I'd love to see the Fire good, professional football players. Whether they are "home grown" or transferred in or acquired by trade doesn't matter at all to me. I am sick of low expectations. "Better than say...Herbers" is not exactly a ringing endorsement. The sad thing is that we have become accustomed to the suck.
.@MLS talents: our interview with Carlos #Teran, @ChicagoFire defender. “It’s time for me to play in Europe”https://t.co/dSlF1DpZNZ— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) November 28, 2023
Okay, if Teren wants to play in Europe, let's see what we can get for him. I suspect he and the Fire will be sorely disappointed, but maybe I am wrong. I suppose a club in the Championship or a smaller Spanish or Italian club might be interested for a modest transfer fee. Or, or course, Lugano. It pains me to read his "idol" is Sergio Ramos. Glad Teren doesn't play like that vile, dirty, cheating bastard. Ramos was shown two red cards in a game over the weekend. Yellow then another yellow, so a red. VAR had a look and ruled the second yellow a straight red. Asshat has been red carded 29 times in his career. Can't stand him.
I am glad to see something being done. Some (expected) positives- aerial ability, good defensive effort, not injury-prone, age (potentially multiple seasons), low acquisition fee and salary ( same as Kamara), not an international, played with Mueller, might be a short-term deal with options. True, he is obviously not much of a scorer - but I say welcome!
Seems like he'll take less to play in Italy. Ask for $4-5 million and sell him only after his replacement is brought in. We already had Brady to replace Gaga. But we saw what happened without a replacement for Duran. Koutsias may turn out to be serviceable, but he is not playing near Duran's level.
I do not think he is “ripe” for Europe yet but this post illustrates one of the reasons why my no.3 need for Fire is a starter-level CB.
Omsberg and Pineda keep CB below 3rd on my list, as the only thing they are not better than Teran at is ‘physical ability’, but CB should always be on the list!
Picking the top three needs is difficult and made more difficult after the roster decisions that were published last week. Here are mine as of now: No 1) Above-average to excellent striker(s) (our Promised DP9 would be awfully nice) No 2) Right back No 3) Speedy outside midfield (left side if Mueller is not back to full strength, right side as an upgrade on Maren Haile-Selassie/Herbers). Prior to the roster decisions, I would have added at No 3) a CDM who could take the role of both Gimenez and F Navarro, or a more attack minded CDM or "box to box" midfielder (in the mold of Larentowicz or Bastian) to play along one of them. Since both are staying around (for now), that is off the list. If one of those two leave in January, CM is back on the list. The following players are under guaranteed contract for the 2024 MLS season: Goalkeepers Chris Brady; Jeffrey Gal and Spencer Richey, Defenders Rafael Czichos, Miguel Navarro, Justin Reynolds, Arnaud Souquet and Carlos Terán, Jonathan Dean, Wyatt Omsberg, and Mauricio Pineda; Midfielders Fabian Herbers, Gastón Giménez, Brian Gutiérrez, Chris Mueller, Federico Navarro, Sergio Oregel Jr., Xherdan Shaqiri and Jairo Torres; and Forwards Victor Bezerra, Georgios Koutsias, Kacper Przybyłko and Missael Rodríguez, maybe the new guy Barlow (nothing official) We have, as starters: Brady Czichos and Teran Gutierrez, Shaqiri, Mueller, Gimenez/F Navarro (but not both) Frankly, even with everyone healthy, I cannot form a starting XI that has any potential for success out of the assemblage of players on the roster. We have no starter quality LB, RB or Strikers. We have no speed on the team. The only guy who can pass is Shaqiri and he 1) he has no one to pass to at the moment and 2) he has been less than effective overall in his two years in Chicago. I still have a ton of hope for Gutierrez to continue to develop into the attacking mid we need for the long term.
Questions-1) what roster decision made our needs more difficult? 2) do you think MHS could convert to a RB or R wingback? 3) you want only I DM- does this mean a formation change?
My ranking of our roster needs: 1) Striker 2) Winger (Mueller, MHS, Herbers are depth level players) 3) box to box CM (neither Gaston nor Fede has shown the ability to do this, and I wouldn't ask Guti to try) -------------- After that, both wingbacks need upgrading to provide clear danger on the attack. 4) RB 5) LB 6) CB I debate CB or 6 at number 6 on my ranking, as we are not likely to acquire a better CB than Rafa until it is for his replacement...and an upgrade over Teran/Omsberg/Pineda isn't not likely to be as impactful as upgrades at 1-5. .......................DP9 SPEED...........Guti........Shaq ............Gimenez...B2B8 ..LB......Czichos...Teran...RB .....................Brady
Thoughtful answer. I think many people would agree on 1) and 2). This would presumably provide two capable scorers- is that enough?? Remember, Fire did allow a lot of goals last year. Occasionally the possibility of a CB formation was raised. I chose a strong new CB as my third choice to a) reduce opponent goals b) allow a three CB formation c) guard against career-ending injury or rapid decline of Czichos and d) facilitate possible future sale of Teran. d) facilitate possible sale of Teran.
I am oddly ok with Miggy at LB. I would love an upgrade but other positions need it more to me at this point. We Do need a fair backup at LB though as Aceves was crap and Dean seems more of a RB guy. I agree on the CB things you all have put as unlikely to get another as good as Rafa til he leaves. I am ok with what we have there (especially if Teran does not leave this season). So..my order... 1) Striker (truly need a star striker for Shaq to feed) 2) RB 3) If we do not get those two somehow...then a new GM and TD. I mean I would fire them. Now. 3) Box to box CM would be nice but I would rather have the other two positions be greater and just use Gaston/Fede.
Sorry to inform you but the prime opportunity to get rid of Heitz/Pelzer is past. Apparently Joe has unshakable faith in them ( or ??). Interesting choices. If forced to choose -what is your 3)? backup LB, CM#8, backup GK or Winger? (You are more satisfied with our wingers than most people.)
I have no backup for Miggy. I am not satisfied with our wingers but would rather have the other two before them. I would love the German national team from the WC victory but we won't get much no matter what we do so am hoping they focus on those two being Bigger. And yes...I know GM/TD are staying...I still would fire them if they fail on those...if they pass with flying colors then fine keep them they learned after all.
Thanks, and yes...IF the 9 & speedster can provide 20g between them. It's easy to under rate the impact that would have on Shaq & Guti, in that they would get 1/2 as much attention/pressure and increase their G output...double? Possibly! Yea, but the best defense is a good offense....and our offense SUCKED in 2023. Fede, Torres and Herbers at CDM were a contributor to that. Fede has to stop picking up senseless cards. And Souquet struggled to play in sync with the line. Lastly, (although I do like Teran) I hope we do sell Teran for $$$, as I prefer Omsberg! Rafa has stated he prefers Omsberg, and Pineda is a fine backup. Granted, if we sell Teran, we will need a 4th CB. As it stands, I would not expect Teran to be sold before the summer break AT THE EARLIEST. He needs to clock 2000+min and bring his pass completion percentage up above 80%....Omsberg 81%, Pineda 84.7%, Czichos 84.3%...even Burks was 82%.
1) I answered that. Keeping both F Navarro and Gimenez, keeping Kacper, etc. 2) No, unless we went with a three-back line, but that would leave us a bit thin. 3) I would hope so, the 4-2-3-1 is awful, especially with Navarro/Gimenez. However, a 4-2-3-1 with Navarro and Schweinsteiger could work. "just use Gaston/Fede" costs the team so much. We are essentially playing with a 6 player back line with those two out there. Both are terrible linking up with the few attacking options we have and Gimenez generally just blasting shots into Row Z from way outside the box.