Chicago Fire 2022 Preview

Previous Year Recap

Last season was far from great for Chicago Fire FC. The club’s massive rebranding and ‘return to relevance’  campaign that began in 2020 was still pretty much stuck in second gear by the end of 2021. The Fire never got within sniffing distance of the playoffs and finished down near the bottom of the Eastern Conference table. Second year manager Raphael Wicky was sacked during the final stretch of the season giving Frank Klopas the opportunity to pad his lead atop the “Most Time Spent as an Interim Head Coach in MLS” standings. And, just to put a nice bow on things, the Fire parted ways with 13 players during the offseason including DP striker Robert Beric.

But maybe the third year’s the charm-ish? The Fire head into 2022 with a new manager (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines legend and 3 time MLS Cup winner Ezra Hendrickson), some splashy new signings and a handful of homegrowns and young players who are, potentially, poised for breakout seasons.

Fantasy Players to Watch

Goalkeeper

17 year old homegrown Gabriel Slonina started drawing attention towards the end of last season both within the league and beyond. He’s poised to start the season as the club’s first choice netminder.

Defenders

Center-back Rafael Czichos is this big offseason signing along the backline. He brings a wealth of Bundesliga experience with him. 

Midfielders

Swiss International Xherdan Shaqiri (aka ‘The Alpine Messi’ or ‘The Power Cube’) is the club’s (and perhaps MLS’?) splashiest offseason signing. He has been successful at the highest levels of European club football and is expected to make an immediate impact on the offensive side of the ball. DP Gaston Gimenez also returns. 

Forwards

Kacper Przybylko joined the club in January from Philadelphia Union as a replacement for Beric. Mexican winger Jairo Torres was recently signed from Atlas FC in Liga MX as a Young DP. He’s highly rated, but won’t formally join the club until May. Beyond Przybylko and Torres keep your eyes on U22 Initiative signing Jhon Jader Duran and winger Stanislav Ivanov. Ivanov missed most of last season with a knee injury and hasn’t seen much preseason action but he may be someone to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Fantasy Expectations

The Fire have worked out of a 4-2-3-1 in all of their preseason matches thus far so I suspect that formation will hold once the “real” matches start. 

The team has kept 3 clean sheets across 4 preseason matches and Slonina’s price ($6.5M) is pretty attractive. I’d be willing to give him a shot in a keeperoo, if nothing else. Czichos’ is a bit too expensive ($7m) for my budget but if you’re feeling good about the Fire’s clean sheet chances you might consider throwing his probable center-back partner, Carlos Teran ($5m), on your bench.

Shaqiri might seem an obvious pick for your midfield given his pedigree, but he’s still getting integrated with the team and, given his $9m starting price tag, you might be better off taking a wait and see approach (especially if you subscribe to the “David Gass Year Two” theorem). The same goes for Przybylko. Jhon Jader Duran ($6.5) might be worth a look though if you’re in the hunt for budget plays to start the season.

The Fire are on a Florida-double to start the season (away to Miami and home to Orlando) before heading to DC in Week 3.  I don’t think they’ll be favored in any of those matches, but, depending on how things go in Week 1, I might be willing to throw 1-2 players on my bench for the home opener against the Purple Lions.

Potential Starting XI