A Midsummer Night’s Dream- Disposals- Shaqiri, Gimenez Acquisitions- DP winger, DP CM/AM, world class coach Improvement from changes in players ,coach and formation will take a while to jell but by season-end, Fire are playing excellent and, to surprise of all, win MLS Cup New Formation (3-4-3) GK- Brady. LCB- Pineda. CB- Salquist. RCB- Teran. LM- Gutman. DM/CM- Acosta. CM/AM- new DP. RM- Arigoni LW- new DP. ST- Cuypers. RW- best of MHS, Mueller, Glasgow, Gutierrez,Koutsias Best Backups- non-starter RWs, Herbers, Czichos, Navarro, Richey, Dean ( I need something happy to think about)
Who is this Salquist character? I haven't seen him yet. He was the first new player signed back in December, correct? I know take that to the Pessimism Thread. My only optimism is that it will get better over time.
I'm being optimistic when I say EVEN if the Fire lose to Columbus and have 10 points after 6 games they are on track. Totally doable....
Well, that would be 1 point from the first three, so they would have to win the next three to be at 10 points after 6 games. Doable, but not likely, based on what we have seen so far. I am optimistic that you might be correct.
Trying really hard, I dreamt up 2 reasons for optimism- 1) Fire can petition League to let Fire I play in US Open Cup and Fire II play in MLS. 2) Only 4 months until transfer window opens That’s all I got.
The Fire will get better over time. Will it be enough for playoffs? I don't know. That is all I have at this point.
Prior to yesterday, we were on pace to score 76 goals this season! We are still on pace to score 51 goals this season! (please ignore the Pessimism Thread https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/chicago-fire-2024-official-pessimism-thread.2129682/ Especially, ignore Post #17 https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/chicago-fire-2024-official-pessimism-thread.2129682/#post-42122765 This is the Optimism Thread, dammit!)
The Fire did not manage to lose, despite being man up for much of the.match. The Fire managed the exact same number of goals as Liverpool AND Arsenal combined scored today.
Brady is so good I hope whatever limitations he has with the ball at his feet don't stop him from playing big time soccer -- his shot-stopping is incredible
Reflecting on the 'strength of schedule'...we've started the year battling the top 3 teams in the league on the road and captured some points! Rankings 1) Columbus Crew_AWAY_100min goal by Cbus_LOSE 1-2 2) New York Red Bulls_AWAY_TIE_0-0 3) Philadelphia Union_AWAY_93min goal by PHI to TIE_2-2 Nearly captured a bunch of road points from those top dawgs... Considering we lost our upgrade at LB in the first 10min of the season, new signings Cuypers and Acosta had no preseason, and there has been regular XI changes/movement...this team could come SPARK A FIRE over the 7 home games in the next 6 weeks! This is the time to do it LFG!
Agree. Fire play 7 of next 9 matches at home, followed by 9 of 11 on the road.Less than 16 points from this home stretch would not augur well for playoff qualification. By June 2, Fire should have a pretty good idea about this roster and numerous ideas about players needs (for either mid-season or year-end activity). Fire will also know more about Frank’s coaching ability and whether or not the FO acquisition team is disastrously subpar or just below-average. That date would be an appropriate time to start acting on all these insights. Mark this date on your calendar!
For Optimism, we are NOT in last place. We are 13th in the East, 24th in the league. For more Optimism, we are NOT last in goals against, San Jose has given up 2 more goals.