Can Chicago Fire build on last season's success?

"Listen, I know you guys, you have to use these key words, pressure and all that stuff, but we live with that," Paunovic said after practice Wednesday. "We wake up every morning with that, and there is nothing new in our life. No additional pressure that was there. And it's always there. The pressure for the professionals.

"But not pressure from you," he said forcefully, looking directly at the newspaper reporter who asked the question, "but pressure which comes from inside. The pressure to be the best you can be in every championship, every season. And that's something that we don't need from the others to raise it. We know that we live that, and we are very happy with what we are doing."

But as Paunovic begins his third season as Chicago Fire coach, expectations, if that's a better way of saying the pressure on him to win, have been raised.

After finishing at the bottom of the MLS standings in Year 1, Paunovic took the Fire to third overall during the regular season in Year 2. But the Fire's return to the league playoffs after a five-year hiatus lasted just long enough to be embarrassed at home by the New York Red Bulls, 4-0.

"I hope the club is driven by how we played last season," midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said. "The last game was not like we were expecting to play and also how we played most of the games last season, so I was a little disappointed, of course, when you lose at home 4-0. But we are looking forward to the season."

Year 3 under Paunovic - which begins at 5 p.m. Saturday when the Fire hosts Sporting Kansas City - brings expectations that the Fire should continue to improve. The team is "refreshed, ready, prepared and very eager to start," Paunovic said.

But the new season also brings a Swiss-cheese roster with the biggest holes clearly up the middle.

That won't make it easy on Paunovic, though captain Dax McCarty believes a repeat trip to the playoffs is in the cards.

"I do, I do," he said. "I believe this is a roster that can absolutely compete in this league. I think that we can absolutely make the playoffs.

"With that being said, I never like to just stay satisfied. Even last year when we were on a hot streak, if you will, and we were playing some of the best soccer in MLS, I still thought we had a little bit of an incomplete roster. So I don't think any team is ever going to feel perfectly satisfied with what they've got."

There are a few positions where the Fire - which announced Friday afternoon it had signed trialists Kevin Ellis, a defender, and Patrick McLain, a goalkeeper - should seek help.

The club is young and untested at goalkeeper, where Richard Sanchez probably is the starter by default as long as he's healthy. Sanchez returned to training this week following an injury. If Sanchez isn't ready for prime time, this position will be a priority for a summer upgrade.

Christian Dean won the job at central defender to replace the departed Joao Meira, partly because Jonathan Campbell and new homegrown player Grant Lillard are injured and unavailable Saturday. It's ironic, considering Dean has endured more than his fair share of injuries. He didn't play up to expectations in Vancouver after the Whitecaps drafted him third overall in 2014.

MLS Golden Boot winner Nemanja Nikolic returns at forward, but it's a mystery who else will score for the Fire. David Accam, who had 14 goals and 8 assists last year, was traded to Philadelphia. Newly signed Aleksandar Katai will be challenged to produce like Accam did.

Prhaps most glaringly, general manager Nelson Rodriguez and Paunovic came up empty in securing a playmaking attacking central midfielder. Getting the ball to Nikolic where he likes it will be an issue.

This roster gives Paunovic plenty of pressure to enjoy.

Local broadcasts:

The Fire announced Friday afternoon it will broadcast games locally on the new ESPN+ web service when it starts later this spring. The Fire will not broadcast its games on local TV. Last season's games were on NBC Sports Chicago.

Dan Kelly returns for his ninth season doing play by play for the team. Former player and coach Frank Klopas returns as the color commentator, with MLSsoccer.com writer Paul Tenorio as the sideline reporter.

Seven Fire games are scheduled to be broadcast nationally on traditional television.

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