The Chicago Fire will play postseason soccer this fall. But what the team looks like when they get there remains to be seen.
In September, we looked the state of Chicago Fire post transfer window; we tried to piece together the idea of the new roster, as well as some points of intrigue. Redundant acquisitions, head-scratching departures, multiple youngsters heading to the same Scottish second division side (where Dylan Borso has actually become a fan favorite) left more questions than answers.
Now, as the team has clinched their berth in the 2026 playoffs, many of those questions still linger. It was a summer window that, from the outside, seemed to be far more reactive than proactive, and now, after playing 30 games, the Fire have one question that rises above the rest... do you know who the Fire’s best XI are?
Not too long ago, it seemed like listing Andrew Gutman on the team sheet was a foregone conclusion. Through the first half of the season, Gutman emerged on shortlists for MLS Best XI nods at season’s end. So when he only played 15 minutes off the bench in a win over a surging Charlotte FC side in late September, most assumed it was simply rest for him and a bit of run for Leo Barroso, who hadn’t had much opportunity in recent weeks.
Barroso started twice more, with Noah Allen starting the final game of Gutman’s absence. While there were options to downplay the absence, Berhalter chose instead to say something of note.
"We have competition in the squad, in the fullback positions," Berhalter said after the Union game. "We thought that (Allen) would give us the advantage we were looking for against Cavan Sullivan… I'm sure Andrew will get an opportunity and then it's up to him to keep his place."
Gutman hadn't been in his best form before his ride on the pine, with only one assist in his previous five matches, and his defensive holes had become a bit more apparent. That said, Berhalter’s answer, at least from the outside, doesn’t seem to tell the whole story. They chose Allen to start against Philadelphia, specifically for the matchup against Sullivan; not because they wanted a more cohesive and defensive back line, but because they liked the individual matchup better.
Of course hindsight is 20/20, but on its face this doesn’t feel like it holds water for Sullivan’s skillset or for the Union’s style of play. Toss in the idea that your Best XI-quality fullback will get an opportunity to keep his place in the squad, and it just strikes the ear as odd.
That seems to be the common thread of this team since June of 2026.
Nothing is inherently bad. In fact, most moves, dating all the way back to the acquisition of Robert Lewandowski, are good to excellent in a vacuum, even the ones that didn’t seem to be slam dunks.
Yet for every slam dunk, there’s a logo three from a guy who doesn’t practice that shot.
Somehow going from extending Gutman, signaling he will continue to be a key piece of the squad as he has been to this point, to benching him for four matches in a pivotal run while missing nearly ten players due to international call-ups just doesn’t pass the smell test.
Signing a very expensive center back from the Bundesliga to a five-year contract after he hasn’t played competitive soccer in close to a year, in the preferred position of your captain, was an eyebrow-raiser, but it seemed like a fairly reasonable move for a long-term mindset. Until you extend Jack Elliott, whose form has been unlike what the Fire saw from him in 2025. Creating a further logjam not only for Allen to see playing time, but also for touted USYNT prospect Christopher Cupps, who would’ve hoped to feature at some point in the not-too-distant future.
It raises further questions about how well-thought-out the plan was this summer when the initial move to sign Lewandowski was announced. The chorus has been hailed repeatedly, but it bears mentioning that ‘If you have the chance to sign Robert Lewandowski, you sign Robert Lewandowski’ is a perfectly reasonable - even objectively correct - stance to take. That does not take away the knock-on effects that still seem to be holding this team back from competing at its highest possible level.
The emergence of Maren Haile-Selassie and the stagnation of Philip Zinckernagel may signal some of the underlying issues. Pre-window, the Fire wanted to play out in front. They induced pressure to create mismatches and used movement to attack defenses, a system that benefitted a player like Hugo Cuypers, but does not play into the strengths of Lewandowski, even if he is good enough to make that system work at times.
Similarly, the more possession-based, slower-tempo attack the Fire have employed since the summer doesn’t quite mesh with the skill sets of Zinckernagel or fellow DP Jonathan Bamba, who, prior to an extended absence, was playing some of his best soccer in a Fire uniform.
Pair some stylistic confusion with multiple players (Hanche-Olsen, Mekvabishvili, Franco) who are expected to be making meaningful contributions in the postseason all playing less than 300 minutes with this revamped Fire squad and it brings us back to the question we have been asking since June.
Is the team more talented? Absolutely.
Is the team better? That remains to be seen.
Chemistry matters. Trust matters. Both need to be built with time, experience, and trial and error. Now, as the playoffs approach, the Fire are running out of trials and can't really afford any more errors.
The common feedback I’ve received online and from colleagues for sounding the alarms on what the downside here could be is that the team “needs time to gel,” and when they do, they will be better.
Simply put, with four games left, and three major contributors still struggling with availability (Franco, Mekvabishvili, Lod), there doesn’t seem to be enough time to gel. The short-term impact was going over a month without a win in the early fall; now the question pops up that the best teams in the league aren’t supposed to be asking, and one I’m not sure Gregg Berhalter can answer confidently today.
What’s the Fire’s best eleven?
In a vacuum I’m sure there’s a plan, but having to ask if one should favorite talent or chemistry, doesn’t feel like a recipe for success in the pursuit of a trophy.
