Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn Y’all! Dream 2025 Start for Men in Red
Not to get ahead of ourselves, but the Chicago Fire are sitting in a playoff position!
Jokes aside, the Fire have had one of their best starts to a season in recent memory, thanks to two incredible road wins earlier this month.
In just 4 matches in this 2025 campaign, the Fire have 7 points, with two wins, a draw, and a loss in the wild season opener against Columbus Crew.
They currently sit in 6th place in the Eastern Conference table, just 3 points shy of first.
Yes, I am very well aware that we aren’t even in April yet, and there are about 30 more matches to go this year. However, something just feels different about this year. I touched on it earlier this season as well during the winter break when Head Coach Gregg Berhalter began making immediate moves.
At this point, I’m not sure if it’s the fact that they are killing it offensively in the final third, with 9 goals in just 4 matches, or the fact that they already matched the total amount of road wins (2) in 2024? It literally makes no sense because the number of injuries the Fire have had to deal with to start this season is insane. They have had to call up youngsters and sign academy players just to fill up a complete game-day roster.
Whatever it is, Gregg Berhalter has the boys cooking, and Fire fans could not be more excited to continue supporting the Men in Red!
The craziest part about all of this is the fact that Fire is producing quality results while being basically at half-strength. For the season opener against the Crew, the Fire had about 8 players listed on the injury report. Of those listed, about 4 of them could’ve been potential starters. Players like Haile-Selassie, Rominigue Kouame, Mauri Pineda, and Carlos Teran have missed games this season, and each one of them could easily be playing vital roles in the starting 11.
Instead, young guys like Sergio Oregel and Sam Rogers have stepped up massively for the Fire.
Let’s also give massive credit where credit is due. Striker Hugo Cuypers is on absolute fire at the moment; currently second in the MLS Golden Boot race. Cuypers has certainly found form early on this year with the incredible support from his midfield players. Players like Brian Gutierrez, Kellyn Acosta, and Jonathan Bamba are playing extremely well together. We knew the attack would look a little different, but I don’t think anyone expected them to gel so well right away.
Exciting times are ahead for the Fire.
The Fire will be traveling to Canada once again on Saturday to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps. Similar to the Crew match, this will be another great test to see where the Fire really stands among the league’s best.
Vancouver might be one of the hottest teams in MLS at the moment. They are unbeaten in 2025; however, they will be missing a few key players who are away on international duty.
Most notably, Brian White is away with the US Men’s National team, which is a huge blow for Vancouver. They will still have one of the most lethal attackers in the league, Ryan Gauld.
If the Fire want any kind of success to come from this weekend, they’ll need to know where Gauld is on the field at ALL times.
Very similar to what Diego Rossi did to us in the season opener, Gauld could also be a menace if the Fire allows it.
PHOTO: Chicago Fire FC
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