Chicago Fire not running from disappointment
There's no glossing over the first half of the Chicago Fire's season, not with the worst record in all of MLS. General manager Nelson Rodriguez didn't even try Wednesday night.
"We're all disappointed in the record, and we shouldn't run from that and hide from that," Rodriguez said during a weather delay that forced Wednesday night's game against visiting Sporting Kansas City to start about 105 minutes late.
"We don't believe in bad luck as much as we believe you make your own breaks, and we haven't made those."
Wednesday's game was the 17th in a 34-game season. The Fire (4-8-5, 17 points) won 1-0 on a first-half goal by new forward Michael de Leeuw.
The Fire probably needs to average about 2 points a game over the next 17 games just to earn the sixth and final playoff spot. That's a better rate than any other MLS team has averaged so far this season (Colorado is tops at 1.89 points a game), so essentially the Fire would need to go from worst to best in a David Accam hurry or miss the playoffs for a sixth time in the last seven seasons.
"We're by no means surrendering this year, and again, I know the stats," said Rodriguez, the optimist and competitor in him coming out. "I know the history. I know no team has come from here and made the playoffs.
"But that's why I love history. Because for me the definition of history is who's going to make it next, and I love that challenge and I love that possibility for us."
The Fire has salary-cap space plus both kinds of allocation money to work with during the summer transfer window, which closes Aug. 3.
"One of the things I think we need to inject somewhere along the line is a bigger personality," Rodriguez said. "A bigger personality on the field, a bigger personality in the locker room."
The Fire is looking to make a splash but won't force it, Rodriguez said. He will try to pry a worthy player away from a foreign club now rather than wait until January, as he had expected before the club parted ways with Brazilian striker Gilberto.
January might be more realistic, though.
The Fire also is considering trading for a starter within MLS.
"I do believe we need another provider in midfield," Rodriguez said. " … We're also looking for a midfielder who creates and scores goals both. Those tend to be more expensive. Those tend to be harder to get, but I think that is a piece that will really accelerate our improvement as a team if we can find it."