The assessment that came from Chicago Fire sporting director Georg Heitz was — at the very least — straight to the point.
“We lacked winners,” Heitz said of last season’s team that went 9-18-7 and finished 12th in the Eastern Conference.
Heitz was speaking Monday during an introductory news conference for designated player Xherdan Shaqiri, the big-name signing that highlighted a busy offseason for the Fire that included hiring Ezra Hendrickson as head coach.
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“To have not only Xherdan, we have other players who are winners,” Heitz said. “But Xherdan definitely has one quality: He’s a winner. He has won a lot in his career.”
Shaqiri has captured plenty of attention since his team-record $7.5 million move, but the attacking midfielder isn’t the only notable addition for a club lacking recent success.
The Fire haven’t reached the Major League Soccer playoffs since 2017. Worse, they haven’t won the MLS Cup since their inaugural season in 1998, haven’t won a Supporters’ Shield since 2003 and last won a U.S. Open Cup in 2006.
“I’m really, really looking forward to working with this club, to bring the glory back to Chicago,” Shaqiri said. “Maybe the last few years (it) was not here.
“I want to bring that back and try to be successful with this team, to help this team, which is also very young. My goal is clear: I want trophies. I want to go to the playoffs.”
As they begin their 25th season Saturday on the road against Inter Miami CF (5 p.m., WGN-9), here’s what to know about the Fire in 2022.
1. Will Kacper Przybylko be the consistent scorer the Fire need?
The Fire scored just 36 goals in 34 games last season, tied for second fewest in MLS.
That futility is something the Fire hope they addressed by acquiring Przybylko from the Philadelphia Union and giving the striker a contract extension.
Przybylko, 28, scored 35 goals in 83 MLS matches with the Union and led last season’s CONCACAF Champions League with five goals.
Though Przybylko like predecessor Robert Beric can have cold streaks — he had scoreless droughts of at least four matches three times last season — he is a proven-enough talent to anchor the Fire’s attack.
Perhaps crucially, Przybylko is not on a designated player contract, which Heitz said gave the Fire freedom to make other moves to build around the Polish striker.
“It helped a lot, of course,” Heitz said Monday. “It gave us some more flexibility. We strongly believe in Kacper. Kacper will be one of the players who will hopefully benefit a lot from Xherdan. We will have to find him in the box, and I think this will be a good fit for us.”
For the Fire to have success, they’ll need Przybylko to be a consistent threat, especially with wide depth potentially an issue the first two months of the season.
Designated player Jairo Torres is not set to join from Mexico’s Atlas FC until May 1, leaving Stanislav Ivanov as the team’s only available out-and-out winger. Others previously deployed in wide positions include midfielders Fabian Herbers and Brian Gutiérrez and forwards Jhon Durán and Chinoso Offor.
2. Shaqiri will be the focal point of a midfield that includes fellow DP Gastón Giménez and Federico Navarro.
Hendrickson made it clear since Shaqiri signed earlier this month that he Swiss international is the Fire’s linchpin.
Shaqiri will be deployed as the No. 10 in a 4-2-3-1 formation and should be at the heart of the attack, Hendrickson said.
“We need to get him the ball and basically take over the game for us,” Hendrickson said Monday. “Players are going to be instructed to find him because he’s a very integral part of what we are going to do and how we are going to play.”
Supporting Shaqiri are Giménez and Navarro, the latter of whom joined the Fire in August.
The Fire’s fortunes didn’t drastically improve with Navarro as the team’s defensive midfielder — they went 3-5-2 in matches he started — but his tackling ability and willingness to cover defensive ground earned praise around the league.
Already having some MLS experience should help the 21-year-old too.
“Maybe I could have given a little bit more and done a little bit more,” Navarro said earlier this month. “I really try to be very demanding of myself. And I think that being able to play was really good. For any player who leaves their comfort zone to be able to come and play (in another country), I think it’s really good for them to be able to adapt, (to) speed up the adaptation process.”
Giménez had a down season in 2021, but the Fire opted to bring him back on a new designated player deal through 2023 instead of starting fresh.
Giménez never has been a high scorer — he has scored just four goals in nearly 150 league matches in the U.S. and Argentina — but the Fire will need him to be a better facilitator, especially with Navarro picking up a bulk of his defensive responsibilities.
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3. Hendrickson views center back Rafael Czichos as an ‘extension of the coaching staff.’
The Fire weren’t the leakiest team in MLS last season, but conceding 54 times in 34 matches is an ugly number.
One player likely isn’t going to completely turn that around, but the Fire are high on what they have seen from Czichos.
Signed in January from German Bundesliga team FC Köln, the 31-year-old is expected to anchor the backline and provide leadership.
Hendrickson praised Czichos’ willingness to work with the Fire’s relatively young defense — Boris Sekulic (30) and Jonathan Bornstein (37) are the only other defenders older than 26.
“He’s out there directing guys, directing traffic, taking command of the team,” Hendrickson told the Tribune. “We really like that as a staff. We couldn’t ask for anything more from that guy. Since he’s been here, he’s just taken up that leadership role and it’s awesome.
“And his play in itself is very good. So now you have a very good player who’s also a leader that is an extension of the coaching staff out on the field. That goes a long way.”
Czichos has partnered Carlos Terán in preseason matches, with Sekulic and Miguel Navarro as fullbacks. Hendrickson has indicated Mauricio Pineda likely will see more time in midfield this season but could also be deployed at center back.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina’s upward trajectory continued after he made 11 appearances last season. Slonina, 17, was called up to the U.S. national team for World Cup qualifiers and is starting to draw interest from European clubs.
But the Addison native said he is doing his best to block out outside noise as he enters 2022 as the Fire’s starter.
“I’m not the type of player to look too much into the future,” he said. “I want to be here, present now, because obviously that’s what’s most important. But we never know what the future holds, so I think I’m just going to continue to give my all every single day in training, making sure that I’m helping guys on and off the field to have the most successful season that we can for this club.”