The Chicago Fire has three games left to save their season.

How has it come to this despite it just being mid-July? Well, take one look at Chicago’s campaign so far.

After a pretty strong start, things fell apart at a seemingly record pace. They didn’t lose any of their first five games, and then they lost eight out of their next ten. It was a remarkable turnaround in the worst way possible, and it put the team at the bottom of the league standings.

Things have been a bit better as of late, as the Fire won two out of two home games while losing two of their two games on the road. That has stopped the slide, but it’s not really been enough. 

They’re still very much on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture. Chicago are eight points off the 7th and final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference, and they’re starting to run out of time.

The MLS regular season might not end until early-October, but the Fire’s campaign could be all over by the end of next week. Thankfully they’ve got three home games to potentially save themselves.

Welcome to Bowser’s Castle.

Columbus Crew - Saturday, July 9th

The first of the three games might end up being the easiest.

Chicago’s stretch starts with a match against neighbors and rivals the Columbus Crew. In the past, this matchup would have been much different. Columbus has been one of Major League Soccer’s best franchises as of late, and they just recently won MLS Cup back in 2020.

However, this year’s outfit has struggled. They are also not in a playoff position at the moment, and even though they are quite close, it’s still a bit of a fall considering their expectations. 

The Crew have just been so strange and sporadic this year. They’ll go on an extended winless run, and then follow that up by going unbeaten for a few games. No one’s really been a star player for them, either. Lucas Zelarayán has had injury issues, and his former partner-in-crime Gyasi Zardes was traded earlier in the campaign.

Like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, it seems like Columbus just isn’t really there at the moment.

That’s why Chicago has a chance. If the Crew fail to show up for this contest, which has happened on a number of occasions this season, then the Fire should be able to take advantage. They might be just as likely to drop a stinker themselves, but they are at home at least, so the odds should be in their favor.

Even if both teams flat out suck, that’d work in Chicago’s favor. They’ve shown that they can win incredibly ugly, and win when it doesn’t really feel like they should. They can keep a clean sheet, and they can score a flukey goal if need be, whether off a penalty or a deflection or a header from the edge of the penalty area. 

Lastly, Columbus’ recent star signing Cucho Hernández will likely make his first appearance for the club, but that might not be as scary as it sounds. He's only just arrived, he almost certainly won't start, and he'll need time to acclimate to life in MLS. As a result, the Fire won't be going up against the best version of him, at least not this time around.

All in all, this is a must-win game for Chicago. 

Toronto FC - Wednesday, July 13th

Up next is Toronto FC.

While the impending debut of Cucho Hernández has been a small factor for the Crew, Toronto FC’s entire season has been built towards the arrival of their new star man.

That man is Lorenzo Insigne. His signing was confirmed months and months ago, but he wasn’t able to join up with the team until the start of July when his contract with former side Napoli ran up. Toronto knew they would be without him for a good chunk of the campaign, so the goal was to have something built up before he could come in and take over. 

That’s not what has happened in the slightest. It seems the Canadian club put so much focus on the Italian international that they forgot about the rest of the team. They've only won five out of 18 games, and they're near the very bottom of the league table. Even new head coach and MLS icon Bob Bradley hasn’t been able to fix things. 

Things have gone from bad to worse, as Insigne’s debut, which was supposed to be this weekend, has been pushed back a few weeks due to a calf injury. That means they’ll be without him for this match against Chicago. 

As a result, the Fire should be thanking the heavens. Instead of having to deal with a rejuvenated Toronto team led by Insigne, they’ll be up against a side that has just been dealt yet another hammer blow. TFC has been bad enough as is, so just imagine how rough they’ll look following the recent news.

Chicago really should have won the return fixture, but now they have to make sure they win this matchup.

Seattle Sounders - Saturday, July 16th

This will be the tough one.

The Seattle Sounders are Major League Soccer’s model franchise, even if plenty of people don’t want to admit it. They’ve been very good for a very long time, and they’ve just won the CONCACAF Champions League for crying out loud. Their start to the season was a bit difficult, but they’ve bounced back, and they’re climbing the standings by the week.

Why’s this a must-win for the Fire then? Well, they have their previous poor showings to thank for that. They’ve dropped too many points in games they shouldn’t have, like at home to FC Cincinnati and away to the San Jose Earthquakes. If Chicago had won those games then they would be in a much better position, but they didn’t, so they’re not.

The Fire have put themselves in a hole, and they have to dig themselves back out. Unfortunately for them, the only way to do so is by winning games they’re not really supposed to.

It’s not like this is mission impossible, to be fair. This contest will come after both have a midweek match, so there’s certainly going to be a number of tired legs, especially for the traveling Sounders. That usually leads to weird things happening, and the weirder the game gets, the better that is for Chicago.

This could end up being a carbon copy of the Philadelphia Union contest. That’s what the Fire will be hoping for, at least.

Final verdict

So, we know what Chicago has to do, but can they do it?

Probably not, to be fair. Only time will tell, of course, but the Fire has let their fanbase down time and time again, and there’s not much reason to believe that things will change this time around.

Chicago almost always ends up doing the most Fire thing imaginable, so expect more of the same here. In that case, that would be winning one game, tying one, and losing the other. It wouldn’t save their season, but it wouldn’t kill it off just yet, at least technically speaking.

Let’s see if Chicago can finally put it all together. 

At the very least, there’s going to be narrative.

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