To paraphrase a scene from the film Superbad:
“Kei Kamara? What kind of a starting striker is that?”
“They let you pick any starting striker you want when you get down there.”
“And you landed on Kei Kamara?”
“Yeah, it was between him or Eran Zahavi.”
“Why the [expletive] would it be between him or Eran Zahavi? Why not just pick a better starting striker like a normal person?”
The Chicago Fire’s offseason was about more than just finding a new starting striker, of course, but how they handled that situation served as a microcosm of their winter as a whole.
This offseason was an incredibly important one for the club. They had shaken up the roster the previous winter, but that didn’t lead to much success. The regular season was a struggle, and they missed the playoffs by a sizable margin as a result.
Chicago knew that the talent was there, though. Xherdan Shaqiri showed promise, and Rafael Czichos was a revelation at the back. They had a few good pieces around them, so if the front office made the right moves in the offseason, then the team could become a genuine threat in the Eastern Conference.
Since then, they’ve arguably gotten worse. At the very least they’ve stayed the same, as the Fire chose to stick to what they had. That’s simply unacceptable, and if the club ends up missing the postseason once again, it’ll be because of the lack of work they put in this past offseason.
A brief recap
Alright, so what exactly happened this winter?
The first move technically took place before the regular season was over, as Gabriel Slonina was sold to Chelsea. He was allowed to finish off the campaign on loan, but once that final whistle blew, he left for England.
Then came a few departures when Chicago decided not to pick up the contract options for Andre Reynolds II, Jonathan Bornstein, and Boris Sekulić. A swap deal was next, as Jhon Espinoza went to sister-side FC Lugano, with Maren Haile-Selassie going the other way.
The Fire finally made a proper signing at the start of the new year, acquiring French defender Arnaud Souquet, who will be the new starting right back this year. Two more additions were made soon after, with Jeff Gal and Jonathan Dean coming in to provide some more squad depth.
Two departures were next with varying importance. The first was Stanislav Ivanov, whose contract was terminated by mutual consent. Then came the biggest news of the offseason, as phenom Jhon Durán was sold to Premier League outfit Aston Villa for about $20 million.
That happened on January 16th. At that point everyone thought Chicago’s search for a new striker was going to warp into overdrive, but instead, things went quiet for a while. It took the club a month before they officially announced a replacement, with that being 38-year-old Kei Kamara, who they acquired via a trade with CF Montréal.
Last but not least is Georgios Koutsias, who the Fire officially signed this past week to a U22 Initiative deal.
Never enough
To sum things up, Chicago lost their starting goalkeeper and striker from last season, and only really gained a new starting right back.
That’s woeful.
In the club’s defense, they knew that they could turn to Chris Brady in net this time around and he’ll be just as good, so that position wasn’t one they had to worry about. However, the rest of the side certainly needed some help.
Miguel Navarro isn’t a starting-caliber left back, and the Fire didn’t even bring in some competition for him at the position. They tried, and there’s a chance someone will come in at some stage, but that’s not guaranteed.
There’s still questions surrounding the midfield. Federico Navarro is great, but who plays next to him? Gastón Giménez might never become the player Chicago thought he would be, and it’s unclear if Mauricio Pineda is better suited in the middle or at the back. Could Jairo Torres be used there? Does that even make sense?
It’s a similar story further up the field. Xherdan Shaqiri will be played centrally once again, and that experiment is still a bit of a risk. If the team struggles early on, he could be moved out wide, but then that’d mess with the rest of the lineup.
That’s not even addressing the lack of depth on the roster.
Look, in theory, the Fire has a promising squad. The likes of Chris Mueller, Carlos Terán, and Brian Gutiérrez are all solid supporting pieces, and the aforementioned core has talent and star power. However, this same side missed the playoffs by a considerable margin.
Running it back jeopardizes the entire campaign. Maybe Chicago won’t have to deal with many injuries. Maybe the teams extra time together allows them to grow into a stronger unit. Maybe head coach Ezra Hendrickson will be more clever with his gameplan and tactics in year two.
Then again, what if nothing changes?
There’s a big chance that the Fire rolls out the same team and gets the same exact results. It looks like the rest of the league in general got better as well, so maybe Chicago will actually sink even further into depths of the Eastern Conference standings.
Disasterclass
Saving the worst for last, there’s the situation at striker.
On October 18th, 2022, coach Hendrickson publicly stated that the club were pursuing a "15-plus goalscorer" with their new DP slot.
Four months later, they signed a 38-year-old Kei Kamara to be their starting striker to open the season.
How?
Well, it never even felt like the Fire were going after a big-name target. There was never a concrete rumor linking them with a specific player. Some theories floated around the fanbase with potential options, but those never amounted to anything more than just pure speculation.
The most marquee rumor that ever popped up was Eran Zahavi, who used to star for Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven. However, this was a far cry from what supporters were hoping for. He’s way past his prime, as he’s 35-years-old and playing in the Israeli league. Then there’s his off-the-field issues, like when he replaced a Palestinian flag with an Israeli one in a photo of Manchester United players Paul Pogba and Amad Diallo.
Thankfully the front office never got a deal done, but the fact that he was the best they could come up with goes to show just how badly their search for a new number nine went.
This is Chicago, one of the biggest cities in the entire world. How can you not convince someone to come over? The club has the money to spend thanks to owner Joe Mansueto. They just can’t find someone to spend it on.
Some argue that it’s better to wait until the summer anyway since that’s when more players are available. However, doing that is a risk on two fronts. The Fire will have to tread water until that new DP comes in, and if they don’t, then their season will be over before help ever arrives. Then there’s the chance that they never bring in that big-name forward, and that they waste all their time doing nothing.
It’s not like they have a forward they can trust at the moment, either. Kacper Przybyłko was woeful last season. This might be the year that father time catches up to Kei Kamara. Georgios Koutsias, on the other hand, will need time, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be a success. The same can be said for the youngsters already at the club, like Victor Bezerra and Missael Rodríguez.
The lack of production from the striker position could hamper the rest of the team this season. If that’s the case, then the front office will only have themselves to blame.
Showtime
That has all led to this weekend.
Chicago will have to take the field for the first time. They’ll have to start playing games. The players that are here will be responsible for getting results on the field. If they don’t, then most of the backlash will fall on their shoulders.
Then again, most of the fanbase will know where to direct their anger. Sporting director Georg Heitz has been the man in charge since the club rebranded, and he’s failed to build anything close to a contending roster. His contract option was picked up in the winter, but if things go wrong once again, then he’ll certainly be let go by the end of this campaign.
The pressure is on. Unfortunately for the Fire, they’ve not put themselves in the best position to deal with it.