It’s time to get to work.

The MLS offseason has technically been going on for over a month now, but you can’t really blame teams for not being too active during this time. The World Cup has obviously grabbed the attention of the planet, and that is true for those in charge of these clubs. 

It’s not like they could have made a bunch of signings anyway. They either had their own players at the tournament, or the names they're scouting were too busy representing their respective countries. 

With the competition wrapping up on Sunday, though, there are no more excuses. The 2023 campaign is just around the corner, and the pressure is on everyone to make some moves, and make them soon.

That is especially true for the Chicago Fire. Last season was yet another disappointing one, with the artists formerly known as the Men In Red missing the playoffs by a pretty sizable margin. It wasn’t good enough, and the club knows things need to change. 

How do you start the rebuild? Well, by figuring out what parts of the team needs fixing most.

Goalkeeper

This will likely be the least of Chicago’s worries, but it’s still a worry at the moment.

Starting goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina made his long-awaited big-money move to Premier League powerhouse Chelsea at the end of last season, which left a hole in the Fire net. For most MLS teams, this would be a pretty big deal.

Fortunately for Chicago, there’s a chance that this position won’t be an issue at all. In an unbelievable turn of events, the club has another teenage phenom they can turn to. His name is Chris Brady.

Fans of the club haven’t seen him much, but he’s made a considerable impact elsewhere. He had a very successful loan spell at Forward Madison, winning the USL League One Young Player of the Year award in 2020 despite only playing eight games. 

He’s been even better with the United States at the youth level. He was a starter for the US side that won the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship this past season, and the keeper picked up the Golden Glove award while also being named to the team of the tournament.

Look, last year's backup Spencer Richey does have more experience, and he is a solid keeper, but it’s pretty obvious that the Fire should hand the number 1 jersey over to Brady.

If they don’t make the seemingly simple decision, though, then things could get tricky.

Striker

A situation that isn’t as simple is the one at striker.

Kacper Przybyłko, who was the starter to begin last season, was quite woeful, and it led to him being benched. Trading for him wasn’t a bad idea at the time Chicago made the deal, but it just never worked out. He didn’t suit the system, and his play wasn’t good enough either. 

Jhon Durán took over the gig midway through the campaign, and his showings were a lot more promising. He had a number of very good games, and he ended 2022 with eight goals and five assists. That’s a solid return as is, and it’s especially impressive considering he was only 18 years old.

Despite the two players having vastly different seasons, the future’s of both are unclear.

Many Fire fans would love to move on from Przybyłko, but that’s going to be a lot harder said than done. Who else in MLS would want someone who had such a bad year? His value has tanked, and even if Chicago finds a suitor, they’ll be losing a good chunk of money on him if they do sell him.

Durán’s stock is a lot higher, which makes selling him a lot easier in theory. There are already clubs in Europe who are interested in the youngster, and there’s a chance the Fire could get upwards of 10 million for him. However, there’s reason to believe they could get even more for him if he has another strong campaign in MLS. Do they cash in now, or do they hold on to him?

Let’s say Chicago ends up moving on from both. That means they’ll have to find some replacements. A homegrown could slot in to the backup role, but they’ll certainly need a new leading man.

Head coach Ezra Hendrickson has already talked about the club going after a marquee striker, and they do have a Designated Player slot available. They’ve also got a rich owner, and they’re in one of the best markets in the entire country. The Fire should be able to get a top-tier number 9, and bringing one in could lead to a return to the playoffs. 

However, one look at the club’s history of DP’s, especially at striker, says otherwise. Robert Berić. Gilberto. Juan Luis Anangonó. Sherjill MacDonald. They all came in to try and save the day, and they all ended up failing miserably. If the club decides to spend big here, then they’ll need to bring in a Nemanja Nikolić level player. 

So, long story short, Chicago has to make a lot of decisions in a short amount of time.

Josef Martínez, anyone?

Left back

From one end of the pitch to the other, the Fire’s biggest worries are at the two fullback positions. First off, left back.

They still have their starter from last season, Miguel Navarro, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. The Venezuelan really took a step back in his development, and he struggled for most of the campaign on both sides of the ball. 

He lost his man too often at the back, whether they were dribbling at him or making a run by him. That would’ve been somewhat excusable if he was vital going forward, but he wasn’t, and he barely made an impact in the final third.

There’s still hope for Navarro since he’s only 23. However, there’s a feeling out there that he’s just not good enough to start for a playoff caliber team.

Then, in terms of backups, there are no backups. Jonathan Bornstein was superb whenever he was called upon last year, but Chicago decided to let him go in the offseason. They also moved on from Andre Reynolds II, even though he was only 21-years-old and on a pretty cheap contract.

The club will probably turn to their other youngsters in order to deal with the lack of squad depth, but that won’t really fix things. Navarro would still be starting, and he’d still be a weak link in the side.

What the Fire should do is bring in a new left back to slot in to the backline. Modern football really loves an attacking fullback, but a more defensive-minded option would suit Hendrickson’s system much better. Then you can still keep Navarro, and have him serve as the team’s option off the bench.

Who that new man could be is not up to me, thankfully.

Right back

Then there’s the situation at right back, which is somehow worse.

All things considered, Chicago doesn’t really have a right back.

They let go last year’s starter Boris Sekulić in the winter, and that move on its own was a smart one. He was also poor in 2022, and it didn’t make sense to pay him a sizable amount considering the type of performances he was producing. 

However, there’s no replacement on the roster for him. There is Jhon Espinoza, but it’s become quite clear that he’s not a viable option in that role, whether he’s starting or filling in every once in a while. You simply can’t play him there at this stage. Bornstein and Reynolds were options last year, but as mentioned prior, both are now gone.

That means that the Fire really have to make at least two signings at the right back position. This isn’t an area where the club will spend big, of course, so it’s not the biggest risk to take, but that could end up hurting the club.

Sporting director Georg Heitz loves finding a hidden gem, but so far he’s failed on pretty much every clever purchase he’s tried to make. He plucked Chinonso Offor from the obscurity of the Latvian league, and that move never worked out. That’s only one example.

Heitz is going to keep trying and trying until the end, which means Chicago probably isn't going to land a proven defender. Whether the guys he brings in end up being successful remains to be seen, but supporters won’t have high hopes given his track record.