Chicago Fire president/GM: 'I believe in us'
It's been a tough summer for the Chicago Fire, one of the toughest the club has ever experienced.
Through it all, team president and general manager Nelson Rodriguez has chosen the optimist's perspective. It hasn't been easy.
As he did at the season's 11-game mark, Rodriguez met the media Wednesday and answered questions for 51 minutes, marking the two-thirds point of the 34-game regular season. This time, however, Rodriguez sounded a little less defiant and upbeat, looked a little more worn and weary. He did not seem to enjoy answering the several questions about the team's problems with its supporters groups.
There was less talk about the Fire being a "club of choice," more about the club making what Rodriguez believes to be principled but difficult decisions.
On the field the team hopes to end a four-game MLS losing streak when it travels to Toronto FC for Saturday's match (6 p.m., ESPN+). The Fire (6-11-5, 23 points) is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, two spots and 5 points south of a playoff berth with 12 games to play.
Hopes for a second consecutive playoff berth are fading.
"How we handle that frustration will ultimately determine our outcome this year," Rodriguez said. "If we remain committed to competing against our opponents rather than against ourselves; if we remain committed to being uplifting to one another rather than waiting to see whom may let us down or assign blame; if we remain committed to individually doing our job and to doing it well; then, then we have a chance.
"From my perspective everything is still right in front of us."
The MLS playoffs are in doubt again, but the Fire still has a shot at the U.S. Open Cup. The team will play at Philadelphia next month in the semifinals.
"It's up to us, and I believe in us," he said.
To a roster lacking depth and skill Rodriguez last week added two solid but not spectacular players via trade, wingers Raheem Edwards and Nicolas Hasler. Hasler arrived in exchange for highly regarded rookie first-round draft pick Jon Bakero, who in the season's first three-plus months never lived up to the draft-day trade Rodriguez executed to pick Bakero.
Rodriguez also signed Argentine defender Nicolas Del Grecco. All three new players meet needs by position. Rodriguez still hopes to fill the most obvious needs - goalkeeper and a playmaking central attacking midfielder - before the summer transfer window closes Aug. 8. Hopefully, at least one of those signings, if they happen, will bring a little of the "wow" factor to Toyota Park in ways Edwards, Hasler and Del Grecco do not.
Off the field, the sale of 49 percent of club shares to Chicago billionaire Joe Mansueto has been overshadowed by a supporters groups revolt after the team revoked the season tickets for one of those groups, Sector Latino, for violations of the league code of conduct.
"I accept that there are signs of fans who disagree with me, but I don't lose any sleep over the decision we made. We will never compromise fan safety, and this is an issue of fan safety," Rodriguez said.
The Fire's decision to revoke the tickets of an entire Toyota Park section has come at a price, however. The stadium is quieter on game day, to the point it's noticeably easier to hear the players talking on the field. The atmosphere has changed. There's less energy, perhaps a reason for the losing streak.
Late in Saturday's loss to Toronto FC some fans defied the ban and returned to the empty section where Sector Latino used to stand and cheer and bang on drums.
"We have to review that incident," Rodriguez said, later ruling out a return by Sector Latino as a group this season or next.
There will be more difficult decisions to make. Many fans are unhappy. The team is in a funk.
It's hard to remain optimistic about the Fire.