Zoomed N: Chicago Fire with Men In Red 97

After a two-week break, Nashville SC are back in action. The Boys In Gold travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Fire, who they beat 7-2 in their last meeting. Since then, the Fire have found their form and are one of the hottest teams in MLS.

For the latest on the on fire Fire (nice one, right?), we checked in with Tim Hotze, who covers Chicago for Men In Red.

Ben Wright (SixOneFive Soccer): Since the 7-2 loss in Nashville, the Fire have gone on a bit of a hot streak. What's been working for them?

Tim Hotze (Men In Red 97): The Fire’s offense has been clicking all year but after allowing the most goals in team history against Nashville, the defense finally started to stabilize. What’s been remarkable is that it’s happened despite Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter being forced to rotate his lineup, particularly in the midfield and backline.

It seems like players are finally starting to internalize the new system that Berhalter brought in.

“Every single day, we’re understanding what the coaches want for us to do in the system they want to play,” left-back Andrew Gutman told reporters on Thursday. “And you know, it’s one of those systems that, like, it’s not overnight. There’s going to be bumps. There’s going to be highs and lows, and I think now we’re finally starting to get into a place where we have more highs than lows.”

BW: How is this team continuing to develop under Gregg Berhalter? Is this about what you expected so far

TH: Before the start of the season, if you told me that, heading into their 17th game, the Fire would be sitting in ninth place in the East, I’d have said “that seems about right.” But if you told me they’d be there having scored the second most goals in the league, just one behind Inter Miami, while having more goals than 21 other teams? I’d have thought you were crazy.

However, that’s exactly where the Fire are going into this match. I – and many others – expected that the first thing that Berhalter would do is put in a structure that would give the team a strong defensive foundation and avoid the “this needs a super cut with Yakety Sax playing”-level defensive gaffes that have plagued the team for years. Then, I thought, the team will figure out the offense.

Instead, the reverse has happened: From kickoff in their season opener, the offense, powered by newcomers Jonathan Bamba and Philip Zinckernagel, has clicked, but it wasn’t really until after the loss in Nashville that it felt like the team’s defense was really solidifying.

BW: Do you think Berhalter will tweak anything based on what happened in the reverse fixture, or is he pretty set on using a specific approach?

TH: Although he’s tailored things to each opponent, Berhalter has been consistent in playing the same system – even early on when his side conceded some “when building out of the back goes wrong” highlight-reel worthy goals.

He’ll keep the same system here. Although he’s using the same principles he has since his days coaching the Columbus Crew and USMNT, with the Fire, he’s turned the dial from “using possession to destabilize opponents to “they can’t get a look on your net if you’re shooting at theirs.”

I like to think that this is partly out of a sense to spite his more permanently-online critics on social media, but instead, I think it’s because of the nature of turning over a roster in MLS, where it’s much easier to bring in a big DP attacker than it is to find Walker Zimmerman-quality defenders.

That isn’t to say there won’t be changes. There will. I would expect the Fire to have a slightly deeper line this time than they did last time against Nashville, and to be smarter about when and how defenders choose moments to join the attack.

The Chicago Fire are building a new, privately funded, soccer-specific stadium which is set to open in 2028.

Owner Joe Mansueto: "Soccer is the world’s game and a world-class city like ours deserves a world-class club – with a world-class home to match." pic.twitter.com/foWFBN4ya9
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) June 3, 2025

BW: The Fire just announced a new stadium, privately funded in an incredible location. What does this say about the direction the club is heading, and what do you think the stadium will do for soccer in Chicago?

TH: Although it’s felt frustratingly slow on turning the team around on the pitch, since owner Joe Mansueto took full control of the club in late 2019, he has shown that he’s one of the most ambitious, highest-spending owners in the league. Some of that spending hasn't worked out – Xherdan Shaqiri, here’s looking at you – but a lot of the longer-term investments will pay huge dividends.

The stadium announcement comes just months after the team opened their new, $100 million training center, about a mile and a half from the new stadium location. Combined with the proposed $650 million budget for the stadium, that’s three-quarters of a billion dollars that Mansueto has committed to infrastructure for soccer in the city limits, excluding the team’s investments in youth and rec league soccer in the city, where 15,000 children and 10,0000 adults participate in team-supported soccer programs each year.

The stadium gives the Fire a rare chance at a “third first impression,” after their shot at a second impression – the team was nearing a sellout of Soldier Field in their first game back at the venue until COVID ruined those plans 2020 – were dashed. Playing in a team-owned, team-operated facility in the city limits will be massive for the team, and could help make the Fire relevant in the local sports landscape in a way that few MLS teams in the league’s oldest, largest, markets, have been.

BW: Do you have a lineup and score prediction?

TH: I don’t think either team is going to put up seven goals in this one. But both teams have difference-makers on both sides of the ball, and it’s not hard to imagine either team being able to score three or four goals against virtually any opponent they face.

Which is why, because this is MLS, I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. I’d be happy to eat my words but somehow this feels like a 2-2 draw where neither team really leaves satisfied with the result.