Wicky always had fire to coach
Former teammate Bornstein saw early glimpses of his potential when both played with chivas USA
In 2008, Fire defender Jonathan Bornstein and new coach Raphael Wicky were teammates with Chivas USA. Bornstein remembers how Wicky connected with Jesse Marsch, a former Fire midfielder who was nearing the end of his playing career with the now-defunct club.
According to Bornstein, Marsch and Wicky discussed team tactics and positioning, the kind of topics that future coaches talk about.
Marsch went on to a successful coaching career in MLS and now in Europe, which doesn’t surprise Bornstein. As for Wicky, Bornstein isn’t exactly stunned he went into coaching after his time on the field.
“He’s just a great soccer mind,” Bornstein said. “Obviously, a lot of great players transition into coaching because they’ve done it their whole lives. That’s what they love.”
When Bornstein and Wicky were teammates, they were at different stages of their careers. Bornstein was a young rising star who played in 26 games that season. Wicky played in only five games in 2008 before retiring in March 2009. He was at the end of a run that included 75 appearances for the Swiss national team and time in Germany and Spain.
Bornstein was disappointed that the two didn’t get to play together much, but Wicky still left a mark.
“When they named him to be coming to us, I was extremely excited,” Bornstein said. “Meeting him, he’s an amazing person. He’s very easy to talk to. With his trajectory, you could be as stuck-up and as pompous as you wanted to, but he definitely is not like that. He came off as very humble.”
Wicky will have to adjust quickly to MLS, starting Saturday with the beginning of training camp. But as Bornstein pointed out, the league isn’t completely foreign to Wicky.
During his time with Chivas, Wicky experienced the uniquely challenging MLS travel and the length of the season, which Bornstein thinks will allow him to manage all the aspects of the league.
“For me personally, I’m really looking forward to working with him,” Bornstein said. “When I met him as a player, he was a great person. Obviously, he had a great playing career. I’m looking forward to nothing but making things better for Chicago and hopefully very quickly we can turn things around as a club and [get] that positive motion.”
Wicky, 42, was hired Dec. 27 to replace Veljko Paunovic, a move that didn’t come as a shock because he worked with Fire sporting director Georg Heitz at FC Basel. And you can count Bornstein among those who predicted that Wicky would be hired.
Bornstein, 35, said that when the Fire hired Heitz, he researched the executive and learned he had been at Basel. Bornstein then remembered Wicky coached there. So Bornstein told his wife that Wicky might be coming to Chicago.
“When [Wicky] was named, I said ‘Wow, I called it!’ ” a laughing Bornstein said. “It’s a positive for the club. He comes in with a new, fresh style. Overall, it will be a great change for the team in a time when there’s a lot of change going on for the club, and I think everything’s moving in a positive direction.”
NOTE: The Fire announced they have signed Mauricio Pineda to a Homegrown contract. Pineda, 22, can play defender or midfielder and spent four seasons at the University of North Carolina. He appeared in 79 games for the Tar Heels, starting 74 times and scoring 17 goals.
A graduate of Plainfield East and a product of the Fire’s academy and youth system, Pineda is the younger brother of Victor Pineda, the club’s first Homegrown signing. ✶