Hugo Cuyper’s sudden departure for CF Monterrey in Liga MX shakes up the Fire’s roster – and plans for the summer transfer window, weeks after landing Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski.
The departure of the Fire’s current leading scorer has implications for what the Fire’s summer transfer needs are, and how the Fire will play on the pitch.
Here’s your questions answered on what the departure means for the Fire.
Without Cuypers, how many players can the Fire add? What’s the status of the roster?
Cuypers exit frees a Designated Player (DP) and an international slot for the Fire – the latter of which the Fire hastily acquired from FC Cincinnati ahead of Lewandowski’s planned debut against Vancouver, in a game that was ultimately rescheduled. With Cuypers gone, the Fire currently also have two open senior roster slots, alongside the international slot.
That, however, is temporary: André Franco remains on the short term injury list, freeing both a senior roster and an international slot for the Fire. Once he returns to the lineup, he’ll start occupying one of each of those slots.
At media availability on Tuesday, Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter indicated that Franco’s return was still months away, however, buying the Fire time, particularly to acquire another international slot, whose value typically falls over the course of the transfer window, as teams finalize their roster plans.
If Franco were in the lineup, the Fire could sign one more player – but unless that player was a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, they would also need to acquire an international slot.
There is no way to expand the number of senior roster slots, however, so any additional arrivals past that would have to be paired with departures.
Who can the Fire add? Who are likely targets?
The Fire now have the ability to add a DP, meaning the team can spend unlimited money on both wages and transfer fees while staying compliant with MLS’s salary cap on the targeted player.
The Fire also can revert to a model that allows them to have two DPs along with four U22 Initiative players, a move that would give the Fire additional salary cap flexibility.
Berhalter, however, has indicated that the Fire’s long-term ambition is to have 3 DPs. With Lewandowski, the biggest signing in team history, now in the squad, the time to bring in another high-end player would seem to be now.
The Fire continue to have discussions with German international Leon Goretzka, now a free agent, and discussions with Kevin de Bruyne, the team’s top target last summer, have resumed. De Bruyne remains under contract with Napoli but disputes over tactics and availability following an injury-plagued year in Italy have made the Belgian player’s departure more likely.
As was the case last summer when the Fire also pursued Patrick Berg as a possible DP signing, none of these options may pan out, but taken together, it’s clear the front office sees midfield reinforcement as the area of need.
How much does Cuypers’s departure hurt the Fire?
With Cuypers done, the Fire are unquestionably a worse team than they were when he was on the roster.
That isn’t an opinion: That’s logic. The Fire lost their leading goalscorer, and have, so far, replaced him with no one.
If comparing the Fire’s roster today to what it was before Lewandowski’s arrival, however, the question gets significantly more complicated.
While Hugo Cuypers is a top-end striker in MLS, Lewandowski is one of the best at his position in the history of the game – as Berhalter likes to point out, no one has scored more goals at the top levels in Europe over the past 15 years than he has.
Cuypers’s improved productivity since Berhalter’s arrival has come because he’s been both more and better service. Lewandowski has built his reputation by finishing a disproportionately high number of the chances he’s given. From the same spot, in the same situation, Lewandowski is more likely to put the ball in the back of the net.
The Fire haven’t just relied on Cuypers to score, however: In the pressing system they’ve used, when the Fire lost the ball, Cuypers instantly switched to being the Fire’s first defender. He frequently interrupts opponents’ attacks, buying time for the Fire’s defense to get into position.
At 37, Lewandowski is unlikely to provide nearly as much of that as Cuypers did.
Still, his finishing ability is a step – or multiple steps – above any other striker in the league and he has remained a world class player.
Still, it’s hard to see losing one of the Fire’s best players as a positive – until the Fire sign someone in the slot that he vacated.
What does the Fire’s depth chart look like now?
From a macro perspective, the Fire’s roster doesn’t look any different than it did before Lewandowski’s arrival, essentially swapping out one striker for another.
Still, with 37-year-old Robert Lewandowski, there are concerns that the team didn’t have with Cuypers, 29. Although Lewandowski has been durable and stayed relatively healthy throughout his career, as players age, small issues that might have once sidelined a player for a match can last weeks, and nagging issues can recur.
Here’s the Fire’s depth chart, as it stands today, with each player listed in one position.
Backup striker has been an obvious position of weakness for the Fire this season, and the need is slightly more pressing with Lewandowski. Jason Shokalook has just 52 MLS minutes to his credit and has yet to score in league play, though he did have a brace against Detroit City in the U.S. Open Cup. Dean Boltz has yet to play.
Although Shokalook is a former MLS Next Pro Golden Boot winner, and goalscoring has tended to follow players with them when they join the first team, Berhalter has yet to trust Shokalook with serious minutes.
When Hugo Cuypers was unavailable or subbed off, Berhalter instead rotated a number of players including Robin Lod and Chris Mueller through the position more than he has relied on Shokalook.
How will the Fire play now that Cuypers is gone?
Prior to the break, the Fire had been playing out of a 4-4-2 in possession, a formation the Fire did not generally employ last year. The assumption had been the choice was made in large part to prepare for Lewandowski’s eventual arrival, something Berhalter confirmed on Monday, saying the Fire “were excited about trying a 4-4-2.”
The team will most likely revert to the 4-3-3 that the Fire favored last year – but that isn’t a certainty.
The other explanation of using the 4-4-2 was that it helped cover up for André Franco’s absence, in essence by shifting having an attacking midfielder to having two forwards play off each other. At times, it worked, but in both formations, the Fire were sometimes unable to create chances through the midfield, particularly against determined opponents.
It’s possible that the Fire will use the formation until Franco returns or another creative attacking midfielder arrives.
Can the Fire switch back to a 2 DP/4 U22 model?
In recent years, MLS has given teams the choice of two roster construction models, one with 3 DPs and 2 U22 Initiative Players, and one with two DPs and 4 U22s plus $1 million in additional GAM that essentially extends the team’s salary cap.
Until Lewandowski’s arrival, the Fire had been using a 2 DP/4 U22 model over the past two seasons.
The team has until the window closes on September 2nd to make that determination.
Did the Fire acquire any GAM in Cuypers’s sale?
No. Although the Fire are being paid a reported $7.5 million for Hugo Cuypers’s rights, that pales in comparison to the reported $12.5 million fee that Cuypers arrived on.
Cuypers’ lower fee is a byproduct of the fact that he is in the final six months of his contract and last 18 months under team control. It also partly reflects the fact that Cuypers is 29 years-old
Because the Fire were a net loser with the transfer fee, they are not eligible to turn any of the proceeds from the move to GAM, although they can, of course use the proceeds towards a new designated player.
