3-4-2-1 with dual number 10s, but the perfect solution is yet to be seen. Could Shaqiri finally move out to the right wing, as he does for the Swiss national team? Will the Swiss DP go to the bench and fill a “super sub” role as he did for so many years with Liverpool and Bayern München? Will the improved star power around him make him more effective? All these questions should be answered within the first weeks of the season.

Getting the most out of Brian Gutiérrez and Xherdan Shaqiri is a key to success in 2024. (via Muz Quadri)

Gutiérrez, on the other hand, once again seems primed to take a big step forward in 2024. He was the Fire’s top assister and team MVP in 2023, racking up nine assists in the league, earning him a lucrative U-22 Initiative contract. Nonetheless, there are many areas Guti can improve in, particularly his lethality in the final third. The homegrown has more raw talent than just about anyone in North American soccer but needs to fine-tune his game and find a more regular scoring touch. Gutiérrez scored just twice in 2023, but if he can add finishing and decision-making to his already impressive game, he’ll instantly become one of the top players in MLS and a candidate for the senior U.S. Men’s National Team.

The Fire’s first team roster only contains two true wingers, and while Gutiérrez will likely start the season on the left side of the attack, both will be hoping to compete for starting jobs. Haile-Selassie was the team’s top scorer in 2023, and he turned up when the team needed him in a marquee, sold-out clash with Inter Miami late in the playoff push, where the Swiss loanee delivered two goals off the bench. His pace and transition ability might make him a reliable “super sub,” though so it is also quite possible the now-permanently-signed starlet could often find himself outside of the starting team. Chris Mueller, who returns to the team after missing the better part of 2023 through injury, has been described as being “like a new signing” by both Klopas and Heitz, and will most likely be the starter opposite Gutiérrez. At his best, he is one of the most efficient wingers in MLS, and if he can rekindle his Orlando City form from 2020 and 2021, the Fire will boast a scary option indeed.

Belgian Pro League Golden Boot holder Cuypers should be an x-factor this season following his $14 million transfer. (via Getty)

Up front, the Fire have a very straightforward situation after offloading expensive disappointment Kacper Przybyłko to Switzerland. DP Hugo Cuypers, who is the reigning Golden Boot winner in the competitive Belgian Pro League, will be the go-to man and is a player who can be relied upon for almost every game. Cuypers will be expected to deliver upwards of twenty goal contributions this season, and with his hefty price tag, will have pressure to adapt quickly and perform right away in MLS. His well-rounded style suits the league, though, and his ability to make intelligent runs and win aerial battles should gel well with the Fire’s creative engine room of Shaqiri, Gutiérrez, and Acosta. Greek youth international Georgios Koutsias, who was leaned on as a starter in 2023 when no reliable #9 could be found, will now have pressure lifted from his shoulders, and could even emerge as an option out on the wing and an energetic backup to Cuypers. Barlow will likely be a third-string depth piece who can still turn up in big moments when needed, as he did in the playoffs with New York last season.

Tactically, the Fire were mostly rigid in 2023. Apart from a very small handful of games where Klopas shifted to a fluid 3-4-2-1 formation, the Fire lined up almost religiously in a standard 4-2-3-1. Given the profiles of the new signings, this seems unlikely to change, though a lack of true wingers could open the possibility of a return to a wingback system. Haile-Selassie served as a makeshift right wingback at times last year, and while it’s not his best or most preferred role, he could do a job there, and Arigoni is also well suited to such a system. Acosta’s versatility also opens up many possibilities for the midfield; while his best moments at the international level have come as a number six, he often played as a number eight for LAFC, and can also deputize as a ten or fullback. Acosta is a compatible central midfield partner for just about any of his teammates, so as long as he stays in form and available, the Fire’s midfield will be light years better off than it has been in the four seasons since Dax McCarty left the club.

Another area Acosta helps improve that could be an x-factor is set pieces. One of his most iconic moments came when he famously assisted Miles Robinson’s last-minute game-winner in the 2021 Gold Cup final upset over Mexico from a deep free kick, and Acosta has long been known for his dead ball prowess. Shaqiri and Gutiérrez also both provide adequate delivery, and Czichos, Cuypers, and Gutman are represent potential targets. The Fire added respected assistant Ryan Needs as a set piece coach, which should enable the team to be more efficient from corners and free kicks on both ends of field, an area that lost them many points in 2022 and 2023.

Further incoming and outgoing transfer business throughout the year will also play a big role in the Fire’s fate. The first team is now in a position where it must sell players to add players, and it is entirely possible that figures like Carlos Terán and Fede Navarro could leave as soon as the summer. The departure of Torres in the offseason opened up a DP slot, but that probably wouldn’t be filled until at least the summer window. There is still likely room for an upgrade both on the wings and in central midfield to partner Acosta, and more movement on that front could raise the Fire’s ceiling significantly. A departure of one of the Fire’s younger stars, namely Brady and Gutiérrez, seems unlikely at the moment, but if they are put in the shop window that is the Olympic Games, things can change quickly.

Chris Brady immediately emerged as one of the best goalkeepers in MLS when he broke through last season. (via Muz Quadri)

Weirdly, the Fire don’t know exactly how many competitions they’ll be competing in this year. Of course, there’s MLS and there’s the Leagues Cup, but the fate of the U.S. Open Cup still remains up in the air. In the league, the bar at the moment is simply to make the postseason and break what is now a six-year duck, the longest active drought in MLS. A crowded Eastern Conference field will make it difficult, but with two of the most expensive DPs in MLS history on the roster, reaching the nine-team playoff bracket is an expectation. Unlike in previous years, the Fire also have a favorable schedule down the stretch, with winnable games against D.C. United, CF Montréal, Toronto FC, and Charlotte FC all coming in the final weeks of the season. Most fans will also be circling the August 31st Soldier Field showdown with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, which, if it goes well for the Fire, could provide the spark they need to make a playoff push in the last month and a half of the regular season.

2024 is as good an opportunity as any for the Fire to rekindle its relationship with the fans and the city of Chicago as the final remnants of the botched 2020 rebrand are whisked away. If Frank Klopas – someone who’s given more to the club and organization than just about anyone – can fuel his passion into success on the field and get the most out of his star players, there’s no reason the Fire can’t be one of the top teams in the East. The Men in Red now have a golden opportunity to get back to where they belong, and with the strongest roster they’ve seen since 2019, things are certainly looking optimistic.