Can new Chicago Fire forward succeed where others have failed?
Michael de Leeuw is the Chicago Fire's next man up, up front. Nothing more, nothing less.
De Leeuw, the 29-year-old Dutch forward introduced Tuesday afternoon at a Toyota Park news conference, essentially replaces Gilberto. Gilberto last summer replaced Didier Drogba, technically Fire property for about the length of a sneeze on his way to Montreal.
Drogba would have replaced Shaun Maloney, who lasted about half a season and produced about half of what was expected of him. And Maloney replaced ... well, let's not take this all the way back to Federico Puppo.
The point is that Fire fans know better than to expect too much from the newest imported forward, though the team needs more from him than it got from his predecessors. He is not, as general manager Nelson Rodriguez quickly pointed out, "a savior. He's just an important piece to what we're trying to build through a deliberate and thoughtful process."
De Leeuw is not even a highly paid designated player like Gilberto, the Fire's highest-paid player. Gilberto is now on "personal time" and almost surely on his way out of town, just like so many forwards who came before him.
Gilberto has scored as many goals in MLS this season as de Leeuw, but de Leeuw is more likely to get a chance to change that.
"Gilberto continues to complete his individualized training," Rodriguez said, noticeably uneasy with the topic of Gilberto. "I have not had any discussions with his agent in the past week. When we have further news we will share it. He will not be in the panel for selection for tomorrow (the U.S. Open Cup game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Toyota Park against Indy Eleven)."
De Leeuw's first game will be July 9 at Toronto FC. He is not eligible to play until the MLS summer transfer window opens the Fourth of July.
While Rodriguez asked fans to be patient as de Leeuw acclimates to a new league and a new country, he couldn't help but burst with optimism.
"We believe that he is a champion. His name in Dutch means 'Lion', which I think is apropos, for you will see a real predator in the box, one who hunts down goals at every turn," Rodriguez said of de Leeuw.
That's exactly what the Fire (2-5-5, 11 points) needs. De Leeuw scored 46 goals in 117 games for Dutch Eredivisie side FC Groningen.
De Leeuw, signed through the 2018 season, joins a last-place club that's also last in goals scored with 10 in 12 games, a club on pace to miss the playoffs for a sixth time in seven seasons. De Leeuw - who showed himself to be the kind of friendly, personable guy that Rodriguez and coach Veljko Paunovic want in the locker room - understands the situation he's jumping into, but he doesn't want to shoulder the burden alone.
"I'm going to make my goals, but I don't want to say numbers because I don't want to put a lot of pressure," he said. "But I know I'm going to make goals."
He'll get his chance to prove he's different from those who came before him.
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