BREAKING THINGS DOWN
A POSITION-BY-POSITION LOOK AT THE FIRE’S ROSTER AS THE TEAM ENTERS A PIVOTAL OFFSEASON
The Fire have a lot to do before the 2020 season. And that has nothing to do with the business side of the franchise. Coming off yet another non-playoff season, the Fire have roster flexibility and open designated-player spots. There were some positives in 2019, but the result was all too familiar despite one of the highest payrolls in Major League Soccer. Going position by position, here’s what the Fire have to work with this offseason:
GOALKEEPER
General manager Nelson Rodriguez and coach Veljko Paunovic seem confident in Kenneth Kronholm, who was acquired May 7 and quickly supplanted David Ousted. After a shaky start, Kronholm showed some improvement and ended the season with five shutouts.
But the Fire’s handling of the goalie position has been poor. Instead of looking at his positives and trying to improve his negatives, they shipped out Sean Johnson after the 2016 season and have seen him blossom with New York City FC. The Fire, meanwhile, have started seven keepers in MLS games in the last three seasons.
DEFENSE
The Fire spent much of the first half of the season looking for answers before things settled with Johan Kappelhof playing right back, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Francisco Calvo center back and Jonathan Bornstein left back.
With Schweinsteiger retired, the Fire have a choice to make about whether to pursue a starting-level center back or right back. Do they return Kappelhof to the middle or keep him where he played in 2019 and try to find a partner for Calvo? Assuming Bornstein and Calvo return, the Fire will be banking on a 35-year-old (Bornstein) maintaining his high level and a player (Calvo) whose former team — Minnesota United — seemed happy to watch him go and reached the playoffs without him.
MIDFIELD
The Fire already have added former Real Madrid youth product Alvaro Medran, but there’s perhaps no area on the team with more questions.
When he spoke with the media in October, Rodriguez said he was meeting soon with captain Dax McCarty, designated player Aleksandar Katai and would-be designated player Nicolas Gaitan. Nothing has come out about those players’ futures or what happened in those discussions. Katai seemed to be an odd man out during the stretch run, coming off the bench in three consecutive games during the Fire’s futile playoff chase.
By the end of the season, Przemyslaw Frankowski was perhaps the Fire’s most dynamic attacker and 24-year-old Brandt Bronico had asserted himself in the middle. Even with those two, the midfield is one place ripe for a potential big-name designated player.
STRIKER
The Fire and designated player Nemanja Nikolic parted company after the season. Nikolic scored 51 goals in three seasons and endeared himself to Fire fans for his work ethic. CJ Sapong had perhaps his best MLS season, scoring 13 times after joining the Fire from the Union on Feb. 23. He also filled in ably on the wing.
If the Fire are going to sign a glitzy designated player, up front would be a place to do it. ✶