Paging Ted Lasso: The Chicago Fire Need Some Sort Of Spark

Chicago IL

30 September, 2021

7:57 PM

Description

CHICAGO — Chicago's professional soccer franchise Fire'd its coach. Again. The ax job is nothing new, of course for the Chicago Fire — and is almost becoming a rite of passage whether the team is playing in Bridgeview or Soldier Field. Maybe this time, the team's ownership to think outside the box. Somebody like the fictional TV character, "Ted Lasso" might be a good fit on the pitch. After a 12-25-14 record under the guidance of ousted coach Rafael Wicky, could an Emmy-winning actor do much worse? All you have to do is BELIEVE, right? The Fire announced their latest coaching casualty official on Thursday, a day after the team's brass let Wicky know that his soccer services were no longer required. Even a 2-0 victory over NYCFC Wednesday night at Seat Geek Stadium couldn't keep the door from slamming shut, but for anyone who follows the club, the move had been coming. It was just a matter when the team's ownership listened that Wicky wasn't the guy. A move to Soldier Field last year was supposed to summon a fresh start for a team that has posted losing records in seven of the last eight seasons. Considering the Bears' announcement that they may not be long for the Lakefront, the Fire could have turned Soldier Field into its soccer home — if only people were willing to come. But if the Fire want people to support a team that hasn't won on a regular basis since 2017, they need to do something to spark interest. That's not exactly news to the team's sporting director Georg Heitz, who said all the things you'd expect from someone who just fired the second Fire coach to be axed since 2019. We were hoping this would work out. We like the guy, but the results we were hoping for just didn't pan out. We need to find someone who can win. That's a loose paraphrase of what Heitz told reporters on Thursday when he announced the club wouldn't pick up Wicky's option for next season. He also took some responsibility for some of the disappointing results that took place this season, when the Fire started 1-7-1 and scored just four goals in the first nine games of the year. Things never got better from there. That's some Bears-like offensive production, right there. The Fire announced on Thursday that assistant coach Frank Klopas will take over the team until the franchise can find a permanent replacement. There's no timetable for that to happen. But Heitz is convinced he's the guy to help the team get things moving in the right direction, and that he's committed to seeing the job through with the help of whoever is hired to replace Wicky. As to possible replacements, Heitz offered very few specifics. As in crickets. But for a team that comes nowhere close to making a dent on Soldier Field's 61,000 seat capacity, crickets seems appropriate when it comes to gauging fan interest, unless the Fire are more serious about producing a winning team than they have over the past handful of years. I mean, let's be honest. I bet a ton more people watched Ted Lasso on Apple+ over the past two years than paid attention, let alone bought tickets, to Fire matches.