By J Hutcherson (Apr 28, 2020) US Soccer Players - As ESPN's The Last Dance makes clear, the biggest story in Chicago sports in the summer of 1998 was the Chicago Bulls. They won the final NBA championship of the Michael Jordan era amid the kind of turmoil that justifies a multipart documentary series. What could an expansion MLS team do that same summer to have any kind of relevance? Well, the . . .
Inter Miami and Chicago wait for their home debuts
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Mar 13, 2020) US Soccer Players - This week Major League Soccer made the decision to suspend its 2020 season for at least a month due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Other sports leagues at home and abroad have made similar moves to help slow the spread of the pandemic, and it's a no-brainer given the high stakes. For MLS in particular, though, it's a potentially . . .
The Chicago Fire’s reformat
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 26, 2020) US Soccer Players - The Chicago Fire made a change to its team just a few days ahead of the launch of the 2020 Major League Soccer season on Monday. The club signed 28-year-old Argentinian midfielder Gaston Gimenez from Velez Sarsfield in his native country. Gimenez is a clever, savvy player tested by the intense soccer environments of South America . . .
The Chicago and Atlanta MLS expansion models
By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Feb 3, 2020) US Soccer Players – A new Major League Soccer season starts in four weeks. With preseason in full swing, coaches are testing new tactics as teams buy and sell players. For Nashville SC and Inter Miami, it's their MLS debuts. Expansion teams have typically had a tough go at it in North American sports. In MLS, the gold standard remains the Chicago . . .
Expansion isn’t the biggest story for MLS in 2020
By J Hutcherson (Jan 7, 2020) US Soccer Players - We've reached the point in the preseason where all 26 MLS clubs have coaches. Welcome aboard Ronny Deila, a surprising choice to take over from Dom Torrent at NYCFC. Orlando City also left it late before officially announcing former Monterrey coach Diego Alonso. Then there was Chicago naming Raphael Wicky just after Christmas, the latest step away . . .
Loss for Newcastle, Pulisic injured
The soccer news starts with a roundup of the results from the games involving USMNT players in England and Scotland. DeAndre Yedlin's Newcastle United lost 2-1 at home to Everton. Trailing from the 13th minute, Fabian Schar equalized for Newcastle in the 56th. Everton scored again in the 64th. Cameron Carter-Vickers returned to Spurs from his loan to Stoke City. He wasn't in the squad for . . .
The Chicago Fire continues to revamp
The soccer news starts with the Chicago Fire's new logo. Part of following MLS is playing part-time graphic designer and fashion critique. Very little stays the same in this league, including logos. The new one for the Chicago Fire is divisive only because the team changed so little since joining the league in 1998. It's an old story that the original investor/operator decided not to follow . . .
Revamping in Chicago and Montreal
The soccer news starts with a coach leaving in Chicago and a surprise hire in Montreal. The Fire announced that MLS classing "parted ways" with coach Veljko Paunovic. The situation for the rest of the coaching staff and trainers is up to the next coach, though the Fire has "discontinued" their services for now. Chicago is in a partial revamp, moving from Bridgeview to Soldier Field and losing . . .
Chicago’s forward progress
By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Oct 9, 2019) US Soccer Players - The Chicago Fire is making moves. The club is leaving a perfectly good soccer-specific stadium for an oversized American football venue that is, for lack of a better way of saying it, in a better part of town. Which is to say that they're returning to Chicago proper from the village of Bridgeview. Though the Fire isn't an original . . .
New hope, old challenges for Chicago Fire
By Charles Boehm – WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 20, 2019) US Soccer Players - "Intense optimism and excitement." "Some of the most exciting and inspiring team news in more than a decade." "A moment of celebration for the Chicago Fire community the likes of which haven't been experienced for quite some time." It's not all that often that a soccer club makes a move that prompts its largest supporters' group . . .
